Walter Storrie Paton Age 24
2nd Lieutenant 11th Service (Lonsdale) Battalion, Border Regiment
9 Brigade, 32 Division
Died of wounds 1 July 1916 (Battle of the Somme)
Buried Lonsdale Cemetery, Authuille, France
Personal Background
Walter, born in Hawick, was the eldest son of John and Annie Paton, of Elderbank, St. Boswells. In 1901 he had two younger brothers and a younger sister. His father was a joiner in St. Boswells, but Walter did not follow in his footsteps and had been employed at the British Linen Bank in Melrose before the War. On the outbreak of war he joined the 15th Royal Scots (1st City of Edinburgh) as a Private. Early in 1915 he was appointed 2nd Lieutenant. He was gazetted to the Border Regiment stationed in Blackpool and went to Stirling for special training.
Military Background
On 2 June 1916, Lieutenant Paton was taken onto the strength of the Lonsdale Battalion. Three days later a Battalion raiding party entered German trenches and took 11 prisoners. There was a period of Battalion training until 24 June, when they took over trenches in the Authuille Sector from the Manchester Regiment.
After a week of continuous barrages from the British artillery, at 22.00 on 30 June, the Lonsdales moved to assembly trenches which had been specially dug for them in the thickest part of Authuille Wood. In these the Battalion spent the remainder of the night, incurring no casualties. The task assigned to the 97th Brigade in general, and to the 11th Border Regiment in particular, was a very difficult one; the objective was Mouquet Farm, but in order to effect its capture, the 97th Brigade had first to move north east and then swing to the east, while the Lonsdale Battalion had to move north out of Authuille Wood for some distance and then swing due east. The movement had not only to be calculated as to time, but had to be done under heavy fire.
At 07.30, on leaving their trenches in the wood, even before arriving at the front line British trenches, the Battalion came under terrific machine gun fire. There was no question of flinching; the companies, with men dropping every moment, moved steadily on, and on leaving the advanced British trench, pushed on straight to their front for a time, and then, as had been ordered, wheeled eastward. The attacking line, supported by the Lonsdales, was having a hard fight to try and reach the German trenches, but few were able to get so far, since the enemy machine guns were taking a terrible toll, mowing down men in scores, and causing heavy losses.
Lt. Colonel Machell, gallantly leading his men, was shot dead almost immediately, his adjutant was severely wounded, the second-in-command was wounded and within a very short space of time, out of 28 officer and 800 other ranks who left the wood, 25 officers, including 2nd Lieutenant Paton, and some 500 other ranks were killed, wounded or missing. Thus passed the first dreadful day of the infamous Battle of the Somme.
