Private John Monks, 1st/8th ( Territorial ) Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He was killed in action in France, aged 20, on the 9th April 1917 on the first day of the Battle of Arras. He had been born in Cambusbarron in 1896 and was the son of the late Isabella and Alexander Monks of Cannon Street, Selkirk. He is buried in Roclincourt Military Cemetery, Arras, France. Before enlisting he had been employed as a piecer and teaser in the Ettrickvale Mills in Selkirk. After the War a very impressive Memorial was raised to commemorate the 51st ( Highland ( Division of which his Battalion was part in the 152nd Brigade. It was erected in Newfoundland Park on the Somme overlooking “Y” Ravine which was taken when the Division stormed and captured 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 “. The photos show troops during the Battle.
