Private Peter Minto

Private Peter Minto, 1st/4th ( Border ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action at Gallipoli on 12th July 1915, aged 27, during the “Charge” on the Turkish trenches at Achi Baba Nullah. He was the son of the late James Minto of Blackley Brae, Bonchester Bridge and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey. That fateful day became known as the ” the Black Day of the Borders”. Casualties were very heavy with only 70 unwounded men out of the over 700 Officers and men answering the evening roll call. (The author’s great uncle Corporal James Murray was slightly wounded and sent to Alexandria, Egypt to recover.  Six weeks later he was back on Gallipoli ). Few Border towns and villages had not lost at least one of their sons.  The first photo shows Achi Baba marked with a cross. This “hill” , the ultimate objective, dominated the battlefield and was never captured. The second photo shows the Borderers attacking at Gallipoli and the third shows the battlefield in 1922.

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