Private James Swanston

Private James Swanston, 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. He was killed in action in France on 30th July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, aged 30. He was the son of Mr and Mrs E. Swanston of East Lodge, Stitchill, Kelso and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Thiepval, Somme, France. He fell in the attack on the heavily fortified village of Guillemont. The Battalion reached its objectives but the flank attacks failed leaving the Fusiliers isolated and forced to retire. Casualties as ever were heavy. The assault began with 20 Officers and 750 Other Ranks and finished with 3 Officers and 140 Other Ranks. The photographs show what was left of Guillemont after its capture and Scots troops on the Somme and the colour image shows a peaceful Somme landscape today with ” no gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now”.

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