Private John Robertson

Private John Robertson 1st /4th ( Border ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action at Gallipoli on 12th July 1915 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 Linton and was the son of Nicholas Robertson. Before enlisting he had been employed as a farm servant in Linton. That fateful day became known as the “Black Day of the Borders” as at evening roll call only 70 unwounded men were present out of the over 700 Officers and Other Ranks who had begun the attack. The author’s Great Uncle Corporal Jim Murray from Coldstream was wounded and spent 6 weeks in hospital in Alexandria before returning to Gallipoli or “the Pen” as he called it. The first photo shows Achi Baba, the objective, marked with a cross. This “hill” dominated the battlefield and was never captured. The second shows the Borderers attacking at Gallipoli and the third shows the battlefield in 1922.