Private Robert Elder

Private Robert Elder, 1st Battalion, Scots Guards. He was killed by a sniper through a gap in the trench parapet whilst in front line trenches near Richebourg-St. Vaast in France on 6th April 1915, aged 25, and is buried in Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, France.  A comrade Private Johns went to his aid but it was too late, he had been hit in the jugular vein. He had been born in Gretna in 1890 and was the son of Andrew and Jane Elder of 1 Garfield Street, Hawick. He had been a member of the Hawick Burgh Police Force when he enlisted in September 1914. along with a further four colleagues. The photos Show Scots Guards in trenches in 1915.