Lance Corporal John Wightman

Lance Corporal John Wightman, 7th/8th ( Service ) Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers. He died from wounds in the 10th General Hospital, Rouen, France on 3rd August 1917, aged 20. He had been born in Grantshouse and was the son of John Wightman of Greenhead, Reston and is buried in St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France.  He had been employed as a ploughman at Whitsome Laws farm, Whitsome when he enlisted. He was wounded during the Battle of Pilckhem Ridge which was the opening phase of the Third Battle of Ypres. The Battalion took their objective but with 57 dead and 240 wounded. He is also commemorated on the Cockburnspath War Memorial. The photograph shows the impressive Memorial raised to commemorate the men of the 9th and 15th Scottish Divisions who fell during the Battle of Third Ypres ( Passendaele ). It was erected on Frezenberg Ridge near the village of Zonnebeke in the Ypres Salient and was unveiled in August 2007. A quotation from the Declaration of Arbroath is inscribed on a plaque on the front of the Memorial. The photos show troops during the early stages of the Battle.