Private James Forsyth

Private James Elliot Forsyth, 1st/9th ( Highland ) Battalion, Royal Scots ( The Dandy Ninth ). He was killed in France on 18th April 1917, aged 21, during the Battle of Arras. He had been born in Berwick and was the son of Annie and the late Ralph of 1 Seafield Cottage, Spittal and is buried in Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France. At that time the Battalion were holding front line trenches near Fampoux. His Headstone is inscribed ” Boy Of My Heart Sweet Memories Of Thee That Shall Not Cease While Thou Art Gone”. The photo shows British troops accompanied by a tank in the street of a captured village near Arras. ( The Battle of Arras cost the Battalion 500 casualties ). The 9th Royal Scots were part of the 51st ( Highland ) Division and the photograph shows the Divisional Memorial which was erected at “Y” Ravine on the Somme where the Division stormed and captured the very strong German positions at Beaumont Hamel on the 13th November 1916 at the end of the Battle of the Somme. The Highlander atop the Memorial is looking out over “Y” Ravine. A Plaque on the Memorial reads in both English and Gaelic ” Friends Are Good On The Day Of Battle”.