PRIVATE 81600 JOHN HENRY COULTAS 15th BATTALION DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY. KILLED IN ACTION 29th MAY (PRESUMED) 1918.

PRIVATE 81600 JOHN HENRY COULTAS 15^th BATTALION DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY. KILLED IN ACTION 29^th MAY (PRESUMED) 1918.

In 2008 Michael Coultas and his three sons made a pilgrimage to the small French town of Soissons to visit the massive British war memorial made of Portland Stone which stands next to the road to Rheims. It was an act of remembrance that had brought them to this corner of France for on one of the many panels of the memorial was the name of Michael’s uncle, John Coultas, who had been killed 90 years before.  Nearly 4000 names are recorded at Soissons of men of the British Army who fought to defend France in 1918 and who, like John, have no known grave.

John Coultas had been born in Ilkley in 1896 and had lived with his parents Hermon and Sarah and his two brothers in a small terraced house at 11, Wilmot Road.  His father was a signalman on the railway and worked at the signal box outside Ilkley Station just a few yards from his home. In time John would also chose to work on the railways and obtained a position at Wombwell near Barnsley. In the early years of the war railway companies were reluctant to release workers to enlist in the army as there loss would impede the efficient functioning of the service. Nevertheless, John enlisted in November 1915 but was sent home because of his occupation. Placed into the reserve it wasn’t until May 1917 that he was released by the railway company to join the army.

It was in July 1917 that John now in the York and Lancaster Regiment arrived in France and was sent to join the 9^th Battalion. Later he was transferred to the 1/5^th Battalion and it was whilst serving with them that he received a gunshot wound to the left leg. Evacuated back to Britain. John was able to spend Christmas with his family back in Ilkley before he returned to hospital to complete his treatment. It was probably the last time that Hermon and Sarah would see their son alive.

John returned to France on 30^th March 1918 at an inauspicious time for the British Army. The German Spring Offensive had driven the British back across the old Somme battlefield and heavy casualties had left them seriously short of men. Instead of returning to his old unit he was sent as part of a draft of reinforcements to the 15^th Durham Light Infantry. The 15^th Durham’s were a tough, hardy and experienced North Country battalion of the sort that formed the unsung backbone of the British Army. At the beginning of the Spring Offensive instead of retreating they had attacked and beaten a much larger German unit. But their casualty rate was horrendous and they had lost 500 men including an Ilkley lad Albert Silverwood.

Soon both John and his new battalion were on the move. The British High Command expected a new German offensive near the town of Ypres where the 15^th Durham’s now took up position. On the 7^th April the new German offensive began hurling the British out of their front line and into retreat. The 15^th Durham’s were in the thickest part of the fighting and conducted a magnificent fighting retreat which would ultimately help the British to staunch this latest assault. But its brave conduct came at the cost of over half the battalion.

In 5 weeks of fighting the 15^th Durham’s had lost nearly one thousand men, was exhausted and in urgent need of rest. What was left of the battalion including John Coultas was sent south along with other battle weary units as replacements for French Divisions that would go north to help the British. Now under French command, they occupied inadequate trenches on the iconic ridge known as the Chemin des Dames, north of Soissons. The French had taken the ridge in 1917, although, their dreadful casualties had caused a mutiny. Now considered a quiet sector the 15^th Durham’s received a draft of reinforcements which brought them up to half strength. However, most of these new men were 18 year old raw recruits sent at short notice and barely trained.

At 1am on the morning of the 27^th May the German Army began a hurricane bombardment of the British front line. Yet again the 15^th Durham’s took the brunt of the assault and yet again refused to yield. For three days they fought magnificently against artillery bombardments, gas and stormtroopers but in the end it was simply too much for this weakened battalion and they were overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers. John Coultas died defending the Chemin des Dames but they date of his death is unknown, for in the confusion of the battle it was impossible to keep track of casualties and in reality he could have died at anytime between the 27^th and 29^th May 1918. In just 2 months the 15^th Battalion Durham Light Infantry had lost 1500 men, a far higher casualty rate than any other British battalion in the whole of the war.

The body of Private |John Coultas was never recovered and he is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing in Soissons and remembered with pride on our war memorial here in Ilkley.