Private George Reid

Private George Reid, “A” Coy. 15th ( Service ) Battalion, ( 1st Edinburgh), Royal Scots. He was killed in action in France on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916, aged 25. He was the son of Charles and Jane Reid of Kelso and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Thiepval, Somme, France. When he enlisted he had been living in Edinburgh. He fell in the attack on the heavily fortified German positions at La Boiselle. Some of the objectives were take but casualties were very high. The Battalion lost 18 Officers of whom 11 were killed and 610 Other Ranks in killed wounded and missing. La Boiselle was finally captured on 3rd July. The  photo shows troops advancing over “no mans land” and it is noticeable how little  cover there was for the advancing troops. The colour photo shows a peaceful Somme landscape today with ” no gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now”.

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