211329 Pte. James Francis Slavin British Army 1st Btn. Cameronians from:Coatbridge Private James Slavin of the 1st Cameronians was one of a large number of men who were wounded during a very heavy shrapnel bombardment on the 17th July 1916. They had withdrawn to positions 1,000 yards behind the village of Bazentin Le Petit and taken shelter in some small caves scooped out of a high bank. Packed in 2 or 3 men to each cave it offered some shelter from the rain, but they could not pull their legs, then the bombardment started and moved down the line hitting man after man.
Private Slavin was moved to Rouen and eventually sent back to Scotland. He was never able to bend his leg again.
Transferred to the Labour Corps he was invalided out of the Army in October 1917.
Information gathered from; The Hell They Called High Wood by Terry Norman, Bazentin Ridge by Edward Hancock and A Very Unimportant Officer. Diaries of Captain A Stewart 5/6th Scottish Rifles 1915/1918. A photograph in the book by Edward Hancock on page 146 and 147, taken on the 16th July 1916 south east of Bazentin Village shows a large body of men settling in to caves on a high bank. Believe this to be his regiment in the location that they to be wounded in.
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