Private William Middlemiss

Private William Middlemiss, 1st/9th ( Highland) Battalion, Royal Scots. He died of wounds in France on 5th December 1917, aged 20. He had been born in Greenlaw and was the son of the late James and Margaret Middlemiss and was brought up by his uncle and aunt  George and Mary Kerr of 4 North Street, Duns and is buried in Grevilliers British Cemetery, France. Before enlisting in the “Dandy Ninth” he was employed as a saddler with Mr Stevenson of Duns. It is likely that he was wounded either on 2nd or 4th December when the Battalion repulsed two German bombing raids on the trenches in the Moeuvres sector during the last actions of the Battle Of Cambrai. He had been shot in the head and died in the 29th Casualty Clearing Station at Grevillers never having regained consciousness. The Battalion was part of the 154th Brigade in the 51st ( Highland ) Division and after the War an impressive Memorial was raised in commemoration. It was erected on the Somme overlooking ” Y” Ravine which was taken when the Division stormed the German fortress of Beaumont Hamel on the 13th November 1916. A Plaque on the Memorial reads in both English and Gaelic ” Friends Are Good On The Day Of Battle”.