Private William Crombie

Private William Crombie, 1st/6th (Morayshire) Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders. He died on 30th April 1917 in France of wounds received during the Battle Of Arras, aged 33. He had been born in Eyemouth and was the son of Elizabeth Crombie and the grandson the late William and Maggie Crombie of Gillies Wynd,  Eyemouth and is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, Etaples, France.  He had been working as a fisherman when he enlisted. His Headstone is inscribed ” One Of The Many To Answer The Call For Those He Loved He Gave His All “. He may have been wounded during the Highland Division attack on Roeux and the notorious Chemical works on the 23rd April. The photograph shows a group of Seaforths checking a dugout in a captured trench. The Battalion was part of the 152nd Brigade in the 51st ( Highland ) Division and after the War an impressive Memorial was raised in commemoration. It was erected on the Somme overlooking “Y” Ravine which was captured on the 13th November 1916 when the Division stormed the strong German positions in the village of Beaumont Hamel. A Plaque on the Memorial reads in both English and Gaelic ” Friends Are Good On The Day Of Battle”.