Lance Corporal John Stirling

Lance Corporal John Turner Stirling, 5th/6th ( Territorial ) Battalion, Royal Scots. He was killed in action in France on 11th August 1918, aged 20. He was the son of Crawford and Elizabeth Stirling of Samuelston Mains, Pencaitland and is buried in Bouchoir New British Cemetery, France. He had been born in Drem, East Lothian and had resided in Grantshouse. This action was part of the Battle of Amiens described by the German General Ludendorf as the “Black Day of the German Army”. On this part of the attack the artillery barrage was thin and ragged and all the allotted tanks broke down so progress was limited only to the right flank. Battalion casualties were heavy and 9 Officers were killed. This Battle also saw the beginning of the ” Advance to Victory” which ended with the German’s defeat on 11th November 1918. The photos show Allied troops advancing after the Germans during the final 100 days of the War.