Private John Scott

Private John Scott, 11th ( Service )Battalion, Royal Scots. He was killed in action in Belgium on 12th October 1917, aged 19, during the Third Battle of Ypres. He had been born in Edrom and was the son of Thomas and Jane Scott of Gavinton and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Flanders, Belgium. His Brother Thomas also fell ( see above ).  He had been a farm servant at Easter Printonan, Eccles when he enlisted in April 1917 joining his Battalion in June. He fell in the attacks on the German positions in ” Source Farm ” and ” Vat Cottages “. Conditions were dreadful with heavy rain thick slimy mud and strong defences. The attack could not progress in such awful conditions and casualties were high. 5 Officers and 51 Other Ranks were killed and 3 Officers and 160 Other Ranks were wounded. The utter desolation of the Flanders battlefield can be seen in the photographs. The colour photo shows the impressive Memorial raised to commemorate the men of the 9th and 15th ( Scottish ) Divisions who fell during the Battle. 11th Royal Scots were part of the 27th Brigade in the 9th Division. It was erected on Frezenberg Ridge near the village of Zonnebeke in the Ypres Salient. A plaque in both Gaelic and English is affixed to the front of the Memorial and on which is inscribed a quote from the Declaration of Arbroath.