Private William Herkes

Private William Herkes, 1st/4th ( Border ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action at Gallipoli on 12th July 1915, aged 30, during the ” Charge ” on the Turkish trenches at Achi Baba Nullah and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey. He had been born in Coldstream, to Robert and Eliza Herkes, lived in Kelso and had enlisted in the Town. Before enlisting he had been employed as a ploughman at Newtonlees, Ednam. That fateful day became known as the “Black Day of the Borders” as only 70 unwounded men answered evening roll call out of the over 700 Officers and men who had begun the attack. Few Border towns and villages had not lost at least one of their sons that day. The contemporary photo shows Achi Baba marked with a cross. This “hill” dominated the battlefield and was never captured. The second photo shows the Borderers attacking at Gallipoli. and the third shows the Battlefield in 1922.