George Gagie
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GAGIE, Gunner George, No. 80503, 142nd Siege Battery RGA, died of influenza at the 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station on 15th November 1918, and is buried Auberchicourt British Cemetery George Gagie was the son of George Gagie, general labourer, and Margaret Gagie (née Tarbit) and was born in early 1895 in South Shields. His parents had married in Wooler in 1885. In 1901 the family lived at 13 Collingwood Terrace, Roman Road, South Shields. George had two older sisters Jane Rebecca (b 1889) and Agnes Margaret (b 1889). The eldest sister Jane died in 1902 aged 13 and the following year their mother Margaret died. It is likely that their father had also died by 1911, when George and Agnes Margaret were living with the Dunbar family in Wooler. George was working on the Cottage Farm and his sister was working as a cook in the Cottage Hotel (now the Tankerville Arms Hotel) Wooler. Annie Dunbar (née Tarbit) was their late mother’s sister and Annie’s sons David DUNBAR (qv) and George DUNBAR (qv) were their cousins. It is revealing that Annie Dunbar, mother of David and George Dunbar, and Agnes Dunbar, sister of George Gagie, were linked as dependants in the linked pension claims in relation to George Gagie and George Dunbar. Clearly the surviving members the two families were close. George Gagie was still living and working on Cottage Farm when he enlisted on 9th December 1915. He named his sister Agnes as next of kin. She was living in Clarence Crescent, Whitley Bay. George was posted first to the Army Reserve and then was mobilised on 13 May 1916 and posted to No 4 Depot (Heavy and Siege) Royal Garrison Artillery at Ripon, and then to the 142nd Siege Battery RGA on 10th June 1916. 142nd Siege Battery was raised at Tynemouth and was one of ten new Siege Batteries authorised by the Army Council. George Gagie arrived in France on 9th August 1916 with the battery, which was attached successively to a series Heavy Artillery Groups (HAGs) in 1916 and 1917 until it moved to 34 HAG (later 34th Brigade RGA) on 28th December 1917. The 142 Siege Battery remained with 34th Brigade until after the Armistice. Apart from a two week furlough (10th – 24th September 1918) spent in England, George Gagie served with the battery throughout until he was admitted to the 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station suffering from influenza on 13th November 1918; he died on 15th November 1918.[Note 1] Memorials: Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, Reredos St Marys Church (NEWMP W68.02) See also: Bailiffgate Collections - George Gagie; Coldstream Local History Projects - Gnr George Gagie; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 80503, Gnr George Gagie. 07/08/2018; 24/04/2019; 11/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
James Gallon
Photo IRS 10 Sept 2019
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GALLON, Pte James, No. 27895, 12th (Service) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died on 3rd July 1916, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France James Gallon was one of twin boys born to William Gallon, and Isabella Gallon (née Lambert). James's twin brother was George, and the boys were born in 1890 at Kimmerston, Ford, Northumberland. They had two older sisters, Emily (b c 1886) and Sarah Jane (b c 1889) and a younger sister Margaret (b c 1892) and a younger brother Richard (b c 1897). The family lived at West Weetwood when the War broke out and prior to enlisting James worked for Mr Ronald Barber of Weetwood Farm. By the middle of 1917 the family lived at Path Head, Wooler, and in 1919 they were living at High Burn House, Wooler, where Isabella Gallon died in 1923. James and his twin George, and their brother Richard attested in December 1915, but were not necessarily called up immediately. James was initially posted to the 15th (Reserve) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers for training at Rugeley Camp Staffordshire. He was posted then to the 12th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, which was under the orders of the 62nd Brigade, 21st Division and had landed in France in September 1915. James Gallon was part of a later reinforcement. The 21st Division was assigned to XV Corps in Rawlinson's Fourth Army for the Battle of Albert (1st-13th July 1916), and on 1st July the 62nd Brigade had the job of carrying ammunition and supplies to the forward Brigades, but during the night of 2nd and early morning of 3rd July the 62nd Brigade took over the positions in front line that had been held by 64th Brigade. The 10th battalion Yorkshire Regiment was on the right of the Brigade position and the 1st battalion Lincolnshire Regiment on the left, with the 12th and 13th battalions Northumberland Fusiliers were in support. Orders were given personally by General Campbell, GOC 21st Division, for an attack on Shelter Wood. The casualties from the 12th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers on 3rd July included 37 men killed among them James Gallon. His younger brother Richard GALLON (No. 113562, Royal Garrison Artillery) (qv) also served in the war and died in June 1920. James, George and Richard Gallon were cousins of John and William HUNTER (qv).
Memorials: Chatton, Village Green Cross 1914-18 & 1939-46 (NEWMP C20.01); Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, Reredos St Marys Church (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, West Church Communion Chair (NEWMP W68.06)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - James Gallon; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte James Gallon; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 27895, Pte James Gallon. 24/04/2019; 25/11/2021; 11/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
Richard Gallon
Photo IRS 10 Sept 2019
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GALLON, Gunner Richard, No. 113562, 349th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, died on 16th June 1920, aged 23, and is buried in Wooler (St. Mary) Church Burial Ground, Northumberland The youngest child of William Gallon, and Isabella Gallon (née Lambert), of Brae House, Cheviot St, Wooler, Richard Gallon was born in 1896 at Kimmerston, Ford, Northumberland. He had three older sisters - Emily, Sarah Jane and Margaret - and two older brothers Richard and George who were twins. Richard Gallon is in a list of men who have recently attested at Wooler published on 24th December 1915, but that does not necessarily mean that he joined up immediately. His personal service records do not survive, but there are records of him serving with at least two Siege Batteries. The Royal Garrison Artillery medal rolls record service with the 202nd Siege Battery, and his CWGC entry records service with the 349th Siege battery, but the dates of his service with two batteries are not recorded. The 202nd Siege Battery arrived in France in December 1916, and was under the command of 65th Artillery Brigade and was among the Army Troops of Second Army by late 1917 and in 1918. The 349th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery went to France in June 1917 and was equipped with two 12inch Howitzers. In August 1917 the battery was operating in the Ypres Salient, but from January 1918 the battery came under Army Troops, and by 11th November 1918 it was among the Siege Batteries of Fifth Army that were not brigaded. There is no record of his date of discharge from the Army. His older brother James GALLON (qv) also served in the war and died in 1916. Richard and James Gallon were cousins of John and William HUNTER (qv).
Memorials: Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, Reredos St Marys Church (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, West Church Communion Chair (NEWMP W68.06)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Richard Gallon; Coldstream Local History Projects - Gnr Richard Gallon; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 113562, Gnr Richard Gallon; 07/08/2018; 24/04/2019; 11/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
Thomas Gallon
The Berwick Advertiser (Friday 28th July 1916, p.6) reporting his death in action stated that he enlisted on 1st October 1914 and ‘underwent a fortnight’s training with the 10th Northumberland Fusiliers at Bull’s Water Camp, Surrey’ after which he was judged ‘medically unfit’. This does not quite agree with his surviving service record (TNA WO363)
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GALLON, Pte Thomas, No. S/9412, 7th (Service) battalion Seaforth Highlanders, was killed in action on 7th July 1916, aged 23, and is buried in Carnoy Military Cemetery, Somme, France Private Thomas Gallon was the sixth of the eight children of William Young Gallon and his wife Mary and was born in 1893. The couple had married in early 1882. Thomas had three older sisters, Grace (b 1883, Carham), Mary Jane (1886, Doddington), and Janet Euphemia (b 1888, Doddington), two older brothers Henry (b 1884, Doddington) and John William (b 1890, Doddington). He also had two younger sisters Eliza Catherine (b 1895) and Edith Elizabeth (b 1898). The latter were both baptised at the West Chapel, Wooler. In 1911 Thomas was working as a horseman on a farm. When he attested on 26th October 1914 his occupation was recorded ‘labourer’. He was posted to the 10th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers on 31st October but discharged from the Army on 5th November 1914 under Paragraph 392 (iii) of King’s Regulations as ‘not being likely to become an efficient soldier’. He had served just eleven days. On his medical record for his discharge his occupation was shown as ‘quarryman’. However undeterred Thomas Gallon subsequently enlisted with the Seaforth Highlanders along with his friend James Ayton BROWN (No. S/9411) (qv). After training Thomas Gallon and his friend James Brown both disembarked in France on 11th November 1915. They joined the 7th battalion Seaforth Highlanders, which was under orders of 26th Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division and had disembarked at Boulogne in May 1915. The battalion had fought in the Battle of Loos and had suffered heavy casualties and required re-organisation and refitting. His friend James Brown was killed on 24th November 1915 within two weeks of landing in France. For most of June 1916 the 7th battalion had been training in preparation for the forthcoming offensive on the Somme. On 27th June the battalion moved to the Bois Celestins behind the front line, and on the eve of the battle there was a concert in the wood. On 1st July the battalion move the Grove Town north of Bray; on 2nd July the battalion received orders that they move for duty with 18th Division to dig trenches, but these orders were cancelled, and the battalion remained at Grove Town. Then in the afternoon of 4th July their bivouacs were swamped by a heavy thunderstorm. The War diary (TNA WO95 1765/1) records ‘200 new shirts procured from stores to replace wettest’. The battalion moved to billets at Billon Wood. On 7th July the battalion remained behind the front line in Billon Wood, but the war diary records that ‘2 OR killed on R.F.A. [Royal Field Artillery] working party’. Presumably Thomas Gallon who died on 7th July was one of the two men killed. He was 23 years old. He is buried in the Carnoy Military Cemetery. Memorials: Crookham, Plaque 1914-18, Presbyterian (NEWMP C66.01); Ford, Plaque 1914-18, St Michael & All Angels (NEWMP F23.01); Scottish National War Memorial RoH - No. S/9412, Thomas Gallon;
See also: Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Thomas Gallon; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. S/9412, Pte Thomas Gallon; 23/07/2020; 06/11/2020; 25/11/2021; 20/04/2023; 12/06/2023; 22/06/2023; 14/02/2024 |
David Gibson
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GIBSON, Pte David, No. 16474, 8th (Service) battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, missing presumed killed on 26th September 1915, he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Dud Corner Cemetery, Loos-en-Gohelle, Pas de Calais, France David Gibson was born at North Sunderland, Northumberland in 1892. He was the youngest of the four children of Elizabeth and George Gibson. George Gibson was Elizabeth’s second husband. Elizabeth Gibson (née Cowe, b c 1850) had married her first husband Andrew Hewitt in 1869 and the couple had had two daughters, Mary Eleanor Hewitt (b 1873) and Margaret Hewitt (b 1875). Andrew Hewitt died in 1877 aged 36, leaving Elizabeth alone with the two young girls. In 1881 Elizabeth and her daughters were living at Henhill Farm, Newham, near Belford where Elizabeth was an ‘outdoor worker’. In 1888 Elizabeth married her second husband George Gibson and the couple had four children: George Gibson (b c 1887, North Sunderland), Julia Ann Gibson (b 1888, North Sunderland), Robert Henry Gibson (b 1890) and lastly David Gibson (b 1892, North Sunderland). In 1891 the family were living at Springhill, Shoreston, near North Sunderland. The father George Gibson died in 1898 aged 49 years. In 1901 the family were still at Springhill and Elizabeth Gibson and her four children by George Gibson had been joined by her elder daughter Margaret Eleanor Hewitt from her first marriage. Margaret was described in the 1901 Census return as a ‘domestic servant’. Elizabeth Gibson died in 1907 aged 57. In 1911 David Gibson, then 19 was boarding with Robert and Maria Hall in Ashington and working as coal miner. By 1914 George and Robert Henry were also living in Ashington and presumably working in the Northumberland Coalfield. David Gibson attested on the 2nd October 1914 aged 22 years 7 months. In his service record his next of kin were listed as his brothers George Gibson (aged 32) and Robert Gibson (aged 29), both living in 8 Row, Ashington; his sister Julia Anne Lillie (née Gibson) (aged 30) of South Berrington, Ancroft, and two half-sisters Mary Eleanor Humphries (née Hewitt) (aged 46) of Thornton Bank, Berwick and Margaret Richardson (née Hewitt) (aged 44) of Burley Road, Enfield, Middlesex. David Gibson was posted to the 8th (Service) battalion East Yorkshire Regiment on 8th October 1914. The 8th battalion East Yorkshire Regiment was under the orders of 62nd Brigade, 21st Division. The 21st Division was a ‘New Army’ division and embarked at Folkestone for France and the Western Front on 9th September disembarking at Boulogne. Between 11th and 20th September the battalion ‘carried on with field training’. The 21st Division and another ‘New Army’ Division, the 24th, which had begun its move to France a little earlier in August 1915, were ordered to march to Loos, where they were to form the reserve supporting Haig’s 1st Army (I and IV Corps) during the battle. The 21st and 24th Divisions together with the Guards Division formed Hacking’s IX Corps. The two ‘New Army’ Divisions were the first such divisions to be committed to a large scale action when ordered to launch an attack on the second day of the Battle of Loos. On the evening of 20th September 1915 the 8th East Yorkshire battalion began its march towards Loos, marching at night and resting during the day. The battalion reached Wittes at 2am on 21st September and rested until 7pm when it continued its march. The battalion arrived at Ecquedecques on 1.00am on 22nd September and billeted. The battalion now was just 8 miles from trenches. On 25th September the 8th battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, left its billets and began its march through Noeux le Mines and Loos to launch an attack on the Hill 70 redoubt. ‘The direction was for Hill 70 thro’ LOOS and over the Slack heaps’. The attack was launched at 3pm on 25th September from the Bethune-Lens Road. The battalion quickly came under heavy artillery fire (War Diary TNA WO95 1424/2 25th September 1915). The attack continued on 26th September.
