Private John Kinnon

Private John Irvine Kinnon, 1st/4th (Border) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action on 12th July 1915 in Gallipoli during the “Charge” on the Turkish trenches at Achi Baba Nullah and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey.  He had been born in Yarrow and was the son of Thomas and Susan Kinnon of Lauderbarns, Lauder.  Before enlisting in September 1914 he had been employed as a farm servant at Newbiggin Walls, Lauder. Of the 700 assaulting Officers and Other Ranks only 70 unwounded men answered the Roll Call that evening.  That fateful day became known as “The Black Day of the Borders” as nearly every town and village had lost someone. The 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 into action and the third shows the Battlefield taken in 1922.