A Collection of Medals for the Gallipoli Campaign

Three: Private W. Paterson, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, who was killed in action at Gallipoli on the first day of the Third Battle of Krithia on 4 June 1915

1914-15 Star (8516 Pte. W. Paterson. K.O. Sco: Bord:) number officially corrected; British War and Victory Medals (8516 Pte. W. Paterson. K.O. Sco. Bord.) good very fine (3) £100-£140

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals for the Gallipoli Campaign.

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William Paterson was born at Inngreen, Kirkcudbright, in 1887, and attested for the 1st Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers at Dumfries. Disembarked at Gallipoli on 9 May 1915, the 1st Battalion was heavily engaged in the Third Battle of Krithia; launching themselves over the parapet and along Fir Tree Spur on 4 June 1915, the troops faced a frenzy of Turkish artillery and machine gun fire. 121 men were killed in action, including Paterson, many struck before they even had the opportunity to set eyes on their enemy. The Battalion War Diary adds a little more detail regarding the futility of the assault:
‘They suffered very severely, the majority being killed close to the parapet, though some succeeded in reaching a small nullah [gully/ravine] within the Turkish trench. The losses were carried chiefly by oblique and enfilade fire.’

Paterson has no known grave and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Turkey.