Private George Gordon

Private George Adam Gordon, 10th ( Service ) Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He was killed in action in Belgium on 20th October 1917, aged 35, during the Third Battle of Ypres. He was the son of James and Euphemia Gordon of Dingleton, Melrose and the brother of Adam above and is buried in Minty Farm Cemetery, Flanders, Belgium. He had been employed as a postman in Melrose before moving to Auchterarder in Perthshire where he married Miss J.F. Gordon. In January 1915 he had enlisted in the 2nd/4th Battalion, K.O.S.B. before transferring to the 2nd Garrison Battalion, Royal Scots. In December 1916 he transferred again into the Argylls which were part of the 9th ( Scottish ) Division. The incessant shelling had destroyed the Flanders drainage systems and turned the ground into a desolate quagmire as can be seen from the photographs. An impressive Memorial was raised to commemorate the men of the 9th and 15th ( Scottish ) Divisions who fell during the Battle. The 10th Argylls were part of the 26th Brigade of the 9th Division. It was erected on the Frezenberg Ridge near the village of Zonnebeke in the Ypres Salient and it was unveiled in August 2007. A plaque in both Gaelic and English is affixed to the front of the Memorial and contains a quote from the Declaration of Arbroath.