The sketch map reproduced here from the War Diary of the 62nd Brigade HQ (TNA WO 2151/1) purports to show the relative position of its battalions: the 13th Northumberland Fusiliers positioned across the road running NE from Loos. To their south the 12th Northumberland Fusiliers in two lines east of Loos. Next the 10th battalion Yorkshire Regiment in two lines to the southeast of Loos, and finally the 8th East Yorkshire Regiment drawn as a single line a little further south, partly across a slag heap.[Note 2]
On 27th September the 62nd Brigade was relieved and withdrew to billets are Noyellles. The 8th East Yorkshires came under heavy artillery fire during the relief. For the 8th battalion East Yorkshire Regiment
David Gibson was just one of the large number of men missing after the attack by units of the 21st Division on 26th September 1915. The CWGC lists 81 men of the 8th battalion who were lost during the attack on 26th September, 74 of whom have no known grave and are commemorated on the Loos Memorial. Only seven of the men who died on 26th September have a known grave.
David Gibson's sole legatee was his married sister Julia Ann Lillie (née Gibson). Julia Ann Gibson had married James Lillie in 1911. Memorials: Eglingham, Roadside Cross 1914-18 1939-45 (NEWMP E18.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - David Gibson; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No 474 [recte No. 16474], Pte David Gibson; 22/10/2022; 09/02/2023; 10/02/2023; 11/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
Henry Gibson
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GIBSON, Pte Henry, No. 7/1549, 1/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died on 27th March 1916, and is buried in the Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm), West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Henry Gibson was the eldest of the six children of Ralph Gibson and Margaret Ann Gibson (née Ternent), of Haugh Head, Wooler, previously of Railway Cottages, North Middleton. He was born in early 1898 at West Weetwood and christened on 4th February 1898 at the West Chapel Wooler. He had four sisters – Elizabeth Gladys (b 1899), Ada Jane (b 1902), Martha (b 1904) and Mabel Isobel (b 1907) - and a brother Adam (b 1910) who was the youngest of the family. In 1911 the four oldest children were still at school. Although he was a Territorial before the War, Henry Gibson was only 16 in 1914 and was too young to serve overseas. He was not listed in the nominal roll of the 7th battalion when it went to France with the 50th (Northumbrian) Division in April 1915. However, he did land in France on 1st November 1915 when he was still only 17 years old. He served with the trench mortars, and was killed by a bursting shell during a dawn stand-to in March 1916 together with his officer and nine others from the 10th platoon of "C" Company. The battalion war diary records heavy shelling by the Germans at 4.15am on 27th March and records one officer and 7 other ranks killed and two officers and 16 other ranks wounded between the evening of 24th March and the evening of 27th March when the battalion was in the trenches (TNA WO95 2830/1, 27th March 1916). Henry Gibson had just had his 18th birthday when he was killed. He was a friend of John HINSON (qv). Memorials: Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, Reredos St Marys Church (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, West Church Communion Chair (NEWMP W68.06). ROH 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, in Buckley, War History of the Seventh Northumberland Fusiliers, Appendix IV, p.136-144 (NEWMP A11.59);
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Henry Gibson; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 7/1549, Pte Henry Gibson; 07/08/2018; 24/04/2019; 25/11/2021; 11/04/2023; 22/ |
John Henry Gibson
Ernest Gibson
3rd (Reserve) battalion was based at East Bolden, near Sunderland; 15th (Reserve) battalion was based at Darlington until November 1915 when it transferred to Rugeley Camp,
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GIBSON, Pte John Henry, No. 15455, 8th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died on 25th September 1916, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France John Henry Gibson was the third child and second son of Henry Gibson and Eleanor (Ellen) Gibson (née Wright). Henry Gibson (b 1867) was from Rothbury and Eleanor Wright (b 1868) from Bamburgh, and they married in Bamburgh in 1889. They settled at Lucker, where their first child Thomas (b 1889) was born. Their second child Margaret Ann (‘Annie’) (b 1892) was born in Newcastle, but the next four children – John Henry (b 1895), Ernest (b 1897), John (b c 1900) and James (b c 1902) - were born in Gateshead. That John Henry was generally known as Henry is confirmed by the fact that he had younger brother called John. In 1901 Henry Gibson senior was working as a railway goods porter and the family lived at 123 Marian Street, Gateshead with five of their children, Thomas (11 years), Annie (8 years), (John) Henry (6 years), Ernest (3 years) and John (1 year). James was born the following year in Gateshead. The next five children – Ralph (b c 1904), Septimus (b 1905), Hilda Jane (b 1907), and twin boys Andrew and Richard (b 1910) - were born at Norham. By 1911 the family had moved to Windmill Cottage, Shorewood, Norham, and Henry the father was working as a shepherd, and Thomas and John Henry were agricultural labourers. By then, in addition to the eleven surviving children the couple had had two other children who had died young. A further child – William – was born in 1912 in Norham. When their daughter Annie married James Nesbit at Beaumont Presbyterian Church on 3rd April 1915, Henry and Ellen were living at Shotton, Mindrum (Berwick Advertiser, 9th April 1915, p 3), and by 1917 the family had moved to Thornington, Mindrum (Berwickshire News, Tuesday 20 March 1917, p 4; Berwick Advertiser, 28th September 1917, p 3). In the absence of a service record it is uncertain precisely when Henry enlisted, but he served in the Dardanelles in 1915 qualifying for 1914-1915 Star. Initially he was possibly posted to the 3rd (Reserve) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers for training. The 8th (Service) battalion, with which Henry was later to serve, received orders for mobilisation on 30th June 1915. The battalion was under orders of 34th Brigade, 11th (Northern) Division. The battalion embarked at Liverpool on HMT Aquitania, the newest Cunard liner launched just the year before. The battalion landed in Mudros Bay on 11th July, and remained there for almost a month. On 5th August the battalion was carried to Sulva Bay by two torpedo boat destroyers and landed by lighters in the dark at 4.30am on 6th August. John Henry Gibson is recorded as entering the theatre of war on 9th September 1915, and the 8th battalion war diary records on that day that a “draft of 113 men [from] 3rd B[attalio]n joined” (TNA WO95 4299, 9th September 1915). It is just possible that John Henry was with this draft but perhaps more likely that he joined with the draft of 100 men from the 15th (Reserve) battalion that joined on 14th September (op. cit. 14th September 1915). He served with No. 2 Section, 1st Platoon, "W" Company (Berwickshire News, Tuesday 14 December 1915, p 6). The 8th battalion was evacuated from Sulva Bay in two parts on 17th and 19th of December 1915, and the battalion reassemble on 23rd December in the Brigade Camp on Imbros. The battalion embarked for Alexandria on 27th and 29th January 1916 and landed on 2nd February. It remained in Egypt until 1st July 1916 when it embarked on the Llandovery Castle for Marseille. The ship arrived on 9th July and the battalion landed on 10th July and entrained for St Pol (Pas de Calais) where it arrived on 13th July and marched to Penin and went into billets. On 20th July the battalion marched to Brétencourt to the south of Arras where it relieved the 1/4th (TF) battalion Royal Lancaster Regiment in Brigade reserve. The battalion remained at Brétencourt behind the Wailly sector of the line until 28th July. On the 29th July the battalion relieve the 11th (Service) battalion Manchester Regiment in the trenches, with "W", "X" and "Z" Companies occupying the firing line and supports while "Y" Company was in reserve. While in the trenches the men undertook night wiring and trench repairs. In August 1916 the battalion alternated stints in the trenches and in reserve, with periods resting and training. On midnight on 2nd September the battalion went by train to Puchvillers and went into billets. It remained at Puchvillers until 8th September when it moved to billets at Bouzincourt where it remained until 16th September. It was training, drilling and practising musketry during this period out of the line. On 17th September the battalion moved into Brigade reserve at La Boiselle. On 22nd September it went into billets at Englebelmer. The 11th (Northern) Division was part of Jacob’s II Corps. Gough’s Reserve Army, which comprised II Corps, V Corps (Fanshawe) and the Canadian Corps (Byng), was to launch the attack that would lead to the taking of Thiepval and the associated heights (Battle of Thiepval, 26 – 28 September 1916). On the night of 25th/26th September the 8th battalion relieved the 6th (Service) battalion York and Lancaster Regiment in the front line. The relief was completed by 3.30am. At 12.35pm the 8th battalion launched its assault on the Zollern Redoubt. As the battalion left its trenches the German artillery opened a barrage onto the front line. The report in the war diary describes how the barrage, and the machine gun fire from Mouquet Farm and Zollern Redoubt, had killed many men “within 40 yards of our frontline and some were hit whilst getting out of the Trenches”. Despite the heavy casualties, the attack forced the Germans to abandon the Zollern Redoubt. The battalion war diary gives casualty figures of 19 officers and 430 other ranks (TNA WO95 1821/2, September 1916, Appendix, ‘Report on Operations ...’). The CWGC database records 131 men of the battalion killed on 26th September, of whom 94, including John Henry Gibson, have no known grave and are recorded on the Thiepval Memorial. John Henry’s younger brother Ernest, who served with the Northumberland Fusiliers, is the only other brother known to have served in the Army (Berwickshire News, Tuesday 20 March 1917, p 4). Ernest would have been old enough to serve from 1916. By 1915 and 1916 Thomas the eldest would have been only 26 to 27 years old, but he appears not to have served. John (b 1900) would have been too young to serve before 1918. The youngest four sons would have been too young serve at all. Memorials: Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); Ford, St Michael & All Angels 1914-18 Plaque (NEWMP F23.01)
See also: NEWMP - Kirknewton: Pauline Priano, Gibson, J. H., Pte, 1916; Bailiffgate Collections - John Henry Gibson; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 15455, Pte John Henry Gibson; 07/08/2018; 27/04/2019; 11/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
Thomas Johnston Gordon
