Sadly Evan and Jacob were two who were lost that day, their graves lost and are now on the Loos memorial to the missing.

even going on to say this was mere fantasy. He even went on to question the effectiveness of the artillery and the need for such loss of life as said were filled with the dead and wounded. By the end of the day, 24 men were killed, 129 wounded and 85 missing out of 806 men who went into battle.

...asphyxiating gas. The breeze seemed temporarily in time in our favor... None of our men were injured by the gas, though I believe that a few of the 6th Wilts suffered..." The adjutant was then very critical of a FOO who reported that the 9th RWF had taken the German front lines...

On the first day of the Battle of Loos, their battalion took pay in a diversionary attack just north of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, where their adjutant reported: "On my way there (firing line), I observed a mile to the south, a thin cloud floating towards the German lines; this I took as...

Private Evan Idris Davies and Lance Serjeant Jacob Thomas of the 9th battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Evan was 1 of 7 children and he signed up with his brother David Hubert on the same day, with David being discharged 2 weeks later. Jacob was 1 of 4 children and married Margaret Humphreys in 1914.

There's about 5/6 men on that memorial from my hometown, when I get home from work I'll share some of their stories

Really enjoyed the episode this morning