Aged 22
No. 11505, Lance Corporal, 1st Battalion, Scots Guards
Killed in Action on Monday, 27th September 1915
| Born in Newmarket in Q1-1893 [Newmarket 3b:506] to James and Emily ANDERTON (née CLARKE) of Lower Station Road, (now All
Saints Road) Newmarket, previously 1 Oxford Terrace, Exning.
1901 census...At 52 Bagleys Lane, Fulham, were Percy R [8]; his father James [46], hairdresser, born Everton; his mother Emily [43], born at sea on HMTS 'Lord Raglan'; brothers Sidney J [15], electrical engineer born Exning; James A [11], born Exning; Norman L [6], born Newmarket, and sister Maud A[13], born Exning, and William R BROWN[34], his uncle (step brother of Emily), a soldier born Exning. 1911 census...Percy was an ironmongers apprentice, living with his uncle and aunt, Charles and Helena LANCASTER at 12 Circular Road, Birkenhead. His mother appears to have died in London in 1902 and his father appears to have died in Newmarket in 1908. His brothers and sisters are scattered around the country, his sister Maud is in Newmarket. His sole legatee was aunt Helena Hurley (seemingly re-married), the pension card has her as Helena Jane HURLEY of 67 The Woodlands, Birkenhead. Percy was the uncle of Terence Anderton who was killed in WW2.. see here |
|
In September, both battalions of the Scots Guards took part in the Battle of Loos. On 27 September, when the 3rd Guards Brigade (2nd Battalion)
were moving in preparation to attack a German-held position known as Hill 70, via Loos, an artillery barrage caught them, causing many
casualties among the Guards. The 1st Battalion were in the second wave to attack The Keep and Puits 14 bis, which they captured despite
very heavy machine gun fire but were unable to hold Puits 14 bis. The following day the 2nd Guards Brigade (1st Battalion) again attacked
Puits 14 bis, and in the process, suffered very heavy casualties, forcing the brigade to halt the attack. Both battalions continued to
experience heavy fighting throughout September, and into October, and by the end of the Battle of Loos, the regiment had suffered over 500
casualties. Of the 111 Scots Guards killed on the 27th, only one (2nd Battn) has a known grave, the 110 are named on
the Loos Memorial. |
© Commonwealth War Graves Commission
click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details