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GORDON, LCpl Thomas Johnston, No. 40214, 1st battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, died on 3rd May 1917, and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France Thomas Johnston Gordon was the only son of Charles Gordon, mole catcher, and the late Margaret Gordon (née Affleck) (d. 1893) of Akeld, Kirknewton. The couple married in 1886 and had four children, one son Thomas born in 1886 at Akeld, and three daughters Elizabeth (b 1887), Margaret (b 1891) and Jane (b 1893). Margaret Gordon (née Affleck) died in 1893 soon after the birth of her daughter Jane. Charles remarried in 1896. His second wife was Mary Ann Hall, but Mary Ann herself died in 1907 aged just 44. In 1911 the widower Charles lived at Bendor, Wooler with son Thomas and daughter Elizabeth. Thomas worked as a mole catcher with his father although his attestation form of May 1915 gives his occupation as gamekeeper. He did work for a time as an assistant gamekeeper on the Coupland Estate (Berwickshire News, 16 May 1916, p 5). Thomas married Jean Purdie Ritchie, lady's maid, of 16 Coates Crescent, Edinburgh, in 1916. He attested on 3rd May 1915, signed his Imperial Service obligation on 8th May and was posted to the 2/9th (TF) battalion Royals Scots. He was released for the hay harvest on 19th June and returned to duty on 16th July 1916. He embarked at Folkestone and landed at Boulogne on 31st August 1916 and arrived at 20th Infantry Brigade Depot at Étaples on 3rd September and was transferred to the 4th (Reserve) battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers on 11th September 1916 and then posted to the 1st battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, which he joined on 13th September 1916. The 1st battalion was part of 8th Brigade and under the orders of the 3rd Division. Thomas Gordon suffered shrapnel wounds to his left arm and hand and was admitted to No. 5 Field Ambulance on 13th November 1916. On 15th November he was admitted to the 26th General Hospital at Étaples and 20th November he was transferred to No. 6 Convalescent Depot. He went to the 20th Infantry Base Depot on 4th December and rejoined his battalion 'in the field' on 22nd December 1916. He was admitted to No.8 Field Ambulance for treatment to boils on 24th March 1917 returning to his battalion the same day. On 23rd April 1917 he was promoted to Lance Corporal (paid). He was killed during the 3rd Battle of the Scarpe (3rd - 4th May 1917) when the 8th and 9th Brigades of the 3rd Division renewed the offensive along the Valley of the Scarpe. The enemy seems to have had forewarning of the attack and met the advance with high explosive and gas shells. The advance by the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers and 2nd Royal Scots of the 8th Brigade failed with heavy casualties. The CWGC database records that the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers had 96 men killed on 3rd May and only 8 have known graves, the remainder are named on the Arras Memorial. Thomas’s widow Jean Purdie was his sole legatee. She was living at 44 Gilmour Place, Edinburgh.
Memorials: Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, Reredos St Marys Church (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, Church School plaque (NEWMP W68.03); Wooler, West Church Communion Chair (NEWMP W68.06); Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); Scottish National War Memorial RoH - No. 40214, Thomas Johnston Gordon;
See also: NEWMP - Kirknewton, Gordon, T. J., LCpl, 1917; Bailiffgate Collections - Thomas Johnston Gordon; Coldstream Local History Projects - LCpl Thomas Johnston Gordon; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 40214, Pte Thomas Gordon; 07/08/2018; 24/04/2019; 25/11/2021; 11/04/2023, 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; 13/02/2024 |
Horace Hall
Sir (Thomas) Willans Nussey (1st Baronet) (1868-1947) was a former Liberal MP who was created baronet in 1909.
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HALL, Pte Horace, No 31300, 6th (Service) battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers, previously 2nd battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers, was killed in action, on 17th July 1918, aged 34, and is buried in La Kreule Military Cemetery, Hazebrouck, Nord, France Horace Hall (b 1882, Wilshaw St Mary, Yorkshire) was the fourth child of the late George Henry Thomas Hall and Mary Hannah Hall (née Sykes). George and Mary had eight children: Ada (b 1877), Minnie (b 1878), Harry (b 1881), Horace (b 15th December 1882), William George (b 1886), Frank Bertram (b 1888), Thomas Stanley (b 1890) and lastly Mary Louisa (b 1893). George Henry Hall, who had been a schoolmaster for thirty years, and latterly had been master of Wilshaw Church School. George died in 1900, but his family were still living at ‘Sunny Knowle’ next to the School House when the 1901 Census was taken. Horace Hall (aged 18) was working as gardener and living with his widowed mother and six of his siblings - Minnie (aged 22), Harry (20), William George (15), Frank (12), Thomas (10) and Mary (aged 7). Ada Hall the oldest child had married Noah Farrand, a gardener, in 1900 and was living with her husband in the Colne Valley in 1901; unfortunately she died later the same year. The widowed Mary Hannah Hall moved to Slaithwaite in 1909 and in 1911 was living at 58 Varley Road with three of her children: Minnie, a pupil teacher, Thomas Stanley, a railway clerk, and Mary Louisa, who was a 'confectionary baker'. In 1911 Horace was working as a groom for Sir Willans Nussey, Bt, at Rushwood, East Tanfield, Bedale. Horace was sharing accommodation in the Stables at Rushwood with two other grooms. Subsequently Horace is reported to have worked as groom for Mr Collingwood at Lilburn Towers. During the Great War Horace Hall enlisted in the King's Own Scottish Borderers at St Boswells, Berwickshire. No. 31300 Horace Hall served initially with the 2nd battalion KOSB, which was under the orders of 13th Brigade, 5th Division, and later served with the 6th battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers. The 6th battalion had disembarked at Boulogne on 12th May 1915 as part of 28th Brigade, 9th Division. Horace did not serve in France before 1916 at the earliest. On 6th May 1916 the 6th battalion transferred to 27th Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division. Horace Hall was killed in action on 17th July 1918. The diary of the 6th battalion KOSB has no entries for 15th-17th July 1918 inclusive and no mention of casualties, and the war diary of the 27th Brigade records on 17th July:
The only indication of the circumstances of Horace Hall death is provided by the Effects Registers which record that he died in ‘action’. Another soldier of 6th KOSB, No.265266, A/Sgt John Little of “A” Company died the same day as Horace and was buried in an adjacent grave in the same cemetery.
Memorials: Eglingham, Roadside Cross 1914-18 1939-45 (NEWMP E18.01); Slaithwaite War Memorial, Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire [Note 3]; Scottish National War Memorial RoH - No. 31300, Pte Horace Hall;
See also: Huddersfield and District Roll of Honour: 1914-1922 [Note 4]; Bailiffgate Collections - Horace Hall (named but not identified); IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 31300, Pte Horace Hall; 03/09/2021; 11/04/2023; 12/06/2023; 22/06/2023; 13/02/2024; 27/03/2024; |
James Hall
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HALL, Pte James, No. 16359, 1st battalion Coldstream Guards, was killed in action 15th September 1916, aged 32 years, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France James Hall was the oldest of the three children of James Hall (b 1848, d 1928) and his wife Jane Marshal (b c 1856, Sprouston, Roxburghshire, d 1932), who married in 1883. James (b 1884) and his brother Thomas Marshal Hall (b 1886) were both born at Kirknewton. Their sister Phillis was born in 1889 at Carham. In 1901 and 1911 James was away from the family home, and in 1901 was working as a farm labourer for Joseph Fairley a farmer at Ford. His whereabouts and occupation in 1911 are unknown. James married Isabella Hogg Marshall at Bankhill Church, Berwick-upon-Tweed on 27th November 1915. Isabella was the daughter of Mr and Mrs J Marshall of Shellacre, Cornhill on Tweed. James had already joined the Army, and his address was given as given as ‘Coldstream Guards, Victoria Barracks, Windsor’ (Berwick Advertiser, 3rd December 1915, p 3). James may have enlisted in the Army soon after the start of the War. He was serving with No. 2 Company of the 1st battalion Coldstream Guards. The 1st battalion was under orders of the 1st (Guards) Brigade in the 1st Division and disembarked in France in August 1914. James did not join the battalion in France before 1916. By then the 1st battalion Coldstream Guards was under orders of the 2nd Guards Brigade in the Guards Division. James Hall was killed during the attack by the Guards Division launched from Ginchy towards Les Boeufs on 15th September 1916 (Battle of Flers-Courcelette, 15 – 22 September 1916). The 1st battalion Coldstream Guards formed the first line of the 2nd Guards Brigade together with the 3rd Grenadier Guards to its right. On its immediate left was the 2nd battalion Coldstream Guards and to its left the 3rd Coldstream Guards forming the first line of the 1st Guards Brigade. The attack began at 6.20am. The 2nd Guards Brigade suffered heavy casualties. The CWGC records 121 men killed on 15th September from the 1st battalion, and a total of 137 from 15th to 20th September. Ninety two of these casualties, including James Hall, have no known grave and are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. James's younger brother Thomas Marshal Hall, MM (b 1886) joined Army on 30th May 1916. Before joining up he was a gamekeeper for Lord Joicey on the Ford Estate. After training he served as No. 34801, and later as No. 285030 with the Northumberland Fusiliers. Whether he served with more than one battalion of the regiment is unclear.[Note 5] He was seriously wounded in July 1917 and was still in hospital in Manchester in November (Berwick Advertiser, 16th November 1917, p. 7). Shortly before his serious wounding, Thomas was notified that he had been awarded the Military Medal for his bravery when working as a stretcher bearer. The 16th battalion, which was under the orders of 96th Brigade, 32nd Division, had transferred to Channel Coast near Nieuport in the middle of June 1917. This was as part of the build-up for ‘Operation Hush’ the proposed seaborne attack on German positions on the Channel Coast. The 16th battalion had been attacked by the Germans as they were themselves preparing to make an attack on the German trenches. Thomas had dragged his stretcher into no man’s land to rescue wounded comrades under fire. He was serving as No. 34801 with the 16th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers when his medal was awarded. Probably because of his injuries he was posted later to the Labour Corps as No. 588278. He was discharged from the Army on 21st June 1918 under Army Order 265/1917 paragraph 392 xvi (a) (i) (wounds) and awarded a Silver War Badge.
