Private Robert Frier

Private Robert Frier, 1st/4th (Border) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was posted missing in action in Palestine, aged 34, on the 18th April 1917 and is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial, Israel. He had been born in Galashiels and was the son of James and Jane Frier of 10 Hall Street, Galashiels and the husband of Christina Frier of Stow, Mid Lothian. He had been employed as a cycle engineer in Galashiels when he enlisted as a Regular in the 15th King’s Hussars and served in India. He was discharged in 1910 into the Reserves and became a postman. He re-enlisted in the K.O.S.B. and joined the Battalion in Egypt serving there and in Palestine. On the 18th April the Battalion was entrenched on “Kurd Hill” awaiting their the attack the following Day. they were under fire from Turkish artillery and Private Frier and private Bell from Lauder were killed by one such shell. (His brother George also fell during the War – see above ). The photos show the Borderers in Palestine in 1917.