Private James Hay

Private James Scott Hay, 2nd Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in Belgium, aged 17, on the 15th December 1915. He had been born in Galashiels as James Scott Tait and was the son of Janet (Tait) Hay and the step son of George Hay of 33 Hunter Square, Galashiels. He had been employed as a millworker when he enlisted (underage) in the K.O.S.B. Special Reserve in August 1913. He was posted to the 2nd Battalion in Belgium in December but was killed only one week later. 230 casualties from shelling and sniping were suffered during the 13 days the Battalion spent in the miserable conditions of the Neuve Eglise- Dranoutre sector without any actual fighting taking place. Conditions here were described by one Officer as “brutish and nasty”