Corporal Charles Johnston, M.M.

Corporal Charles Johnston, M.M., 1st/9th ( Highland) Battalion, Royal Scots. He died from wounds , aged 20, in France on the 26th April 1917 and is buried in Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension, Aubigny, France. At that time the Battalion was involved in the Battle of Arras which had opened on the 9th April. He was born in Selkirk in 1896 and was the son of the late Ebenezer Johnston and Hannah Johnston of Goslaw Green, Selkirk and 235 Galapark, Galashiels. Charles was Dux Medallist at Selkirk High School and joined his Battalion in France in December 1915. He was a Lance Corporal when he was awarded the Military Medal in late 1916. The Battalion was part of the 154th Brigade in the 51st ( Highland ) Division and after the War an impressive Memorial was raised in commemoration. It was erected overlooking “Y” Ravine on the Somme which was taken when the Division stormed the strong German positions in 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”.