Lance Corporal John Ballantyne

Lance Corporal John Ballantyne, 1st/4th (Border)Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action at Gallipoli, aged 35, on the 12th July 1915 during the “Charge” on the Turkish trenches at Achi Baba Nullah. He had been born in Jedburgh and was the son of Thomas and Helen Ballantyne of 8 Croft Street, Galashiels and before enlisting he had worked as a tailor in Kelso. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey. That fateful day became known as the “Black Day of the Borders” as out of the over 700 Officers and Other Ranks who had begun the attack only 70 unwounded men answered evening roll call. Few Border towns and villages had not lost at least one of their sons that day. The first photo shows Achi Baba the objective of the attack. This” Hill” dominated the battlefield and was never capture. The second shows the Borderers “going over the top” at Gallipoli and the third shows the battlefield in 1922.