Private Robert Wyse

Private Robert William Wyse, air Mechanic 3rd Class, 55th Kite Balloon Section, Royal Flying Corps. He was lost at sea, aged 33, on the 31st December 1917. He had been born in Selkirk in 1885 and was the son of William and Catherine Wyse of Glebe Terrace and 13 Hill Street, Selkirk. Before enlisting he had been employed as a compositor with the ” Jedburgh Gazette” living in Jedburgh. He had originally enlisted in the Kings Own Scottish Borderers but was posted to the 10th Battalion, Cameronians. He was discharged from her “as unlikely to become an efficient soldier”. However he re-enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps in December 1915 and was drowned when the Troopship ” Osmanieh” struck a mine at the entrance to Alexandria Harbour, Egypt. He is commemorated on the Chatby Memorial, Alexandria. 209 personnel including 9 nurses were lost. ( one of the survivors was Jack Cohen of the Royal Flying Corps who later founded Tesco ). The vessel was a passenger and cargo ship requisition by the Admiralty as a Troopship in 1916 and was carrying soldiers and medical personnel from Southampton to Alexandria when she was sunk.