Private Robert Fortune

Private Robert Fortune, 6th ( Service ) Battalion Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action in France, aged 24, on 9th April 1917 in the capture of “Thelus” trench as part of the Canadian capture of Vimy Ridge which itself was part of the larger Battle of Arras. He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Arras, France. He had been born at Gainslaw Hill, Berwick-upon-Tweed and was the son of Cornelius and Jane Fortune of Blackhouse, Preston and Green burn, Reston. Before enlisting he had been employed as a ploughman at Blackhouse, Reston and he had joined his Battalion in France in September 1916. The photographs show British troops accompanied by a tank in the main street of a captured village. The colour photograph shows the Memorial to the 9th ( Scottish ) Division of which the 6th K.O.S.B. was part. Beside the Memorial are the remains of a German blockhouse which was captured by the Battalion during the Battle. Due to the heavy traffic it was moved in 2006 to the nearby Pointe De Jour Military Cemetery where it stands today.