Private William Landels

Private William Albert Waugh Landels, 1st/8th ( Territorial) Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He was killed in France, aged 19, on the 17th March 1917 and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Arras, France. He had been born in Galashiels and was the son of Elizabeth Landels of 54 Douglas Place, Galashiels. He had been employed in the Abbotsford Mill in Galashiels when he enlisted joining his Battalion in France in 1916. His Battalion was part of the 152nd Brigade in the 51st (highland) Division and after the War an impressive Memorial was raised in Commemoration. It was erected in Newfoundland Park on the Somme overlooking “Y” Ravine which was captured when the Division stormed the strong German positions in Beaumont Hamel on the 13th November 1916. A Plaque on the Memorial reads in both English and Gaelic ” Friends are good on the Day of Battle”.