Private John Currie

Private John Currie, 1st/4th ( Border ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He was killed in action at Gallipoli on the 12th July 1915, aged 33, during the “Charge” on the Turkish trenches at Achi Baba Nullah. He had been born in Selkirk and was the son of Thomas and Dinah Currie of 2a Bleachfield Road, Selkirk. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey. Before enlisting in August 1914 he had been employed as a woollen warper in Selkirk. He was also a well known bowler and football player in the Town. That fateful day became known as the “Black Day of the Borders” as out of the over 700 Officers and Other Ranks who had begun the attack only 70 unwounded Men answered evening roll call. Few Border towns and villages had not lost at least one of their sons that day. The first photo shows Borderers “going over the top” at Gallipoli and the second shows Achi Baba, the objective of the attack, marked with a cross. The third shows the battlefield in 1922.