After the War he and his wife Agnes Black lived at Marley Knowe, Milfield. On Friday 21st February 1919 Thomas Hall was presented with his Military Medal and gold watch at a ceremony organised by the Crookham Post of the Comrades of the Great War in the school room at Ford. The presentation was made by Captain Babcock, MC, RAMC (Berwickshire News, 25 February 1919, p 8).
Memorials: Howtel, Plaque 1914 - 1918 Beaumont Presbyterian Church (NEWMP H79.01): Howtel ROH 1914 - 1918 Beaumont Presbyterian Church (NEWMP H79.02)
See also: NEWMP - Kirknewton: Tony Harding, Hall, J., Pte, 1916; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 16359, Pte James Hall; 27/04/2019; 13/05/2021; 13/06/2023; 27/03/2024; |
John Hall
Photo IRS 11 Sept 2019
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HALL, LCpl John, No. 44726, 2nd battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died 4th November 1918 aged 24, and is buried in Fontaine-au-Bois Communal Cemetery, Nord, France John Hall was born in Kirknewton, Northumberland. His parents were John and Eliza Scott Hall. His father was a farmer and the family lived at Earle Hill, Earle, Wooler. The couple had had twelve children one of whom had died in infancy. The four oldest children – Walter (b 1883), Agnes (b 1885), Robert Scott (b 1887) and Isabella (b 1889) - were born at Morebattle, Roxburghshire. Thomas (b 1891) and John (b 1894) were born at Kirknewton, and the youngest children – Jessie Cockburn (b 1896), Ellen Oliver (b 1897), David Muchison (b 1899, d 1899), Adam Oliver (b 1901), James Anderson (b 1903) and George (b 1905) – were born at Doddington. John Hall is reported to have enlisted in July 1915 and to be training at Harrogate in March 1916 (Berwickshire News, 14 March 1916, p 4). By late 1918 he was serving with 2nd battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, which had transferred from 84th Infantry Brigade in 28th Division to 150th Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division in July 1918. The battalion had served with the 84th Brigade at Second Ypres and Loos in 1915, it had been ordered to the Mediterranean, and had embarked with the Division at Marseilles in October 1915 and sailed for Alexandria. From there the 28th Division went to Salonica, where it remained for the rest of the war. However, the 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers left the 84th Brigade in June 1918 and was sent to France where it joined the 50th Division, which was being rebuilt after the German Spring Offensives during which many of its battalions had suffered heavy casualties and been reduced to cadre status. It is not known when John Hall joined the battalion or whether he served in Salonica. He was killed in the Battle of the Sambre on 4th November 1918. The 50th Division was part of the Morland’s XIII Corps in Fourth Army (Rawlinson). The 2nd battalion suffered 22 fatal casualties on 4th November. John Hall is one of 11 men from the 2nd battalion who are buried at Fontaine-au-Bois Communal cemetery; five others are buried at the Cross Roads cemetery Fontaine-au-Bois. John Hall's death was reported in the Berwickshire News (14th January 1919, p 3). It is possible that John’s three older brothers Walter, Robert and Thomas, and a younger brother Adam, served in the Army. A list of ‘Enlistments at Wooler Recruitment Office’ for the week ending 18th December 1915 published in The Berwick Advertiser (24 December 1915, p 6) includes ‘Walter Hall, Wooler’, ‘Robert S Hall, Wooler’, ‘Thomas Hall, Earle Hill’, and ‘Adam O Hill, Wooler Common’ as well as ‘John Oliver Hall, Wooler’. No evidence to confirm their service has yet been found.
Memorials: Wooler Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler Church School plaque (NEWMP W68.03); Wooler, West Church Communion Chair (NEWMP W68.06)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - John Hall; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 44726, Pte John Hall. 07/08/2018; 27/04/2019; 11/04/2023; 23/06/2023; 27/07/2023; |
John Short Hall
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HALL, LCpl John Short, No. 18/774, 18th (Service) battalion Northumberland (1st Tyneside Pioneers), died of wounds on 29th June 1916, aged 25, and is buried in the Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France John Short Hall was the youngest son of William Hall, housepainter and taxidermist, and Elizabeth Tait Hall, of Maiden Terrace and later of Ramsey Lane, Wooler and was born in Wooler, 1891. The couple had had seven children, two of whom had died. John Short Hall had an older sister Elizabeth (b 1883) and two older brothers George (b 1886) and Norman (b 1887) and a much younger brother Robert Valentine (b 14 Feb 1901). John Short Hall was a housepainter and 'was one of the bulwarks of the Wooler Football Club'. He married Frances Mary Huntley in 1915. The couple lived at 447, Shield’s Road, Heaton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and had one child George born in 1916. He served with 18th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers which was the Pioneer battalion of the 34th Division. He was in "C" Company and was with the battalion when it landed at Le Havre on 8th January 1916. The War Diary records that in May 1916 the battalion was 'employed on (1) Russian saps (2) Trench mortar emplacements (3) Deep dugouts (5) (sic) MG emplacements' and that the battalion had just one casualty during the month (TNA WO95 2451/1, 31st May 1916). In the week leading up to 1st July 1916, "C" company was attached to the 102nd Brigade and on the 25th June "C" company 'had two men burned by 'oil can' explosion, one was somewhat seriously damaged' (TNA WO95 2451/1). This is the only record of a serious injury in May or June 1916 and the seriously injured man may very possibly have been John Hall who died of wounds at the 92nd Field Ambulance on 29th June 1916. The 92nd Field Ambulance was attached to the 32nd Division. There is no evidence that either George or Norman Hall served in the forces, and younger brother Robert Valentine was too young to serve during the war, but joined the RAF (Service No. 331362) as a ‘storekeeper’ in May 1919. Memorials: Wooler Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02) See also: Coldstream Local History Projects - LCpl John Hall [Note 6]; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 18/774, LCpl John Hall 0 ]7/08/2018; 28/04/2019; 23/06/2023; |
Richard Matthew Hall
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HALL, Pte Richard Matthew, No. 7/2155, 1/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, was killed in action on 1st June 1915, and is commemorated in the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Richard Matthew Hall was the fourth child and third son of Thomas Hall (b 1861, Bamburgh) gamekeeper and his first wife Margaret Pile (b 1860, d 1911). Thomas and Margaret married in 1882. Their oldest child Elizabeth Ann was christened at Ingram on 1st April 1883, and a second child John was baptised on 14th December 1884 at Ingram. The couples’ third child George Pile Hall was christened at Edlingham on 29th April 1888. Richard Matthew Hall was born in late 1891 at Roddam. Five more children followed: Thomas (b 1894), Isabel (b 1897), Arthur Henry (b 1899), Edmund Septimus (b 1901), and Robert Morris Marmaduke Octavius (b. 1903). Robert Morris was born in Norfolk and baptised at Stockton Norfolk on 30th August 1903. Their mother Margaret died in early 1911 before the census was taken. The census return shows Thomas, the father, with a housekeeper Mary Jane Potts (b 27th July 1876, Gateshead Co Durham) and four of his children – Richard Matthew, Arthur Henry, Edmund Septimus and Robert Morris Marmaduke Octavius. The return records that Thomas and his first wife had had ten children one of whom had died before 1911. It has not been possible to identify the missing child. In 1912 Thomas married his housekeeper Mary Jane Potts, who gave birth to a son William on 23rd February 1912. The couple had four further children, James Walter (b 1913), Doris (b 1914), Joyce (b 1918) and Richard (b 1921). Richard Matthew Hall was listed with No.3 Company in the Embarkation roll of the 7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. The battalion embarked on the SS Invicta at Folkestone on 20th April 1915 and disembarked at Boulogne on 21st April 1915. Richard Hall was killed on 1st June 1915. His friend Marcus Brodie, who was in the same company, was with him at the time of his death (Berwick Advertiser, 30 July 1915, p 6). Richard Hall was hit by a fragment from a German shell. The battalion had been in trenches in the Ypres Salient astride the St Jean-Wieltje road to the north east of Wieltje on 26th May and was relieved on 2nd June. The battalion war diary (TNA WO95 2830/1) records one officer wounded and 14 other ranks killed and 38 wounded from 24th May to 2nd June 1915. Richard’s older brothers John and George were of an age to have served in the armed forces, but it has not been possible to confirm whether they did served. His younger brother Thomas HALL (below) served with the Northumberland Hussars Yeomanry, and died in Palestine on 3rd September 1918 while attached to the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars (Worcestershire Yeomanry). The next brother Arthur Henry was too young to have served before the very end of the war, and the two youngest brothers – Edmund Septimus and Robert Morris – were much too young to have served. His youngest half-brother Richard (apparently known as Peter) served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) in the Second World War and died on 28th December 1943 and is buried in the Bone War Cemetery, Annaba, Algeria. Memorials: Branton Presbyterian Church RoH (now at Glanton U.R.Church - NEWMP G4.02); Powburn Pillar 1914-18 1939-45 Community Garden (NEWMP P39.01); ROH 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, in Buckley, War History of the Seventh Northumberland Fusiliers, Appendix IV, p.136-144 (NEWMP A11.59)
See also: Breamish Valley Roll of Honour - Richard Matthew Hall; Bailiffgate Collections - Richard Matthew Hall; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 7/2155, Pte Richard M Hall. 29/04/2019, 14/06/2020; 11/04/2023; 23/06/2023; 26/02/2024; |
Thomas Hall
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HALL, Pte Thomas, No. H/270844, Northumberland Hussars, attached 1/1st Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars (Worcester Yeomanry), died on 3rd September 1918, aged 23, and is buried in the Jerusalem War Cemetery, Israel and Palestine (including Gaza) Thomas Hall was the fifth of the nine surviving children of the late Margaret Hall (née Pile) and her husband Thomas Hall of Hedgeley Station, Powburrn. The couple had had ten children but one child (not identified) had died young. Margaret the mother died in early 1911. The father Thomas Hall remarried in 1912 and had a further five children with his second wife Mary Jane Irving Potts. His son Thomas, who was 17 years old in 1911 was working as an assistant gamekeeper and lodging with Robert William Reay at Ilderton Moor. Robert Reay was a gamekeeper and presumably Thomas was his assistant. Thomas Hall (No. 270844) originally served with the Northumberland Hussars (Yeomanry), but was attached to the 1/1st Queen’s Own Worcestershire Hussars (Worcester Yeomanry) when he died in 1918 in Palestine.[Note 7] In the absence of his service record it is not possible to establish either when he enlisted or exactly when he was posted on attachment to the Worcestershire Yeomanry. No unit of the Northumberland Hussars served either on Gallipoli or in Palestine. Northumberland Hussars squadrons served either on the Western Front or were part of the Home establishment. A letter from Thomas’s comrades with news of his death and burial was published in the Newcastle Journal (2nd October 1918, p.5):
The letter clearly indicates that Thomas Hall had been part of a draft of Northumberland Hussars that was sent to reinforce the Worcestershire Yeomanry, and which had served in France. The War Dairies of the 1/1st and 2/1st Northumberland Hussars, which served in France, do not mention any detachment being sent to the Worcestershire Yeomanry.
