Private Harry Dodds

Private harry William Dodds, 1st/6th ( Territorial ) Battalion, Black Watch. He was killed in action in Belgium, aged 21, on the 31st July 1917 on the first day of the Battle of Third Ypres. He had been born in Gordon, Berwickshire and was the son of James and Mary Dodds of 19 Canongate, Jedburgh. He was being trained in his father’s bakery business when he enlisted in January 1915. He originally joined the 9th Black Watch  but suffered from shell shock and spent some time in hospitals from November 1916 to march 1917. Upon recovery he was posted to the 6th Battalion. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium.  He fell in the attack on the German positions on the Steenbeek River. These positions were about 2,000 yards behind the German front line. Attack followed counter attack until both sides were exhausted. Battalion casualties were 1 Officer and 50 Other Ranks killed and 8 Officers and 234 Other Ranks wounded. In addition 9 Other Ranks were posted missing. The Battalion was part of the 155th Brigade in the 51st ( Highland ) Division and after the War an impressive Memorial was raised in its commemoration. It was erected in Newfoundland Park on the Somme where on the 13th November 1916 the Division stormed the strong German positions in the village of Beaumont Hamel. A plaque on the Memorial reads in both English and Gaelic ” Friends Are Good On The Day Of Battle”. The other photos show troops in the early stages of third Ypres.