Private George Weir

Private George Weir, 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. He died in France in the 43rd Casualty Clearing Station on 5th November 1916, aged 38 from wounds received in action during the latter stages of the Battle of the Somme. He had been born in Morebattle and was the son of George Weir of Rutherford House, Yetholm, Kelso and is buried in Warlingcourt Halte British Cemetery, Saulty, Somme, France. His Headstone is inscribed ” Until The Day Break And The Shadows Flee Away”. Before enlisting in July 1916 he had been employed as Farm Steward at Woodside farm , Yetholm.  He was initially posted to the 7th/8th Battalion, K.O.S.B. but in France he was transferred to the R.S.F. He died exactly one month after arriving in France. The photographs show the state of the battlefield after the autumn rains turned the chalky nature of the ground into a glutinous quagmire making any kind of movement difficult. The colour image shows a peaceful Somme landscape today with ” no gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now”.

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