Private James Telfer

Private James Telfer, 15th ( 48th Highlanders of Canada ) Battalion, Canadian Infantry. He was killed in action in France, aged 34, on the 9th April 1917 during the storming of Vimy Ridge. He had been born in Jedburgh and was the son of Euphemia ( Telfer ) and the stepson of William Ballantyne  of 65 Castlegate, Jedburgh. He had emigrated to Canada in 1910 and was employed as a groom in Saskatchewan when he enlisted in January 1916 joining his Battalion in France in February 1917. He fell in one of the Canadian Forces’ greatest achievements in the capture of Vimy Ridge as part of the Battle of Arras. It cost the 4 Canadian Divisions 10,602 casualties of which 3,598 were fatal. He is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, Vimy, France. The photographs show the Canadians at Vimy.