Private John Buckham

Private John Buckham, ” A” Coy.,72nd Battalion ( Seaforth Highlanders of Canada ), Canadian Infantry. He was killed in action in France on the 9th April 1917 aged 26. He had been born in 1890 in Ashkirk and was the son of Andrew and Margaret Buckham of Thornfield Lodge, Selkirk. He is buried in Givenchy-En-Gohelle, Canadian Cemetery, Souchez, France where his headstone is inscribed ” To Memory Ever Dear”. He had served his apprenticeship in Selkirk before emigrating to Canada in 1912 where he was employed as a grocery clerk. He joined his Battalion in France in August 1916 and fell in the famous Canadian victory in the capture of Vimy Ridge on the first day of the Battle of Arras. The photograph show the Canadians attacking and on the top of Vimy Ridge after its capture. This was no bloodless triumph and the Canadian Corps suffered over 10, 000 casualties of which 3,598 were fatal.