The 1/1st Worcestershire Yeomanry had landed in Egypt on 22nd April 1915 and served on Gallipoli and in the Palestine Campaign. From February 1917 it served with the Imperial Mounted Division, later the Australian Mounted Division until it left in May 1918 to become the cavalry regiment of XX Corps. Thomas was originally reported to have died of 'malarial fever' in Alexandria (Newcastle Journal, 10 September 1918, pp 4, 5), but the letter from his comrades states that he died on 2nd September in Jerusalem, where he was buried. The CWGC register and the Soldier's Effects Register give his date of death as 3rd September, and the place of burial indicates that he died in Jerusalem, not Alexandria. Thomas’s older brother Richard Matthew Hall (above) served with the 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers and was killed on 1st June 1915. Memorials: Branton Presbyterian Church RoH (now at Glanton U.R.Church - NEWMP G4.02); Powburn Pillar 1914-18 1939-45 Community Garden (NEWMP P39.01);
See also: Breamish Valley Roll of Honour - Private Thomas Hall; Bailiffgate Collections - Thomas Hall; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. H/270844, Pte Thomas Hall; 14/06/2020; 06/07/2020; 11/04/2023. 13/06/2023; |
Rev William Hall
Chipcase Castle is located north of Hadrian’s Wall, near Wark on Tyne, between Bellingham and Hexham.
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HALL, Rev. William, RN, BA, FRAS, Chaplain and Naval Instructor, HMS Venerable, died in the Royal Naval Hospital Plymouth on 4th November 1916, aged 49, and is buried in Plymouth (Ford Park) Cemetery, formerly Plymouth Old Cemetery, Pennycomequick, Devon The Rev William Hall was the third child and second son of the Rev George Rome Hall, FSA and his wife Wilhelmina Bellamy. The Rev George Rome Hall, FSA, was the son of William and Jessy (sic) Hall and was baptised at Haltwhistle, Northumberland on 7th June 1835. He was curate in charge at Birtley from 1860, and chaplain to Mr Hugh Taylor of Chipchase Castle (Crockford’s Clerical Directory 1868, p 284). His wife Wilhelmina was born in Stonehouse, Devon in 1836. She was the daughter George Bellamy, who was a Church of England minister, and his wife Wilhelmina Margaretta Folds. George Rome Hall and Wilhelmina Bellamy married at St Matthew’s Church, Islington on 27th May 1863, and they had ten children, six sons and four daughters. The first three children - George Rome Hall (b 1864), Wilhelmina Bellamy Hall (b c 1866), and William Hall (b 1868) - were born at Chollerton, Northumberland. The remaining seven children were born at Birtley. The couple had three more sons Hugh Seymour Hall (b 1870), Allison Bellamy Hall (b 1871) and John Bernard Hall (b 1873), then two further daughters Jessie Margarette Hall (b 1875) and Mary Taylor Hall (b 1876), another son Charles Rome Hall (b 1878) and finally the youngest child Maria Seymour Hall (b 1880). William Hall, the third child, was educated at Durham School, St John’s Foundation School for the children of clergy at Leatherhead, Surrey, and then at Rossall School, Fleetwood, Lancashire. He won a mathematical scholarship at King’s College, Cambridge [Note 8] where he studied between 1886 and 1889, and was the Abbotts University Scholar in 1888. He excelled in the Maths Tripos graduating as 22nd Wrangler. After graduation, William Hall taught as an assistant master at Radley College, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) (1890-91) and then at Rossall School (1891-94). On 10th April 1894 he married Clara Brooks in St Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, where Clara’s father Walter Brooks was the organist.[Note 9] The birth of couple’s first child Muriel Clara Nina Hall was registered at Greenwich in 1895. Their second child Cyril Seymour William Hall was born at Torquay in November 1897. William Hall left his teaching post at Rossall School, and joined the Royal Navy as a chaplain; his seniority dating from 1st September 1894. He had been ordained Deacon in 1893, and priest in 1894. He also became a Naval Instructor (seniority from 1st January 1895) specialising in mathematics and navigation. He served as chaplain and instructor on a number of Royal Navy ships between 1895 and 1905. In 1905-06 he was serving aboard HMS Highflyer headed for Bermuda ‘For instruction of cadets at Bermuda’ (Navy List, November 1905, p. 326). Between 1906 and 1909 he was instructor and head of Navigation at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth (eg. Navy List, June 1906, p 559; Navy List, July 1909, p 559). He also penned works on navigation including Modern Navigation (1904), published on astronomy, was Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and invented Hall's nautical slide rule.[Note 10] It was reported that at some time in 1910 he was seconded to Ottoman Navy (Western Morning News, 9th November 1916, p 7; Hampshire Telegraph, 17th November 1916, p 2) although the precise details have not be confirmed. In April 1910 he was appointed chaplain and instructor aboard the St Vincent class battleship HMS Collingwood and was part of the ship’s company when the 1911 Census was taken. He remained with the ship at least until August 1912 (Navy List, April 1910, p 326; Navy List, August 1912, p 293). It was in late 1912 that he was loaned to the Royal Australian Navy and was posted as instructor to the Naval College which was being established and which was temporarily housed in Osborne House, Geelong. He was appointed Chaplain and Instructor on 1st October 1912, and Frederick George Brown was appointed the first Director of Studies.(Navy List for April 1913, p 587; Navy List for October 1913, p 27 ‘(Lent for Duty under Australian Government)’). When the College moved to its permanent base at Jervis Bay, Brown resigned as Director of Studies and William Hall was appointed as Director in his place as (Monthly Navy List for February 1914, p 588) and another naval instructor Frank Burgess Eldridge was appointed.[Note 11] Hall returned to the Royal Navy, serving as a chaplain and naval instructor. Outdoor group portrait of the officers of the Royal Australian Naval College on the occasion of its official opening at Osborne House, Geelong, 1st March 1913. Naval Instructor Reverend William Hall BA seated front right; Chief Naval Instructor Frederick George Brown BA BSC, is second from the left in the front row.
Australian War Memorial, AWM 305342. Copyright expired -
This item is in the Public Domain It was reported that on Friday 3rd November 1916 William was brought ashore at Plymouth from a hospital ship and taken to Royal Naval Hospital. He had been serving aboard the pre-Dreadnought battleship HMS Venerable, which was part of the British Adriatic Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet (Western Morning News, Thursday 9th November 1916, p 7; for Venerable see Supplement to the Monthly Navy List . . . October 1916, p 21; Supplement to the Monthly Navy List . . . November 1916, p 21).
Whilst he was serving aboard Venerable the order was given for inoculations to be given to the crew. William Hall "insisted on taking his share of the discomforts, and, unfortunately pyaemia [a form of sepsis] set in. After several operations and six weeks suffering in hospital, he was sent home but only survived his arrival by twenty four hours." (Obituary notice: 'William Hall', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 77, pp 300-301).[Note 12] He died on Saturday 4th November 1916, aged 49 years, and was buried with full military honours on 8th November in Ford Park Cemetery, formerly Plymouth Old Cemetery, Pennycomequick. “The coffin was borne on a gun-carriage, covered with the Union flag and surmounted by some beautiful wreaths, the carriage being drawn by a party of blue-jackets under P.O. Burrows.” His immediate family was represented by his son Cyril and daughter Muriel, and by his brothers Fleet Paymaster Hugh Seymour Hall, and Dr George Rome Hall. His son Cyril also played the organ at the funeral (Western Morning News, 9 November 1916, p 7). Cyril Seymour William Hall, son of the William and Clara Hall, served as a pilot in the Royal Naval Air Service with the rank of Flight Sub-Lieutenant in latter part of the War and was 'Mentioned in Dispatches' (London Gazette No. 31378, 30 May 1919, p 7041). Cyril Seymour Hall had gained his pilot's licence (No. 7428) on 13th July 1917. After the war he worked as a colonial civil servant in Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania). His Naval Air Service record notes that he changed his name by Deed Poll to Charles Seymour-Hall with effect from 1st March 1930 (TNA AIR 76/203/48). The Rev William Hall's older brother Dr George Rome Hall (b 1864), served as a doctor with the RFC/RAF in the Great War, and his younger brothers acting Fleet Paymaster Captain Hugh Seymour Hall RN (b 1869) and Fleet Paymaster Commander Allison Bellamy Hall RN (b 1871) both served through the War. William's nephews Lt George Rome Hall RN (b 1888, d 1916) and Cpl William Folds Hall, Royal Artillery (b 1893), who were the sons of Dr George Rome Hall, also served during the War. Lt George Rome Hall RN was serving aboard HMS Invincible and died when the ship was sunk at the Battle of Jutland. Rev William Hall's youngest sister Maria Seymour HALL (b 1870) (qv) volunteered via the Red Cross and worked as a hospital orderly in the Scottish Women's Hospital in Corsica. Comment: The only connection between the Rev William Hall RN and Etal, that can explain his commemoration on the Etal Plaque 1914-1918, is the presence of his youngest brother the Rev Charles Rome Hall (b 1878) who was minister at Etal between 1913 and 1919.[Note 13] There is no historical family connection. William's father was born at Haltwhistle, near Hadrian's Wall, and his mother was born in Devon. ;Memorials: Etal Roll of Honour 1914-18, Plaque (NEWMP E32.01); Durham Organ and Plaques 1914-18, St Margaret of Antioch (NEWMP D47.043); Rossall School, Memorial Chapel [Note 14]; Radley College Archives - Commemorating the Fallen of WW1 - 'Rev William Hall' [Note 15];
See also: IWM, Lives of the First World War - Rev William Hall; 23/07/2020; 22/01/2021; 24/01/2021; 21/05/2023; 13/06/2023; 15/05/2024; 15/06/2024; |
William Hall (No. 100543)
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HALL, Pte William, No. 100543, 2nd battalion Durham Light infantry, died of wounds aged 21 years in the University War Hospital Southampton on 29th October 1918, and is buried in Lowick (St. John the Baptist) Churchyard William Hall was the youngest son of John Hall (b Hetton Hall, Chatton, Northumberland 1854) and his wife Margaret Trotter (b Lowick 1853). The couple married in 1880 and lived at Doddington. John Hall was an agricultural labourer in 1881. All the couple’s children were born at Doddington. Their first child Isabella was born in 1881 and was less than 1 month old when the 1881 census was taken. Margaret was born in 1883, and Mary in 1885. The fourth child George was born in 1887 and William the fifth child was born in 1897. In 1901 the family were living at Roseden, Ilderton and the father John was working as a cattle man. In 1911 the family lived at Lowick Farm, where John Hall was a horseman, and also a ploughman. William the youngest child was still at school. William was too young to serve in Army at the start of the War. Before enlisting he had worked for Mr Barber at Lowick. He was ‘deemed to be enlisted’ on 22nd April 1916, but was not called up until 22nd May 1918 and joined up in Newcastle, and was posted on 23rd May for training initially to “D” Company 5th (Reserve) battalion Durham Light Infantry. He was based at Sutton Camp, Hull for his training. He had his first leave home in early September 1918, just before he left for France and the Front. He landed in France on 18th September 1918 and joined E Base Depot. He was posted initially to 1/9th battalion Durham Light Infantry on 19th September then posted on to the 2nd battalion on 21st September 1918.[Note 16] He joined the 2nd battalion as part of a draft of 129 other ranks on 22nd September (TNA WO95 1617/1, War Diary 2nd Durham Light Infantry, 22nd September 1918). During the night of 15th/16th October the 2nd battalion DLI was relieved in the trenches by the 2nd Sherwood Foresters and ‘moved into very comfortable billets’ in the outskirts of Bohain. The men were able to bathe and the battalion could rest and refit. In the evening the battalion began to move forward and finally moved to the forming up line in Vaux Andigny at 1.00am on 17th October. The 2nd Durham Light Infantry and the 11th (Service) battalion Essex Regiment to their right were to make an attack at 5.20am. The 2nd DLI attack was to be made by “A” and “B” Companies, with “D” Company was in support and “C” Company in reserve. Once the battalions had reached their objective, the 1st Division was to pass through and advance to the final objective which was the ridge overlooking the Sambre-Oise Canal. The attack was made in thick fog and some companies lost contact. However units of the 1st Division following up were able to pass through the battalions and press home the attack. By midday the 2nd DLI had re-organised with “A” and “B” companies on the objective, with “D” company in close support and “C” company in reserve. Casualties recorded for the 2nd DLI on 17th October were: Officers 2 killed; 4 wounded; other ranks 15 killed, 61 wounded and 8 missing. (TNA WO95, War Diary October 1918, Appendix IV, Casualties).[Note 17]
William Hall was badly wounded on 17th October 1918. He had serious wounds to the face, arms and abdomen, and was transported to Britain aboard HMAT Carisbrooke Castle. He was admitted to the University War Hospital Southampton [Note 18] on 28th October with ‘G.S.W. (gunshot wounds) Face, rt forearm and inguinal region (left)’ and was ‘personally conveyed to hospital by M.O. as there had been considerable haemorrhage from face wounds’. Unfortunately William Hall died soon after admission in the early hours of 29th October 1918. He was just 21 years old. His body was brought home to Lowick and he was buried in the churchyard of Lowick Church on 10th November 1918.
