Today is the centenary of the start of the Battle of Loos in Artois, France.  The heavy losses during the battle, especially in the attacks of the two Scottish New Army Divisions, the 9th and 15th, on the first day, touched nearly every community in Scotland.  They included a dozen Orcadians killed, in the first Great War battle in which the islands suffered casualties in double figures.  A biography of one of the twelve, George Swanson of the 7th Seaforths, has been added as a Word document to the Walls section of the website.  It also includes details, from his Australian service record, of the part played in the war by his brother William and can be downloaded direct as a pdf using the link below.