Private Robert Geddes

Private Robert Geddes, 6th ( Service ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action in France on 5th July 1916, aged 27, during the Battle of the Somme and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France.  He was the son of Peter Geddes ( ex police constable in Berwick ) of Scots Place, Berwick. He had been born in Berwick and had enlisted at the Depot in the Town.  9 His brothers John and Joseph also fell – see below ).He was a Regular soldier and had served for ten years mostly in India with the 1st Battalion K.O.S.B. On returning home he was later transferred to the 6th Battalion.  He was a keen sportsman and was a member of both the football and tug of war teams. The Battalion had helped to capture Bernafay Wood on 3rd July and for the next few days dug in under a severe German artillery counter barrage. Between 3rd July and 9th July when the Battalion was relieved 16 Officers and 300 Other Ranks had become casualties. The photos show Scots troops on the Somme and the colour image shows a peaceful Somme landscape today ” with no gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now”.