Memorial: Lowick, Cross 1914-18 1939-45 Village Green (NEWMP L37.01); Belford Roadside Monument 1914-18 1939-45 (NEWMP B16.01);
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - William Hall; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte William Hall; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 100543, William Hall; 06/02/2022; 13/04/2022; 11/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; 09/04/2024; |
Thomas Hamilton
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92
HAMILTON, Pte Thomas, No. 290906, previously No. 7/3269, 1/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, attached 149th Brigade wiring party, was killed in action on 29th July 1916, and is buried in St Quentin Cabaret Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Thomas Hamilton was the son of Robert Hamilton and his wife Mary Ann Clough. Robert was born in Heatherslaw, near Etal, and Mary in Branxton. The couple married in 1893 and Thomas their eldest child was born at Kirknewton in late 1894. He had a younger Robert (b 1896, Kirknewton) and three younger sisters Ellen (b 1899; d 1899), Annie Forsyth (b 1902, Lowick) and Eleanor Mary (b 1904, Lowick). In 1901 the family lived at Crookhouse, Kirknewton, but later they moved to Lowick, where Mary Hamilton died in 1905 aged just 32 years old. In 1911 Robert and three of his children (Thomas, Annie and Eleanor) were living at South Berrington, Ancroft. When Thomas enlisted in April 1915, he and his father were living at Nesbit. Thomas began his training at Alnwick, followed by training at Newsham in the Blyth Valley and then Hollingside (Berwick Advertiser, 23 June 1916, p 3). He landed in France on the 1st November 1915 and was probably part of the draft of 160 NCOs and men received by the 1/7th battalion on 5th November 1915, rather than the draft of 28 that joined the battalion on 2nd November. The battalion was resting at Strazeele between 3rd and 30th November 1915, and remained at Strazeele, training at battalion and brigade level until 18th December 1915. The battalion then returned to the front in the Ypres Salient proceeding by train to Poperinghe and marching to Canada Huts near Dickebusche on 19th December. Next day it moved into Brigade reserve with its headquarters at Bedford House, and on 23rd December the battalion went into the trenches opposite Hill 60 where it relieved the 1/5th Northumberland Fusiliers. The battalion spent Christmas in the trenches and was relieved by the 1/5th battalion 27th December. The battalion spent January, February and March alternating stints in the trenches with periods in reserve and out of the line in the Ypres Salient. On 27th March the battalion was in the trenches, when the 3rd Division, some 3000 yards to the SE of the 1/7th battalion’s position, launched an attack against St Eloi. As a result of this attack the 1/7th battalion came under heavy German artillery fire. On 29th March the battalion was relieved by the 16th Canadian Infantry battalion. The pattern of stints in the trenches interspersed with rest periods and periods in Brigade Reserve continued through summer of 1916. The death of '3269 Pte Hamilton B (sic)' 'killed in action 29/ 7/16' is recorded in a casualty return dated 4th August 1916 and attached to the 1/7th battalion war diary (TNA WO95 2830/1, August 1916 Appendices). The 1/7th battalion were in billets at Danoutre having been relieved from the trenches at 9.30pm on 28th July. It remained at Danoutre undertaking training and some carrying duties from 29th July to 3rd August. Private Thomas Hamilton was killed while attached to the 149th Brigade Wiring Party and away from his battalion. The work of wiring parties was carried out at night and was extremely dangerous and stressful. Arthur Guy Empey an American who served with the BEF defined the Wiring Party as “Another social affair for which Tommy receives invitations. It consists of going "over the top" at night and stretching barbed wire between stakes. A German machine gun generally takes the place of an orchestra” (Empey, Over the Top, p 314).[Note 19] The 149th Brigade Wiring Party would have been made up of details from all four battalions of the Brigade, namely the 1/4th, 1/5th, 1/6th and 1/7th battalions Northumberland Fusiliers. Thomas Hamilton was not married and his sole legatee is recorded as his father Robert. There is no evidence that his brother Robert served in the forces during the war. His sister Annie did not marry and died in 2002 aged 100. His youngest sibling, Eleanor, who was born in 1904, married Jeremiah Taylor from Hexham in 1929. Memorials: Doddington, 1914-18 Plaque, St Mary & St Michael (NEWMP D13.01); Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); ROH 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, in Buckley, War History of the Seventh Northumberland Fusiliers, Appendix IV, p.136-144 (NEWMP A11.59)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Thomas Hamilton; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Thomas Hamilton; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 7/3269, Thomas Hamilton; 07/08/2018; 30/04/2019; 11/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
James Hardie
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93
HARDIE, Pte James, No. 61488, 21st (Service) battalion Manchester Regiment (6th City battalion), formerly No. 72643, Machine Gun Corps, previously 10th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, and earlier No. 24275, 21st (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Scottish), attached 13th (Service) battalion Durham Light Infantry, killed in action between 4th and 11th October 1918, aged 23, and is buried in the Prospect Hill Cemetery, Gouy, Aisne, France James Hardie was the only child of John Hardie, who was an agricultural worker (b 1857, Eccles, Berwickshire) and his wife Grace Brown (b late 1862, Ancroft). The couple had married on 7th July 1894 at Kyloe, Northumberland, and James was born in late 1895. In 1901 the family lived at Smith’s Yard Cottage at Lowick. John Hardie was working as a hind or farm labourer. By 1911, the family had moved to Barmoor Mill, at Beal. Both James and his father were agricultural workers. It was reported that James Hardie had enlisted in Tyneside Scottish on 21st January 1916, and had been training at Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, and at Hornsea in Yorkshire and in July 1916 was waiting for a posting (Berwick Advertiser, 21st July 1916, p 5). In the absence of his service record, the details and dates of James Hardie’s movements between units are not known although there are some clues which can suggest an outline chronology. His medal rolls entry indicates that initially he was on the strength of the 21st battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Scottish) (No.24275) but on attachment to the 13th (Service) battalion Durham Light Infantry, and then as No. 24275 serving with the 10th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. Both the 13th battalion Durham Light Infantry and 10th Northumberland Fusiliers were under the command of 68th Brigade, 23rd Division, which transferred to the Italian Front in November 1917. The Division remained in Italy until the end of the war, although the 13th Durham Light Infantry returned to France a little earlier on 14th September 1918. James Hardie’s transfer from the 13th Durham Light Infantry to the 10th Northumberland Fusiliers could have occurred either in France or Italy at any time up until the 13th Durham Light Infantry left Italy to return to France. After the Northumberland Fusiliers, Hardie served as No. 72643 with the Machine Gun Corps. There is no information, other than his service number, for his service with the MGC. There is neither a date for his posting to the MGC, nor any indication of where or for how long he served. However, men posted to the MGC undertook a course of specialist training before posting to an active service machine gun unit. For this reason it seems most likely that James Hardie transferred from the 10th Northumberland Fusiliers to the MGC before the 23rd Division was posted to Italy in November 1917. James Hardie was serving as No. 61498 with the 21st (Service) battalion Manchester Regiment (6th City battalion) when he was killed in action in France in October 1918. The 21st battalion Manchester Regiment (91st Brigade, 7th Division) had been posted to Italy in November 1917, but left the 7th Division on 13th September 1918 and returned to France where it came under the orders of 7th Brigade, 25th Division at Canchy on 16th September. It is of course possible that James Hardie joined the MGC in Italy, in which case he could have served in Italy joined the 21st Manchester battalion before its return to France, but this seems the less likely alternative. The 21st battalion departed Arzignano, Italy by train on 13th September arriving at St Riquier on 16th September. It came under the orders of 7th Brigade, 25th Division at Canchy on 16th September. From St Riquier the battalion marched to billets at Neuilly l’Hôpital, which lies north of Abbeville and just south of Canchy. The battalion remained at Neuilly l’Hôpital training until 26th September. On 27th the battalion, minus its transport which moved separately, marched back to St Riquier where it boarded trains for Albert, arriving at 2.00am on 28th September. The battalion then marched to Franvillers. On 30th the battalion was training. On 1st October the battalion marched from Montauban to the Liéramont area, and on 2nd October it trained before moving in the afternoon to Ronssoy where it went into shelters. On 3rd October the battalion moved to Bellicourt, then ‘less B Echelon Details and 1st Line Transport’ the battalion move forward to relieve three companies of the 27th Australian Infantry battalion and one company of 25th Australian Infantry in the Beaurevoir sector of the line. Between 4th and 11th October during which period James Hardie was killed, the men of 21st Manchester battle were constantly advancing and pushing back the German forces. The battalion advanced from Beaurevoir (Aisne) to Maretz (Nord) a distance of about 11km (about 7miles). What is noticeable from the war dairy is the sense of constant forward movement which is in marked contrast to the trench warfare of the earlier war years.[Note 20]
On 11th October the 21st battalion rested for the day and then in the evening withdrew to Elincourt and went into billets. It remained at Elincourt until 18th October. The war diary appendix reporting operations from 4th to 11th October includes a list of casualties for the same period. The battalion strength at the start of operations was 18 officers and 442 other ranks. Casualties were: Officers 3 killed and 7 wounded. Other rank casualties were 39 killed, 196 wounded, 24 missing, 7 died of wounds and 27 sick. The Appendix also records that the battalion took an estimated 250 prisoners.
