Corporal John Frater

Corporal John Frater, 1st/4th ( Border ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He died on 14th July 1915 on Gallipoli of wounds received during the “Charge” on the Turkish trenches at Achi Baba Nullah on 12th July. aged 19. He was the son of Walter and Agnes Frater of Ayton and is buried in Lancashire Landing Cemetery, Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey. He had joined the Territorials aged 16 and had been employed as a painter by J. Hume of Ayton. That fateful day became known as the “Black Day of the Borders” as out of the over 700 Officers and men who had begun the attack only 70 unwounded men answered evening roll call. Few Border towns and villages had not lost at least one of her sons that day. The first photo shows Achi Baba marked with a cross. This “hill”, the ultimate objective, dominated the battlefield and was never captured. The second shows the Borderers going over the top at Gallipoli.