1914-15 Star (13717 Pte. J. Downie, R.Scots.) 1914-15 Star (13717 Pte. J. Downie, R.Scots.) 1914-15 Star (13717 Pte. J. Downie, R.Scots.) 1914-15 Star (13717 Pte. J. Downie, R.Scots.)

1914-15 Star (13717 Pte. J. Downie, R.Scots.)

Important: Private James Downie 12th Battalion Royal Scots confirmed 'Killed-in-Action' on, 16 July 1916, during the attempt to capture the village of 'Longueval - Deville Wood', during the 'Somme Offensive'

Battle of the Somme: No less then 9 x battalions of the Royal Scots participated during the British Somme Offensive, 1 July to 1 November 1916, viz 2nd (Regular), 8th (TF), 9th (Highlanders) (TF), 11th and 12th (K1), 13th (K2) and 15th, 16th and 17th (K3/K4)

12th (Service) Battalion Royal Scots, was raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, August 1914, as part of Kitchener’s first army of wartime volunteers (K1). 12/RS landed in France, 9-12 February 1915 as part of 27 Brigade, a constituent formation of 9 (Scottish) Division. 12/RS experienced their first trench duty on the 'Western Front' in the area of Festubert in early, July 1915, and foughgt in it's first major offensive, at the Battle of Loos, 25-28 September 1915.

In July 1916, during the Somme Offensive, the major involvement by 12/RS was the attempt to capture the village of Longueval - adjacent to 'Delville Wood', during the start of the second phase, of the offensive. The action at Longueval lasted 14-17 July. During the fighting at Longueval, 12/Royal Scots lost their Commanding Officer on the opening day, and by the time of being relieved on 17 July, the battalion had suffered estimated casualties comprising; 13 Officers and 303 x 'Other Ranks' - including Private Downie - who had been killed, died of wounds, wounded and missing, during four days of fighting

James Downie, son of Downie, was a native of, Crossgates, Fifeshire, Scotland.

Thiepval Memorial: The service and supreme sacrifice of James Downie is commemorated in perpetuity by the Commonwelath War Graves Commission, where his details are enshrined upon the Thiepval Memorial that commemorates the fallen who died during the Somme Offensive, and whose bodies were never recovered from the field of battle. The Thiepval Memorial. located near the village of Thiepval, Picardy, France, is the war memorial to 72,337 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918, and whose bodies were never recovered from the battlefield(s)

Condition: GVF

Code: 20929