Private James Stevenson

Private James Stevenson, 1st/4th ( Border )  Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action on 12th July 1915 in Gallipoli during the “Charge” on the Turkish trenches at Achi Baba Nullah, aged 19. He had been born in Edinburgh and was the son of James and Margaret Stevenson of The Row, Lauder and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey.  He had been a member of the Territorial K.O.S.B. and was mobilised with the Battalion in August 1914, landing on Gallipoli with the rest of the 52nd (Lowland) Division in June 1915. This fateful day became known as the ” Black Day of the Borders” as at evening roll call only 70 unwounded men answered out of the over 700 Officers and Other Ranks who had begun the attack. The first photo shows Achi Baba marked with a cross. This “hill” dominated the battlefield and was never captured. The second shows the Borderers going over the top into the attack and the third shows the battlefield in 1922.