Among the casualties was James Hardie. The date of his death is not known with certainty. His body was recovered together with that of another soldier from the 21st Manchester Regiment No. 13485 Pte Joseph Jump. Both were reburied in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Gouy. James was unmarried and he was much mourned (Berwick Advertiser, 3rd October 1919, p 3; 7th October 1921, p 7). His mother Grace died in April 1919 aged just 56, and his father John died at Chillingham aged 76 on 6th January 1933 (Berwick Advertiser, 12th January 1933, p 9). Memorials: Ford, Plaque 1914-18, St Michael & All Angels (NEWMP F23.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - James Hardie; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte James Hardie; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 61488, James Hardie; 26/03/2021; 28/04/2021; 11/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 13/06/2023; 23/06/2023; |
John Hardie
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HARDIE, Pte John, No. 7/2532, 1/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died of wounds at No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station on 21st June 1915, aged 20, and is buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France John Hardie was the eldest son of John Hardie senior, and his wife Euphemia Herkes. The couple had married in Coldstream on 30th November 1883. In 1891 the couple lived at 23 New Road Coldstream, with their first four children, who were all born in Coldstream: Frances (b 1884), Eliza (b 1885), Isabella (b 1889) and John (b 1893). By 1901 the family had moved across the Tweed to Cornhill. A second son Robert was born at Hazelrigg, Belford in 1903. The eldest Frances may have married and left the family home by 1911. Her younger sister Eliza married Christopher Oliver in 1910. Isabella the youngest sister married William H Crawford in 1914. John Hardie is listed in the nominal roll for the 1/7th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers ‘proceeding abroad’ and he disembarked with his battalion at Boulogne on 21st April 1915. The battalion was ordered into action on 25th and 26th April within four days of arriving in the theatre of war. The 50th Division had not had time either for trench familiarisation or for training in trench warfare, before it was thrown into fighting line. The 7th battalion war diary (TNA WO95 2830/1, 3rd May 1915) records the heavy casualty list for the period from 25th April to 2nd May 1915:
Following the battalion’s severe baptism of fire, it then began a period of trench familiarisation and training with companies attached to units of 11th Brigade, 4th Division. During May the battalion also supplied work parties in the trenches. On 24th May battalion was ordered to occupy trenches astride the St Jean to Wieltje road, but as it left St Jean in came under heavy artillery fire, suffering 20 casualties. The battalion pulled back to support trenches where it remained until 26th May. At 9pm on 26th the battalion marched to the canal bank north of Ypres, and joined the 1st battalion Rifle Brigade to which was attached for duty in the trenches.
Both battalions occupied trenches, part astride the fork where the Wieltje to Fortuin and Wieltje to St Julien roads met, and part in trenches south of the Wieltje - St Jean road. Here they remained until relieved on 2nd June and went into bivouacs. Between 24th May and 2nd June the war diary records that the battalion suffered 14 other ranks killed, and one officer and 38 other ranks wounded. After a period out of the trenches, the battalion relieved the Honourable Artillery Company in support trenches on the evening of 11th June. Two companies were in Zouave Wood and two companies in Sanctuary Wood. The battalion was remained in the reserve trenches or in the Hooge defence until relieved on 20th June. During this period the battalion suffered further casualties: one officer killed and four wounded, and 12 other ranks killed and 53 wounded. Amongst the casualties was John Hardie. John Hardie’s family were notified that he had died from wounds on 21st June 1915 at No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station then located at Puchevillers. He had been in France for just two months. Memorials: Carham, Cross 1914-18 & 1939-45, Crossroads (NEWMP C8.02); ROH 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, in Buckley, War History of the Seventh Northumberland Fusiliers, Appendix IV, p.136-144 (NEWMP A11.59)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - John Hardie; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte John Hardie; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 7 /2532, John Hardie; 23/07/2020; 05/09/2020; 11/04/2023; 20/04/2023; |
Robert James Harvey
1914-18 Memorial Plaque
St John the Baptist, Edlingham (NEWMP E17.01) (Photo ©IRS 19 Aug 2009) |
95
HARVEY, Pte Robert James, No. 40672, 1st battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, died of wounds on 10th April 1918, aged 33 years, and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Robert James Harvey was second son of Robert Harvey (b 25th Jun 1853) and Jane Purvis (b 1853) who married in 1882. They had nine children, three sons, Thomas Harvey (b 1883), Robert James Harvey (b 1885) and Andrew Harvey (b 1886), who were followed by six daughters including twins Catherine Jane and Isabella Mary Harvey (b 1888), then came Margaret Louisa (b 1889), Sarah Agnes (b 1891; d 1895), Frances Lilian (b 1894) and finally Edith Annie (b 1895). In 1911 Robert James Harvey was employed as a horseman of the farm of John Mordue at Edlingham Hut. In the absence of a service record it is not possible to determine when Robert Harvey joined the Army, but he married Rosanna Wealleans on 26th February 1916 and it seems likely that this marriage took place either just before he joined the Army or before he left for the Western Front. The couple had no children. Rosanna Wealleans was the niece of John Mordue’s second wife Janey (d 1908), and by 1911 was working as John Mordue's housekeeper.[Note 21] Robert James Harvey served with the 1st battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, which was under the orders of 2nd Brigade, 1st Division throughout the war. Robert James Harvey died on 10th April 1918 (Newcastle Journal , 8th May 1918, p 4; 13th May 1918, p 5). On 10th April 1918 the battalion was at Cuinchy and the battalion War Dairy records:
Although there is no mention of any active military action nor of any casualties on 10th April, on the day before the battalion had suffered a number of casualties when it had come under a
It would seem most likely that Robert Harvey was amongst the 25 other ranks wounded on 9th April and that he died the following day from wounds. The fact that he has no known grave merely indicates that his body, if buried, was not recovered for reburial during the post-war process of grave concentration.
After Robert Harvey’s death, his widow Rosanna remained in John Mordue’s household as housekeeper, a position she still held in 1921. She was also described, incorrectly, as John Mordue’s ‘step-daughter’; in fact as already noted Rosanna Harvey (née Wealleans) was the niece of John Mordue’s second wife the late Janey Mordue. John and Janey Mordue had one child, a son John James Mordue (b 1899) who served as No.100571, Private Mordue, 13th battalion Durham Light Infantry in latter part of the war. He was Rosanna Harvey’s cousin. He enlisted in May 1917 and after training was posted to France where he joined his battalion in the field on 3rd October 1918. He suffered a gunshot wound to his head and right eye on 24th October 1918 and was sent to back to Britain aboard the Aberdonian on 3rd November 1918. He was left with a ‘lesion’ to his right eye. As a result he was discharged from the Army on medical grounds on 8th April 1919 and was awarded a Silver War Badge. He was 19 years old. His service is remembered on the Memorial Plaque in Edlingham Church. In the 1939 Register John Mordue was listed as a haulage contractor. He had married Edna Straffen in 1921 and the couple had two daughters Shirley (b 1922) and Kathleen (b 1924) and the family lived at Edlingham Hut, Edlingham. Edna’s older brother Thomas Straffen (qv) had served in the 13th battalion East Yorkshire Regiment and died just after the end of the Great War. Memorials: Branton Presbyterian Church RoH (now at Glanton U.R.Church - NEWMP G4.02); Glanton, Presbyterian Church Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1918 (NEWMP G4.03); Edlingham, Plaque 1914-18 St John the Baptist (NEWMP E17.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Robert James Harvey; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 40673, Robert James Harvey; 31/12/2022, 02/02/2023; 06/02/2023; 11/04/2023; 23/06/2023; |
George Samuel Henderson
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96
HENDERSON, Pte George Samuel, No. 59260, 2nd battalion Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment), died on 15th August 1918, aged 19 years in the Kriegslazarett at Valenciennes and is buried in Valenciennes (St. Roch) Communal Cemetery, Nord, France. George Samuel Henderson (b c 1899) was the third of the seven children of Robert Foggin Henderson (b 1875, Amble Links) and his wife Margaret Jobson (b 1875, South Middleton). The couple married in 1897. In 1911 the family lived at Glanton Pyke. The two oldest children were twins Jane and Alexander Henderson (b 1898, Glanton), and were followed by George Samuel Henderson (b 5th June 1899, Glanton), and then by Robert Foggin Henderson (b 1900, Glanton), John Jobson Henderson (b 1901, Glanton), Arthur Henderson (b 1904, Glanton) and James Grieg Henderson (b 1908, Glanton). George Samuel Henderson attested in July 1917, his medical examination was on 5th July, and he was called up on 11th September 1917, aged 18 years 1 month. He was posted for training to the 3rd battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, and following training was posted initially to 21st battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (Wool Textile Pioneers), but then was posted instead to the 2nd battalion West Yorkshire Regiment on 3rd April 1918 and joined the battalion in the field on 4th April 1918 as one the some 700 other ranks sent to rebuild the battalion after the losses it had sustained between 21st to 25th March 1918 during the German ‘Michael’ offensive. The 2nd battalion was under orders of 23rd Brigade, 8 Division.[Note 22] Pte George Henderson was recorded as missing in action on 24th April 1918 during the actions of Villers-Bretonneux (24th-25th April 1918) where the 8th Division served as part of III Corps. He had been taken prisoner by the Germans. He died on 15th August 1918, aged 19 years, from ‘Zellgewebs-entzündung’ (inflammation of cell tissue or cellulitis) in the Kriegslazarett at Valenciennes. He was buried in the Ehrenfriedhof Valenciennes [Note 23] and is now interred in Valenciennes (St. Roch) Communal Cemetery. Memorials: Branton Presbyterian Church RoH (now at Glanton U.R.Church - NEWMP G4.02); Glanton, Presbyterian Church Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1918 (NEWMP G4.03); Whittingham, Stained glass window 1914-18 St Bartholemew's (NEWMP W48-01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - George Samuel Henderson; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 59260, George Samuel Handerson; 31/12/2022; 13/02/2023; 11/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
Hugh George Kinghorn Henderson
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97
