Private Alexander Kelly

Corporal Alexander Purves Kelly, 16th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots. He was killed in action in France, aged 30, on 1st July 1916 during the First day of the Battle of the Somme and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial fot the missing of The Somme battles.  He had been born in Lauder and was the son of Christina and the late Andrew Kelly of High Street. Lauder.  Before enlisting in 1915 he had worked for a Solicitor in Lauder. He fell in the attack on the strongly fortified village of  Contalmaison where the Battalion suffered very heavy casualties. 12 Officers were killed or wounded along with 460 Other Ranks. The attack was made with their sister Battalion 15th Royal Scots as part of the 34th Division. The 16th Royal Scots was known as “McRae’s” Battalion after its founder Sir George McRae (pictured below) who raised it in Edinburgh in November 1914. It was original y made up from professional footballers from Heart of Midlothian (the whole first team signed up), Hibernian, Falkirk, Dunfermline and Raith Rovers together with fans and supporters. The photograph shows troops advancing over no mans land with very little cover and the ruins of Contalmaison.

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