A First Day of the Battle of Loos casualty 1914-1915 Star and Victory Medal awarded to Private E.A. Griffin, 10th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment who having arrived in France on 9th August 1915 would be killed in action on 25th September 1915 – the first day of the Battle of Loos and is buried in Dud Corner Cemetery. A native of Cold Aston, Birmingham. 25th September 1915 saw the first mass engagement of the new armies created after the outbreak of war and saw the 10th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment suffer heavy casualties on its attack on Hulluch and Puits.
Pair: 1914-1915 Star; (17355 PTE. E.A. GRIFFIN. GLOUC. R.) Victory Medal; (17355 PTE. E.A. GRIFFIN. GLOUC. R.)
Condition: Nearly Extremely Fine
Ernest Alfred Griffin was born in Cold Aston, Birmingham 1893. He joined the British Army at Stow-on-the-Wold and came to the 10th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment where he served as a Private (No. 17355) The battalion left Southampton on 8th August 1915 and disembarked at Le Havre, France the following day.
Griffin would be killed in action on 25th September 1915, the first day of the Battle of Loos and would be buried at Dud Corner Cemetery, Loos he is noted as the son of Mr and Mrs. H.W. Griffin of Pinkney, Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
The war diary for the 10th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment covers the fighting on 25th September 1915:
‘The battalion was ordered to deliver an assault on the first line system of German defences, which included three lines of entrenchments with the primary objectives HULLUCH and PUITS. No. 14 BIS. The assault was carried out in 3 lines. Frontage being BOIS CARREE inclusive to Point 39. The attack was delivered at 6.30am on 25/9/1915 with the accompaniment to gas and smoke. The wind was not quite favourable with the results that from the start several men were affected. Notwithstanding this drawback the three lines moved forward punctually to the moment, machine guns accompanying. The Germans wire entanglement which had been torn into gaps by bombardment proved a considerable obstacle. The wind proving more favourable to the enemy than ourselves, in the smoke, direction was not properly maintained, but deflected to the right. Heavy resistance was encountered at the support and reserve German works, at the first, the enemy eventually evacuated these positions, and retreating towards HULLUCH. Our bombers suffered severely, their bombs in the main refusing to explode, the BROCK lighter having got wet with the rain, which fell in the early morning. Nevertheless the assault was pushed home with the outmost resolution over the 2nd German line into the third, and up the flanking communications trenches to eastwards. In this phase the Camerons and Black Watch co-operated the officers fell as the positions of their bodies showed, leading their men and 16 out of 21 officers were lost. The bodies of our dead indicated how they died with faces to the enemy. One of our m/c gun was put out of action on coming over the parapet, but 2 other guns reached a point in advance of Point 89, constructed later.’
25th September 1915 was notable for seeing the first mass use of the volunteer soldiers of the New Army.
