Private William Leslie

Private William Leslie, 1st/4th ( Border ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action in Palestine on 2nd November 1917, aged 40. He had been born in Duns and was the son of Jane and the late John Leslie ( Sanitary Inspector ) of 42 Newtown Street, Duns and is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial. Before enlisting in March 1916 he had been employed as a tailor. At the time the Battalion were acting as support to the Cameronians ( Scottish Rifles ) and Royal Scots who stormed and captured two strongly fortified Turkish redoubts. There was heavy shelling on that day and it is probable that Private Leslie was killed by shellfire. The photographs show the Borderers in Palestine in late 1917. The third photo depicts Willie Cockburn, Alec Lawrie and Jim Murray all of whom played football for Coldstream F.C.