Lance Corporal William Todd

Lance Corporal William Halliburton Todd, 2nd Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He died of wounds in Belgium on 12th November 1917 aged 23 in the 54th General Hospital, Wimereux. He had been born in Ancrum and was the son of George and Mary Todd of Mason House , Lauder and is buried in Wimereux Communal Cemetery. He had been employed as a postman in Lauder and was a member of the Territorial K.O.S.B. being mobilised in August 1914. He was on home service as a Signals Instructor until posted to the 2nd Battalion in August 1917.The Battalion was in reserve at the time ready for the attack on Polderhoek during the Third Battle of Ypres and the diary describes the place as an” accursed spot ” due to the mud, the persistent artillery fire and continually sniping. The photographs show the utter desolation of the Flanders battlefield where the incessant shelling had destroyed the battlefield.