Private William Chalmers

Private William Chalmers, 1st/4th Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action at Gallipoli on 12th July 1915 during the “Charge”  on the Turkish trenches at Achi Baba Nullah aged 21. He had been born in Terregles, Dumfriesshire and was the son of Alexander and Mary Chalmers of Dolphinton, Midlothian and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey. He had enlisted in the Territorial Force at Coldstream. Before the war he had been employed as a foreman gardener by Lady Askew Robertson of Ladykirk House. He was a noted cricketer and played for both Haggerston and Coldstream. That fateful day became known as the “Black Day of the Borders” because of the very heavy casualties in both Officers and Other Ranks. Twenty Officers took part in the attack and of these eleven, including the Colonel and his Adjutant were killed and a further six were wounded. Only 70 unwounded men answered evening roll call out of the over 700 Officers and Men who had begun the attack. The first photo shows Achi Baba, the objective, marked with a cross. This “hill” dominated the battlefield and was never captured. The second shows the Borderers “going over the top” at Gallipoli.

Scroll to Top