{"product_id":"7th-kings-own-scottish-borderers-kia-loos-1915-vc-action-victory-medal-paisley","title":"7th King's Own Scottish Borderers KIA Loos 1915 VC Action Victory Medal Paisley","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003eFirst World War Victory Medal – Private John Ferguson, 7th Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers – KIA Loos 1915\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003eVictory Medal – \u003cb\u003e14069 PTE. J. FERGUSON. K. O. SCO. BORD.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003ePrivate John Ferguson\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003e was born at \u003cb\u003ePaisley, Renfrewshire\u003c\/b\u003e, and enlisted at \u003cb\u003ePaisley\u003c\/b\u003e into the \u003cb\u003e7th Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers\u003c\/b\u003e, receiving the regimental number \u003cb\u003e14069\u003c\/b\u003e. He was the son of \u003cb\u003eMrs Ferguson, of 53 Springbank Road, Paisley\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003eThe \u003cb\u003e7th (Service) Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers\u003c\/b\u003e formed part of \u003cb\u003e46 Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division\u003c\/b\u003e, one of Kitchener’s Second New Army divisions raised in September 1914. The Division landed in \u003cb\u003eFrance on 9 July 1915\u003c\/b\u003e, and Private Ferguson would have crossed to the Western Front with the battalion during this period.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003eThe 15th (Scottish) Division quickly earned a formidable reputation. Its first major action came at the \u003cb\u003eBattle of Loos\u003c\/b\u003e, beginning on \u003cb\u003e25 September 1915\u003c\/b\u003e, an attack remembered at the time as “The Big Push”. This was a large-scale offensive involving six British divisions and marked the \u003cb\u003efirst use of poison gas by the British Army\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003eOn the morning of \u003cb\u003e25 September 1915\u003c\/b\u003e, the 7th K.O.S.B. were in forward trenches preparing to assault \u003cb\u003eHill 70\u003c\/b\u003e when German shelling intensified and drifting chlorine gas began to envelop their positions. Men began coughing and choking as the gas took effect.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003eIt was during this attack that \u003cb\u003ePiper Daniel Laidlaw\u003c\/b\u003e performed the action for which he was awarded the \u003cb\u003eVictoria Cross\u003c\/b\u003e. Ordered to “Pipe them together”, Laidlaw climbed onto the parapet under heavy shell and machine-gun fire and played “Blue Bonnets” and “The Standard on the Braes o’ Mar” to steady and inspire the men of the battalion. With bayonets fixed, the Borderers advanced from the gas-filled trenches towards the German lines. Laidlaw continued piping despite being severely wounded in both legs.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003ePrivate John Ferguson was killed in action that same day, 25 September 1915\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003e, during the assault at Loos. He was \u003cb\u003e21 years of age\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003eHe has no known grave and is commemorated on the \u003cb\u003eLoos Memorial\u003c\/b\u003e, Panels \u003cb\u003e53 to 56\u003c\/b\u003e, which records the names of over 20,000 officers and men who fell in the Loos sector and whose bodies were never recovered.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003eA young Paisley man who landed in France in July 1915 and fell in his battalion’s first great battle only two months later, John Ferguson died in one of the defining Scottish divisional actions of the Great War.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003ePLEASE NOTE: All research will be sent to the buyer via email. I am unable to provide printed copies, as I do not have access to a printer.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003eVisit my website for better prices on most of my stock.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003eAJMS Medals\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"AJMS Medals","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53868403818842,"sku":null,"price":48.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0958\/9850\/1466\/files\/20260224_152616.png?v=1774262495","url":"https:\/\/ajms-medals.com\/products\/7th-kings-own-scottish-borderers-kia-loos-1915-vc-action-victory-medal-paisley","provider":"AJMS Medals","version":"1.0","type":"link"}