Private Robert Hume Thomson, 51st Battalion, Australian Infantry. He was killed in action in France, aged 40, near Villers-Bretonneux on the 24th April 1918 during the German Spring offensives. He had been born in Glendale, Northumberland and was the son of Mary and the late Robert Thomson of Sharplaw and 2 Exchange Street, Jedburgh and the husband of Margaret Thomson of Edward Street, Perth, Western Australia. Before emigrating he had worked as a gardener at Hunthill, Jedburgh and continued to work as a gardener in Australia before enlisting in June 1917 and going to France in early April 1918. He is buried in Adaleide Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, France where his headstone is inscribed” Though Death Divides Fond Memory Clings”. His two brothers Charles and George also fell – see above . ( Photograph of Private Thomson courtesy of J. D. Smith ). The photos show Allied troops in scratch defensive positions.
