Private Thomas Weatherson Ormiston

Private Thomas Weatherson Ormiston, 12th ( Service ) Battalion, Royal Scots. He was killed in France on 24th March 1918 on the fourth day of the German March Offensive ( Operation Michael ) aged 19, and is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial. He had been born in Coldstream and was the son of Robert Ormiston and Janet Ormiston.who ran a drapers shop on  in 105 High Street, Coldstream. Before enlisting he had been an apprentice draper in his father’s business.  He enlisted in the 54th Training Battalion in March 1917 going to France on the 3rd March 1918. On 24th March the Battalion was holding a defensive line near Meaulte on the Somme in France but were forced to retire due to heavy German pressure on the flanks. They retired to a fall back position on the Albert- Amiens Railway line but suffered heavy casualties in doing so. 16 Other Ranks were killed, 8 Officers and 87 Other Ranks were wounded and 10 Officers and 287 Other Ranks were posted missing. Some of the missing would have been prisoners of war. The photographs show Allied troops preparing to resist the advancing Germans.