Private Walter Sloan

Private Walter Scott Sloan, 2nd Battalion, Cameronians ( Scottish Rifles ). He died in hospital in France on 12th October 1917, aged 33, from wounds received in action during the Third Battle of Ypres. He was the son of Anthony and Jean Sloan and the husband of Helen Sloan of 11 Castlegate, Berwick. He is buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France. The photographs give some idea of the battlefield after the incessant heavy shelling had destroyed the fragile Flanders drainage systems and turned the ground into a desolate quagmire. ( Over 4 million shells were fired during the opening stages of the Battle ).