Private David Ballantyne

Private David Ballantyne, 7th/8th ( Service ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action in France on 15th September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, aged 19. He was the son of Robert and Isabella Ballantyne of Thorn Street, Earlston and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. He fell in the capture of Martinpuich by the 15th ( Scottish ) Division where the Battalion lost 9 Officers and 280 Other Ranks. He had only been in the trenches since the 13th September and before the War he had been employed by Messrs Simpson and Fairbairn. By autumn the rains had turned the ground into a glutinous quagmire making all movement very difficult as can be seen from the photographs.