Private William Wilson

Private William Wilson, 1st Battalion, Scots Guards. He was posted missing presumed killed in action in France on 27th September 1915 during the attack on the ” Chalk Pits ” which was part of the Battle of Loos. He was aged 23 and was the son of James and Isabella Wilson of Holefield, Kelso, Roxburghshire and he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Dud Corner, Loos, France. This attack cost the Battalion  2 Officers and 113 Other Ranks killed or missing and 12 Officers and 324 Other Ranks wounded.  Before enlisting in Earlston in November 1914 he had been employed as a shepherd and a road surfaceman in the Kelso- Earlston area. He was posted missing during the Battle and was later presumed dead. The artist’s nightmarish illustration depicts a Battalion attack at Loos with the troops wearing their gas hoods and using primitive hand grenades.