Private Robert Douglas

Private Robert Douglas, 1st/8th (Territorial) Battalion, Royal Scots. He was killed in action in France, aged 39, on the 16th May 1915 and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. He had been born in Galashiels and was the son of Margaret and the late Daniel Douglas of Market Street, Galashiels and the husband of Christina Douglas of 14 Victoria Road, North Berwick whom he had married in Galashiels in 1897. He was a painter to trade and had enlisted in Haddington in August 1914 landing in France in November 1914. The 8th Royal Scots had the distinction of being the first of the Scottish Territorial Units to be deployed for action in France. He fell during the Battle of Festubert where the Battalion was heavily shelled whilst holding captured German trenches. and suffered 180 casualties in killed and wounded. The photos show troops during the Battle.