Lance Corporal John Todd Robson, 10th ( Service ) Battalion, Cameronians. He was killed in action in France, aged 34, on the 25th September 1915 on the first day of the Battle of Loos. He had been born in Jedburgh and was the son of William and Margaret Robson of Bondgate Mill House and Crown Lane, Jedburgh. He had been employed as a clerk in the Bondgate woollen mill and played rugby for Jed Forest R.F.C. He had also played rugby for the South of Scotland. He had landed with his Battalion in France in July 1915. He fell in the attack through Loos and onto Hill 70 which during the period 25th-27th September cost the Battalion the very heavy casualties of 16 Officers and 68 Other Ranks killed and 5 Officers and 318 Other Ranks wounded. In addition 239 Other Ranks were posted missing. He is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Dud Corner, Loos, France. The first photo shows an attack at Loos with the troops advancing through a ghostly cloud of gas and smoke. This was the first time the British Army had used gas in the War. The second photo shows the village of Loos after capture. ( Photo of Lance Corporal Robson courtesy of J. D. Smith ).
