Sergeant John Mitchell

Sergeant John James Mitchell, 1st/6th ( Territorial ) Battalion, Black Watch. He was killed in action in France on 20th July 1918, aged 21. He was the son of Thomas and Violet Mitchell of St. John’s Cottages, Newstead and is buried in La Neuville-Aux-Larris Military Cemetery., Marne, France. He fell in the fighting in the Bois de Courton where the 51st Highland Division fought three German Divisions to a standstill and blunted their offensives in that sector. The photo shows the impressive Memorial raised after the War to commemorate the men of the 51st ( Highland ) Division of which the Battalion was part. It was erected in Newfoundland Park on the Somme overlooking “Y” Ravine which was taken when the Division stormed and captured the very strong German positions in the village of Beaumont Hamel in November 1916. On the front of the Memorial is a plaque which reads in both English and Gaelic ” Friends Are Good On the Day Of Battle “.