Rifleman Thomas Laidlaw

Rifleman Thomas Laidlaw, 8th ( Territorial ) Battalion, London Regiment ( Post Office Rifles ). He was killed in action in Belgium on 20th September 1917, aged 35, during the Battle of Third Ypres and is buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery, Zonnebeke, Flanders, Belgium. He was the son of the late William and Isabella of Island Street, Galashiels and the husband of Mrs Marion Laidlaw of Woolmarket, Berwick.  Before enlisting he had been a postman serving mainly the Foulden area and whilst being a native of Galashiels he had been in Berwick for five years before the War. He fell in the Battalion attack on “Wurst Farm Ridge”. The attack gained all its objectives but with 50% casualties. 3 Officers and 100 Other Ranks were killed and 6 Officers and 138 Other Ranks wounded.  Sergeant Knight won the Victoria Cross in this action. The photographs show the desolate nature of the Flanders battlefield after the incessant shelling had destroyed the drainage systems.