6347 Pte
1st Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, 9th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Division
Age: 23
Date of death: Killed in action 16th June 1915
Buried: Menin Gate Memorial, Panel 19 & 33
Family history: Son of Mrs Agnes Wilson, Mayfield Cottage, Rumford. He was employed as a miner before enlisting in 1914, landing in France on 22 September 1914.
The action that lead to his death
9th Brigade, 3 Division, led the attack on the Bellewaarde Spur, known as the Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge, on 16 June 1915. They had been given the task of reducing the salient which had developed by the capture of the German positions between the southwest corner of Bellewaarde Lake and Roulers railway to the north of Railway Wood. The 1st Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers were in the centre of the first wave. They were to seize the trench between Y.13 and Y.15.
The Battle of Bellewaarde June 1915, Carole-McEntee-Taylor
The War Diary records that ‘B’ Company was on the left and reached their objective under shell and rifle fire. On the right ‘A’ Company reached the enemy’s trenches with little loss. British artillery fire was causing heavy losses and impeding the advance. Despite this the battalion got forward however; they had to retire as a result of German counter attacks and held the line Y.13 to Y.14 The casualties were 411 killed, wounded or missing. Samuel Wilson was one of the dead. He would have known Joseph Robertson also killed that day and listed in the Muiravonside section.
Medals Awarded
1914 Star, British War Medal, victory Medal
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