Private Andrew Ballantyne

Private Andrew Ballantyne, 2nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders. He was killed in action in France, aged 21, on the 6th September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. He had been born in Galashiels and was the son of Andrew and Margaret Ballantyne of 10 Mansfield Place, Hawick. He had been employed as a drapery warehouseman in London when he enlisted in October 1915 joining his Battalion in France in June 1916. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. He fell in an attack on the village of Ginchy. The Battalion together with 9th Devons broke into Ginchy where they were shelled by both German and British artillery forcing a withdrawal. 5 Officers were killed and 15 wounded. The photos show Scots troops on the Somme in 1916.