Private George Anderson

Private George Anderson, 1st/9th ( Highland), Battalion, Royal Scots ( The Dandy Ninth ). He was killed  in Belgium on 8th September 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres, aged 33. He had been born in Kelso, was the son of the late William and Betsy Anderson of Eccles Tofts, Coldstream and the husband of Isabella Broomfield Anderson of Baillieknowe Farm, Kelso. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Flanders, France. Before the War he had been employed as head gamekeeper by the Duke of Roxburgh whom he had served for 15 years. On 8th September the Battalion were holding front line trenches north of St. Julien and suffered some casualties through shellfire. The Battalion was part of the 154th ( Highland ) Brigade in the 51st ( Highland ) Division and was the only Battalion of the Royal Scots to wear the kilt hence the name “Dandy Ninth.  After the War the Division was commemorated by the raising of a very impressive Memorial. It was erected overlooking “Y” Ravine which was taken when the Division stormed the strong German positions in the village of Beaumont Hamel on the 13th November 1916. A plaque on the Memorial reads in both English and Gaelic ” Friends Are Good On The Day Of Battle”.