Private John Rooney

Private John Rooney, 2nd Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in Belgium, aged 26, on the 8th November 1917 during the Battle of Third Ypres. He had been born in Melrose as John Mulvay and was the son of the late Jane ( Mulvay ) Rooney and stepson of William Rooney of Woodburn Cottages, Clovenfords, Caddonfoot. He had originally enlisted in the 6th K.O.S.B in November 1914 and went to France in May 1915 before being transferred to the 2nd Battalion. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Flanders, Belgium. Between 5th-12th November the Battalion occupied front line trenches in the Ypres Salient amidst the most appalling conditions. This tour cost the Battalion 180 men. The Regimental History that period as offering ” cold, wet, intense shelling, pill box receptions, fatigue, discomfort, sleeplessness and stench in the midst of a featureless and apparently endless morass”. The photos give a very slight indication of the miserable conditions endured by the troops.