Second Lieutenant John Pringle-Pattison

Second Lieutenant John Ronald Seth Pringle-Pattison, 2nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders. He was killed in action, aged 19, in France on the 6th September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. He had been born in Edinburgh in 1897 and was the son of Professor Andrew Pringle-Pattison and Eva Pringle-Pattison of The Haining, Selkirk and 16 Church Hill, Morningside, Edinburgh. His father was a Scottish philosopher who had changed his name from Andrew Seth to include Pringle-Pattison to comply with the terms of a bequest which included the inheritance of the Estate of The Haining ).He had been educated at Merchiston Castle school, Edinburgh and the Royal military Academy, Sandhurst in August 1915. He was commissioned into the Gordon Highlanders in January 1916. He is buried in Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France. He fell in the vicious fighting for the village of Ginchy. At the third attempt and in conjunction of the 9th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment they finally broke into the village. However heavy shelling ( from both sides ) forced the remnants out again. Casualties were heavy with 5 Officers killed and 15 wounded out of the 22 who had begun the attack. The photos show Scottish troops on the Somme and the colour image shows a peaceful Somme landscape today.

Scroll to Top