Private John Ewart

Private John Linton Ewart, 5th ( Service ) Battalion, Cameron Highlanders. He was killed in action in France, aged 27, on the 21st March 1918 on the first day of the German Spring Offensives. He had been born in Selkirk in 1891 and was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Ewart of 7 Dunsdale Road, Selkirk and he is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, Pozieres, Somme, France. He had played rugby in Selkirk and was a professional sprinter. When he enlisted in Edinburgh in January 1915 he described himself as a professional footballer. He had previously been a Territorial for four years with the 4th K.O.S.B. He joined the 1st Camerons in France in September 1915 where he was wounded and evacuated to a hospital in Lancashire in February 1916. On returning to France he was posted to the 5th Camerons as a signaller. The photos show Allied troops preparing to resist the advancing Germans.