Private Benjamin Burns

Private Benjamin Burns, 2nd Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in Belgium on 6th May 1915 and is commemorated on the Menin Gate, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium.  He had been born in Berwick, was the son of Mr John Burns of Edinburgh and had been employed in Berwick Post Office. He fell in the savage fighting in the Hill 60 sector of the Ypres Salient which took place towards the end of the Battle of Second Ypres. Hill 60 was a notorious spot in the Ypres Salient and it is estimated that 8,000 men died there in the continual attack and counter attack together with the incessant shelling. The artist’s illustrations try to depict the grim nature of the fighting.