9074 Pte Alfred Mess, 2nd KOSB

9074 Private Alfred Mess of the 2nd King's Own Scottish Borderers was killed in action on the 12th october 1914. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial in France.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Officers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

6519 L/Cpl Joseph Gullen, 1st Bn, KOSB

6519 Lance-Cpl Joseph Gullen of the 1st Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, was killed in action on the 26th April 1915. Joseph was 34 years old when he died. He was the husband of Agnes Gordon Gullen of 126, 1st Street East, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Joseph, who had arrived in Egypt as early as the 16th November 1914, is commemorated on a special memorial in Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery in Gallipoli, Turkey.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

6170 Pte William Rennie, 2nd Bn, KOSB

6170 Private William Rennie of the 2nd Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, was killed in action on the 20th December 1914. William, serving with H Company, was 26 years old at the time of his death. He was born in Annan, Dumfrieshire and enlisted at Dumfries.

William's number dates to around August 1908 and belongs to the series issued to men joining the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the KOSB. He almost certainly transferred to the 2nd Battalion in the autumn of 1914 and, retaining his 3rd Battalion number, arrived in France on the 26th October that year.

William was the son of William and Agnes Rennie, of Fish Green Lodge, Auchencairn, Castle Douglas. He has no known grave, and like so many others who fell in the Ypres salient, is commemorated on the Menin Gate.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War

15229 Pte Tague Dolan, 8th Bn, King's Own Scottish Borderers

Over the next few days I'm going to commemorate men killed during the Battle of Loos in 1915. Today, 25th September 2009, is the 94th anniversary of that battle; a battle which would see regular soldiers, Territorial Force soldiers and Kitchener volunteers fighting - with mixed fortunes - side by side.

15229 Pte Tague Dolan of the 8th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers was one of 139 8th KOSB men to die on 25th September 1915; a day which - according to Soldiers Died in the Great War - claimed the lives of 9,661 British soldiers, or the equivalent of nearly ten infantry battalions.

Tague Dolan was a Kitchener volunteer who was born in Glasgow, was living there when war was declared and who enlisted there too. His army number indicates that he joined the 8th KOSB in September 1914 and as such, he would have been one of the original 8th Battalion members.

Tague's medal index card indicates that he arrived in France on 10th July 1915 and he was missing, presumed dead on the 25th September 1915. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial.

I interviewed a number of Loos veterans in the 1980s and you can read the interviews, or extracts of interviews with Corporal Bill Howell (8th London Regiment) and Bombardier Len Gifford (Royal Horse Artillery) on my World War 1 Veterans blog.

Arthur Reeve was an old soldier who'd originally enlisted with the Royal Lancaster Regiment at Manchester in 1894. By the time the First World War was declared he had served his seven years with the Colours and five on the Reserve, but this did not stop him from enlisting with the KOSB Special Reserve in September 1914. Pretty soon, he found himself posted to the 8th Battalion where, as an old hand, his experience must have been invaluable. Arthur was wounded on the 25th September 1915 and you can read more about him and the 8th KOSB on my Chailey 1914-1918 website. Arthur Reeve's story is HERE, Loos Preliminaries are HERE, and the Battle of Loos is HERE. The 8th KOSB sustained nearly 400 casualties - killed, wounded and missing - on the first day alone.

The illustration on this post - a million miles from the battlefields of the Western Front - was executed by Sergeant Reeve whilst he was recuperating from his Loos wounds at Chailey. It depicts nearby Newick church.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

19940 Pte Alexander Grahamslaw, 7/8th King's Own Scottish Borderers

19940 Pte Alexander Grahamslaw of the 7/8th King's Own Scottish Borderers was killed in action on 23rd July 1918. Soldiers Died in The Great War records that he lived in Broughshaw, Antrim (now Northern Ireland) and enlisted at Ballymena, County Antrim. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission adds little, only that he is buried in Vauxbin French National Cemetery; grave reference I.C.3.

Alexander's army service number indicates that he joined the KOSB in May 1915 and his medal index card notes that he first arrived overseas on 25th November that year. The location 2b is recorded on his card, referring to Gallipoli. The 7/8th KOSB was not formed until June 1916 and so Alexander must have initially served in Gallipoli with another KOSB battalion.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC)
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in the Great War