The Southern Reporter – Soldier Drowned in Border Loch

16 September 1915

The body of Private Gibson, 12th Scottish Rifles, was recovered from Williestruther Loch, near Hawick, on Friday forenoon. It is surmised that while swimming across the loch he had become entangled in a heavy bed of weeds, from which he could not extricate himself. The body was found in about 12 feet of water. Deceased belonged to Nuneaton, and was about 23 years of age.

The remains of the late Private A. C. V. Gibson (15780) of the 12th Scottish Rifles, Stobs Camp, who was drowned on Thursday while bathing in Williestruther Loch, and whose body was recovered the next day, were interred in Wellogate Cemetery on Sunday afternoon, with full military honours. It was a very impressive ceremony, and was watched by large crowds of people. There was a dense concourse of spectators on the streets and at the cemetery, while all the points of vantage around were occupied by crowds of people. The officers and men of the 12th Scottish Rifles were present in large numbers, and they were joined in the imposing procession by members of the Royal Scots, K.O.S.B., Royal Scots Fusiliers, Newfoundlanders, and others, at the head of the mourners being the deceased’s father and mother, brother and sisters, who had travelled from Nuneaton to be present at the last solemn rites. Wrapt in the folds of the Union Jack, the coffin was also covered with the deceased’s accoutrements, and wreaths of beautiful flowers, other floral tributes of exquisite design being carried at the side of the hearse by brother soldiers. The pipers of the battalion led the way playing a pathetic lament, the firing party walked with arms reversed, and the long procession attracted much attention. On arrival at the cemetery, the troops lined up, and a company of the soldiers carried the coffin shoulder high to the grave, where the soldiers formed three sides of a square. The Episcopal service was conducted by the Chaplain, the Rev. G. K. S. Clark, Glasgow, chaplain to the 12th Infantry Brigade at Stobs, after which the firing party fired three volleys over the grave of their dead comrade, and the buglers rang out the notes of the “Last Post.”