Captain James Boyd

Captain James Wilson Brack Boyd, 3rd Battalion Att. 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. He died in Belgium of wounds on 16th July 1916 aged 36. He was the son of William and the late Elizabeth Boyd of Faldonside, Melrose and is buried in Brandhoek Military Cemetery, Belgium. He had been born in Eckford, educated in Edinburgh and before enlisting he had had a career in Estate Management. He had been commissioned in September 1914 and had been wounded at Ypres in April 1915. At the time of his mortal wound he had been attached to the 16th Trench Mortar Battery. In 1916 the British Army used two types of trench mortar. The light 3 inch Stokes Mortar ( 1st photo ) and the 9.45 inch heavy mortar nicknamed the “flying pig “. ( second photo ). Theses weapons were normally used for close infantry support and were moved about to where they were needed.