Places > Book of remembrance for Tweeddale > Burgh and Parish of Peebles

BURGH AND PARISH OF PEEBLES. 1 87
67. Sergeant William 5. Ibimtcr.
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3Borber "Regiment.
1916 — July I.
OFFICIAL intimation was received from the Record Office, Preston, by
George Hunter, Oak Cottage, Old Town, Peebles, that his eldest son,
Sergeant WILLIAM S. HUNTER, of the Border Regiment, had been killed
in action on the 1st July 1916. Mr Hunter also received a letter from
the Chaplain of his son's battalion, in which he stated that Sergeant
Hunter's body had been found five months after the action in which
he went amissing. The body was found in No Man's Land, quite
close to the German line of trenches.
Sergeant Hunter was a native of Peebles, and was in South Africa
throughout the Boer War, serving with the troops there as a dispenser.
For his South African services he received two medals. When
war broke out in 1914 he was working in Carlisle, and there he
enlisted in the Border Regiment. Sergeant Hunter received a letter
from the Major-General commanding the 32nd Division, commending
him for his gallant conduct and devotion to duty on the field on the
5th June 1916. The Military Medal awarded to Sergeant Hunter,
" For bravery in the field," was subsequently forwarded to his father.
He came through the action of the 5th June without a scratch, but
only four weeks later he was reported as missing, and after an
interval of seven months the intelligence came to hand that he had
been killed in the engagement on 1st July.
Mr Hunter had another son, Nicholas, serving with the Colours,
in the East Lancashire Artillery. He went through the Dardanelles
campaign, but was fated to fall on 21st June [918.
It's a great thing to die for freedom,
As the Scots can die ;
To lead your comrades into battle
When dread dawn is nigh ;
To fear not death, nor to regard it,
But confront the foe,
With a word that men's hearts hold fast to
All the way they go.
It's a great thing — and great forever
Shall your young fame be,
Your words be graven on the rock walls
Of our Scottish sea.