Private Bert Coleman 1st/14th Battalion London Regiment (London Scottish)

London Scottish Badge and Tartan

Bert Coleman was a Private (No.5248) in the 1st/14th Battalion of the London Regt (London Scottish) and he died on Saturday 1st July 1916 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

It is not possible to strictly pin down exactly who Bert was. He is recorded as living in Leicester although he enlisted in London.

In the 1901 Census for 22 Gerrard Street, Leicester there is a family of Colemans consisting of William, a 27 yr old shoe tacker, his silk winder wife 28 yr old Elizabeth and two children. Bert E Coleman who was 5 at the time, and his sister Mabel E Coleman who was 2. It is possible they moved to Great Glen at a later date.

In addition it is known that the Station Master at Great Glen station in 1910 was a George Stephen Coleman but in 1901, when he was living at 66 Upper Kent Street in Leicester he and his wife Lavinia had only one child, one year old Lawrence born in Cambridgeshire. It therefore seems unlikely that Bert was their son.

However, Bert, as stated, signed on in London into the London Scottish. Details of the London Scottish can also be found on the page for John Henry Neale

To the Somme!

On the first day of the Battle of the Somme the Battalion took part in an assault on the German trenches east of Hebuturne. A heavy smoke barrage was put down and it was difficult to keep moving in the correct direction. The London Scottish occupied the Farmyard Trench. At 1.30am the British put down a heavy barrage and a wire cutting party was sent out to thoroughly clear the front. Sniper positions were set up. The Germans fired on the Farmyard Trench all day and a heavy loss of life resulted. 23 officers and 811 other ranks, including Bert Coleman, and 36 medical orderlies were killed leaving only 9 officers, 236 other ranks and 21 medical orderlies. 77% of the Battalion slaughtered on one terrible day!

Bert's Thiepval Panel

As with thousands of others Bert has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme. In order to find directions to the memorial please click on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission link.

Thiepval Memorial

Bert was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.