Private George Calder

Private George Calder, 2nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders. He died from wounds in France, aged 18, on the 6th July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. He had been born in Leith and was the son of Robert and Annie Calder of Caddonlee, Clovenfords, Caddonfoot. He was fatally wounded at Mametz on the Somme and died in the 12th General Hospital, Rouen, France. He is buried in St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen, France. The Battalion had attacked the German positions south of Mametz on 1st July on the first day of the Battle and secured its objectives but at a heavy cost. 7 Officers and 119 Other Ranks were killed and 9 Officers and 119 Other Ranks were wounded. In addition 39 Other Ranks were reported missing. The Battalion was withdrawn to Reserve on the 3rd July. The first photo shows troops, purporting to be the Gordons, advancing across a wide coverless “no mans land” on the 1st July. The second, third and fourth show Scottish troops on the Somme and the colour image shows a peaceful Somme landscape today with ” no gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now”.

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