Corporal John Anderson

Corporal John Anderson, 5th/6th ( Territorial ), Battalion, Royal Scots. He was killed in action in France on 11th August 1918 during the “Advance to Victory” aged 26. He was the son of Agnes and the late James Anderson of Friarshaugh, Gattonside, Melrose and is buried in Bouchoir New British Cemetery, Somme, France. He had originally enlisted in the Lothian and Border Horse before transferring to the 11th Battalion, Royal Scots and then to the 5th/6th, Battalion. The cemetery was built after the Armistice by concentration nearby battlefield burials. He fell in an attack on the German positions in Parvilliers where the artillery barrage was ineffectual against the strongly wired defences and it was only on the right flank were any gains made. Casualties were heavy with 12 Officers killed and 3 wounded. The Battalion history does not mention the extent of Other Rank casualties. The photographs show allied troops advancing after the retreating German Army during the final 100 days of the War.