Gunner William Laidlaw

Gunner William Laidlaw, “A” Battery, 291st Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. He died on Active Service in France, aged 36, on the 8th November 1918. He had been born in Galashiels and was the son of William and Mary Laidlaw of Galabank Street, Galashiels and the husband of Jane Laidlaw of 4 Paton Street, Galashiels. Before enlisting he had been a tailor in Galashiels and had landed in France with his Brigade in January 1917. He contracted influenza and died in the 15th Casualty Clearing Station in Don. He is buried in Don Communal Cemetery, Annoeullin, Nord, France where his Headstone is inscribed ” Fondly Remembered”. At this time the “Spanish Flu” epidemic was sweeping the World and claimed many more lives than the War itself. The R.F.A. used the 18 pounder artillery piece using both high explosive and shrapnel shells.