Private Thomas Clark

Private Thomas Telfer Clark, 1st/4th ( Border) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action at Gallipoli, on 12th July 1915, aged 18, during the “Charge” on the Turkish Trenches at Achi Baba Nullah. He had been born in Darnick, was the son of Thomas and Jane Clark of Gattonside and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey. On that fateful day only 70 unwounded men attended roll call out of the over 700 Officers and Other Ranks who had begun the attack. The day became known as the “Black Day of the Borders” as nearly every Border town and village had lost at least one of their sons. The first photo shows Achi Baba, the objective, marked with a cross. This “hill” dominated the battlefield and was never captured. The second shows Borderers going over the top at Gallipoli and the third shows the battlefield in 1922.