The First World War was not kind to my Sandeman family. In W8 of this blog I told you about the death of Robert Learmouth Sandeman who was shot in the back by a German POW just three days before the end of the 1916 Battle of the Somme. Robert had a younger brother, James Walker Sandeman, who was born in 1893. He was another 2 x great uncle on my birth father's side of the tree.
As a youngster James lived with his siblings in a small terraced house in Drummond Street, Muthill, Perthshire where conditions must have been cramped to say the least.
There is no evidence that he married. We do, however, know from the publication "Soldiers Died in the Great War" that he was residing in Dailly, Ayreshire just before he enlisted to serve in The Great War.
As a youngster James lived with his siblings in a small terraced house in Drummond Street, Muthill, Perthshire where conditions must have been cramped to say the least.
There is no evidence that he married. We do, however, know from the publication "Soldiers Died in the Great War" that he was residing in Dailly, Ayreshire just before he enlisted to serve in The Great War.
Although his service record is presumed destroyed, we know that James was with the 4th Battalion Scots Fusiliers and it seems more than likely that he was fighting in The Second Battle of Gaza in Palestine when he died. He is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial in Israel.
The attack on Gaza began on the morning of 17th April 1917 with a bombardment of the city of Gaza's fortifications, which it is estimated contained between 20 - 25,000 of Ottoman forces. The First Battle of Gaza, six months earlier, had been a "fiasco" after we withdrew on the verge of victory. Since then the fortifications had been strengthened.
On the morning of the 19th, as the infantry attack was about to commence, we fired gas shells for the first time. Well aware that a large attack was about to take place, the defence was ready. The advance started at 7.15 a.m. and "all along the front the infantry were brought to a halt well short of their objectives while suffering heavy casualties from shrapnel shells and machine gun fire. .... The battle was a disasterous defeat for the British. They made no progress, inflicted little damage and suffered heavy casualties that they could not easily afford. The main losses were, once again, amongst the British infantry who were called upon to attack the strongest position." (Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Gaza).
In particular, the 4th Battalion Scots Fusiliers suffered very heavy casualties while attacking Middlesex Hill and this was possibly where James died. James was just 24.
The attack on Gaza began on the morning of 17th April 1917 with a bombardment of the city of Gaza's fortifications, which it is estimated contained between 20 - 25,000 of Ottoman forces. The First Battle of Gaza, six months earlier, had been a "fiasco" after we withdrew on the verge of victory. Since then the fortifications had been strengthened.
On the morning of the 19th, as the infantry attack was about to commence, we fired gas shells for the first time. Well aware that a large attack was about to take place, the defence was ready. The advance started at 7.15 a.m. and "all along the front the infantry were brought to a halt well short of their objectives while suffering heavy casualties from shrapnel shells and machine gun fire. .... The battle was a disasterous defeat for the British. They made no progress, inflicted little damage and suffered heavy casualties that they could not easily afford. The main losses were, once again, amongst the British infantry who were called upon to attack the strongest position." (Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Gaza).
In particular, the 4th Battalion Scots Fusiliers suffered very heavy casualties while attacking Middlesex Hill and this was possibly where James died. James was just 24.