Private William Bookless

Private William Bookless, 1st/4th ( Border ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action at Gallipoli on 12th July 1915 during the ” Charge ” on the Turkish trenches at Achi Baba Nullah and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey. He had been born in Swinton, Berwickshire and had enlisted in Chirnside. That fateful day became known as the “Black Day of the Borders” as at evening rollcall only 70 unwounded men answered the call out of over 700 Officers and Men who had begun the attack. Few Border Towns and Villages had not lost at least one of their sons that day. Both Colonel McNeile from Bowden and his Adjutant Major Lang from Newstead were killed. The contemporary photograph shows Achi Baba with the “hill” marked with a cross. It dominated the battlefield and was never captured. The second photo shows the Borderers attacking at Gallipoli and the third shows the battlefield in 1922.