Private Moses Townsley

Private Moses Townsley, 1st/4th ( Border ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action at Gallipoli on 12th July 1915, aged 26, during the ” Charge ” on the Turkish trenches at Achi Baba Nullah. He was the son of Thomas Townsley of 19 Leet Street, Coldstream and the husband of Margaret Ford ( formerly Townsley ) of 2 Abbey Road, Coldstream. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey. Before the War he had been a valued member of Coldstream Football Club and had been employed by William Smith, Builders, of Coldstream. ( His photo shows him in his Coldstream F.C. strip in a team photograph ). His brothers Ambrose and William also fell. That fateful day became known as the ” Black Day of the Borders” as at evening roll call only 70 unwounded men answered out of the 700 Officers and men who had begun the attack. The first photo shows Achi Baba marked with a cross. This “hill” dominated the battlefield and was never captured. The second shows the Borderers attacking at Gallipoli. ( He is also commemorated on the Coldstream War Memorial ). The third shows the battlefield in 1922.

Scroll to Top