Private Peter Whitlie

Private Peter Whitlie, 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. He was killed in action in France on 23rd April 1917, aged 31, during the Battle of Arras. He was the husband of Mary Forsyth Whitlie of Dykegatehead Farm, Chirnside and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Arras, France. He fell in a 30th Division attack  on the high ground overlooking Cherisy in the Sensee valley near Arras. The attack failed in the face of an intense machine gun barrage. 6 Officers and 55 Other Ranks were killed and 4 Officers and 195 Other Ranks were wounded. In addition 4 Officers and 209 Other Ranks were posted missing. This disaster cast the Battalion over 50% casualties. The photographs show British troops and a “little chum” in the main street of a captured village near Arras.