Private James Paxton

Private James Paxton, 1st/8th ( Territorial ) Battalion, Royal Scots. He was killed  by shellfire in France, aged 19, near Touquet on 19th December 1914. He had been born in Cockburnspath and was the son of William and Jane Paxton of Old Linhead, Cockburnspath and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Flanders, Belgium.  He had been employed as a Shepherd and had joined the 8th Royal Scots as a Territorial when it was formed in April 1914 and was mobilised with the Battalion on the outbreak of War in August 1914. This was the Battalion’s first experience of front line trenches and Private Paxton was amongst the first to fall. The photos show troops during the first Winter of the War.

Scroll to Top