HENDERSON, Bugler Hugh George Kinghorn, No. 15823, 8th (Service) battalion Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert’s), previously No. 14426, Northumberland Fusiliers, killed in action on 27th November 1915, aged 19, and is buried in Chapelle-d'Armentières New Military Cemetery, Nord, France Hugh George Kinghorn Henderson was the middle of the three children of James Henderson (b 1853) and his wife Ann Kinghorn (b 1865). The couple had married in 1893. Their first two children, Eleanor Mary (b 1894) and Hugh (b 1896), although registered in Glendale District, were born at Eglingham. Their third child David was born at Carham in 1900. In 1901 the couple live at Shedlaw, Carham. In 1911 the family were living at Shoreswood Farm, Norham. Hugh Henderson had been working at Kimmerston Farm before he joined up. Hugh Henderson was listed amongst Wooler enlistments in early July 1915 (Berwick Advertiser, Friday 2 July 1915, p 7), although he seems to have joined the Northumberland Fusiliers (No. 14426) in Newcastle upon Tyne. He was then transferred or posted to the 8th (Service) battalion Somerset Light Infantry, which came under the command of 63rd Brigade, 21st Division. Hugh Henderson’s medal rolls record that he landed in France on 8th September 1915 with the 8th (Service) battalion Somerset light Infantry. The battalion war diary records its disembarkation on 9th September. The battalion spent 24 hours in a rest camp, and then on 10th September it moved by train to Watten (Nord). Within days of landing on the Continent the 21st Division was en route for the front and the Battle of Loos. The 21st and the 24th, both ‘New Army’ divisions, formed XI Corps with the Guards Division. The ‘New Army’ divisions exhausted from their long march and lacking any experience of the battlefield were thrown into action of second day of the battle on 26th September. The divisions were launched against the German lines and suffered serious casualties. The arrival of the Guards Division halted the German counter attack stabilised the line. The “A” and “D” companies of the 8th Somerset Light Infantry had attacked Hill 70 on the night of 25th-26th September and suffered heavy casualties. The two companies withdrew to old German support trenches, where they were joined by “B” and “C” companies. The battalion war diary records that its casualties were ‘15 officers, 271 other ranks 13 mules and 1 horse’ (TNA WO95 2158/3, 26th September 1915). The CWGC records 91 men of the 8th battalion killed between 25th and 30th September, including 76 on the 25th September. After the Loos the 8th Somerset Light Infantry withdrew and spent the period from 2nd to 14th October at Borre refitting. The battalion received a draft of 248 NCOs and men from the 3rd (Reserve) battalion on 6th October. From Borre the battalion moved to Strazeele on 15th October. Then it moved on to La Creche on 24th and on to Armentières on 25th October. At Armentières the 8th battalion occupied ‘a trench line under the guidance & instruction of the 50th Division’ (trench assimilation under the guidance of the 5th Division (TNA WO95 2158/3, 25th October 1915) until 1st November. From 3rd to 10th November the battalion ‘did trench work under orders of the C[ommander] R.E.’ of 50th Division. Then the battalion went into the trenches on its own for the first time. Hugh Henderson was killed on 27th November 1915, when the battalion was in the trenches near Armentières. Four casualties were recorded in the battalion war diary. The battalion
Following his son's death, James Henderson received a letter from Rev W Douglas Steedman, Chaplain to the 8th Somerset Light infantry in which he wrote that
The letter from Steedman was published in The Berwick Advertiser (Friday 10th December, p 6) together with a letter from a friend of Hugh's No.15843, L Cpl Mitcheson, who wrote how unfortunate Hugh had been
After the War the Henderson family lived at Brewery Farm, Wooler. The father James Henderson died in late 1920.
Memorials: Ford, Plaque 1914-18, St Michael & All Angels (NEWMP F23.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Hugh George Kinghorn Henderson; Coldstream Local History Projects - Bugler Hugh George Kinghorn Henderson; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 15823, Hugh George Kinhorn Henderson; 26/03/2021; 27/04/2021; 11/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
James Henderson
John Alfred Henderson
Photo IRS 22 Sept 2020
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98
HENDERSON, Sgt James, No. 13161, 9th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died 12th May 1917, and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France James Henderson was the oldest surviving son of Robert Forster Henderson, tobacconist, and Isabella Nicol Henderson (née Redpath) and was born in 1883 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The couple’s first child Robert George born in 1880 died aged 5 in 1885. James had three younger sisters - Arabella Redpath (b 1887), Gertrude (b 1898) and Agnes Olive (b 1906) – and two younger brothers – Charles William (b 1891) and John Alfred (b 1894) – all born in Wooler. In 1881 the newly married couple were living with Isabella’s widowed mother Arabella Redpath in the High Street, Wooler. The family were still living in the High Street 1901, and James was an apprentice joiner, perhaps working with his uncle James Redpath who was a joiner. By 1911 the family were at an address in the Market Place, but by then James was married. In the summer of 1902 James had married Edith Straughan who was born in Scotswood, Newcastle upon Tyne and in 1911 the couple were living in Hilliard Street, Blyth. James was the manager of a yeast company and was assisted by his wife. They had four children: Frederick (b 1903), Gertrude (b 1907), James (b 1909), and Mary (b 1912). James joined up in 1914 and, after training in Dorsetshire, he went to France with his battalion in September 1915. He served as a pioneer sergeant employing his joinery skills. The 9th battalion was under the orders of the 55th Brigade, 17th (Northern) Division and in May 1917 was part of Allenby’s Third Army. On 12th May 1917 the 9th battalion together with the 10th Lancashire Fusiliers and supported by the 12th battalion the Manchester Regiment were ordered to take trenches on Greenland Hill, north of Roeux in the Scarpe Valley. The attack which opened at 6.30am was met by a heavy German counter barrage. James Henderson was killed by shell fire while in the trenches. He left his widow and four children. His commanding officer wrote to his widow Edith saying “how sorry we were all when your husband was killed and he is greatly missed by all of us” (Berwick Advertiser, 15 June 1917, p 7). On 13th and 14th May Roeux was captured by Third Army. James’s younger brother Charles William worked as a bank teller and joined the Royal Navy Air Service on 22nd February 1918 as an aircraftman II, and was initially posted to the shore establishment HMS President II. He was then posted to the Kite Balloon base at Roehampton. He transferred to the RAF on 1st April 1918. From Roehampton he was posted to No. 20 Kite Balloon Base at Caldale on Orkney on 15th May 1918. He was transferred to the RAF Reserve on 11th April 1919 and finally discharged on 30th April 1920. Charles William Henderson married Mary Fawcett on 13th June 1918 at Hawes, North Yorkshire. John Alfred Henderson the youngest brother served for a time in the Army. He was an electrical engineer by profession but also a member of 6th (TF) battalion Manchester Regiment and was called up when the war broke out. The battalion volunteered for foreign service and Private John Alfred (No. 1712, later No. 250202) served with his battalion, first for a brief period in England, before the battalion was sent to Egypt where it spent seven months. The battalion landed on Gallipoli on 6th May 1915. On 4th June 1915 John was wounded and evacuated to hospital in Malta where he spent two months before returning to Britain and to hospital in Bristol. In mid 1916 he was transferred to a post in Ministry of Munitions to follow ‘his profession as electrical engineer on board H.M. Ships of war’ (Berwick Advertiser, Friday 15 June 1917, p 7). He was discharged from his battalion having served his four years. James’s sister Arabella Redpath HENDERSON (qv) volunteered as a VAD and had been quartermaster of the Wooler VAD detachment before the war.
Memorials: Wooler Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler Church School plaque (NEWMP W68.03)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - James Henderson; Coldstream Local History Projects - Sgt James Henderson; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 13161, James Henderson; 30/04/2019; 15/02/2020; 22/09/2020; 11/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
William Atkinson Henderson
Photo IRS 11 Sept 2019
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99
HENDERSON, Pte William Atkinson, No. 19/230, 19th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Pioneers), died of wounds 27th November 1916, aged 26, and is buried in Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, Arras, Pas de Calais, France William Atkinson Henderson was the only son of Isabella Nairn Henderson (née Atkinson), of 1, Queen's Road, Wooler, and James Henderson (died 1919), formerly of the Temperance Hotel, Church Street, Wooler. William was born in early 1893 at Wooler. He had two younger sisters Annie Elizabeth (b 1898) and Dorothy Atkinson (b 1902). He was a former pupil of the Duke's School Alnwick, and had been secretary of the Wooler Football Club. He was described as 'an enthusiastic player.' In 1914 he was living in Ryton-on-Tyne and in 1915 he married (Mary) Annie Chape (b 1895) the only child of Ralph and Alice Chape.[Note 24] Annie gave birth to a son Edward G Henderson in late 1916. William’s death left Annie a widow with a baby boy to support. She did not remarry and is described as 'Mary Annie Henderson widow' when she was granted probate following her father's death in 1953. William enlisted in October 1915 in the 19th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, which had been converted to a pioneer battalion in February 1915 and was attached later as divisional troops to the 35th Division. The battalion landed at Le Havre in January 1916. The 35th Division concentrated to the east of St Omer on 6th February. The Division was involved in fighting on the Somme until 1st September when they were pulled out of the line and transferred to Arras arriving on 9th September. The battalion remained in Arras working on the defences until 4th December. It was during this period of service in Arras that William Henderson was wounded. Capt J. B. Craggs, 19th Northumberland Fusiliers wrote on 27th November to William Henderson's wife to inform her that her husband had been
He died of his wounds at the 107th Field Ambulance Advance Dressing Station.
Memorials: Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, Plaque 1914-18, United Reformed Church (NEWMP W68.06); Alnwick, Duke's Middle School plaque 1914-1918 (NEWMP A11.16)
See also: Ryton-on-Tyne War Memorials Project, Casualty List [Note 25]; Bailiffgate Collections - William Atkinson Henderson; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte William Atkinson Henderson; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 19/230, William Atkinson Henderson; 07/08/2018; 30/04/2019; 13/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; 09/04/2024; |
Henry Hetherington
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100
HETHERINGTON, Pte Henry, No. 7/2013, “F” Company, 1/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, killed in action on 15th May 1915, and commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Henry Hetherington was the sixth of the eleven children of Thomas Hetherington and Catherine Hetherington (née Ternent). Thomas Hetherington and Catherine Ternent had married in Alnwick in the late summer of 1870. Only ten of their eleven children have been identified, including the eight children who survived to adulthood. Three children that died in infancy. Henry's five older siblings were John Ternent Hetherington, born in late 1870 and baptised on Christmas Day, Thomas (b 1872), Catherine (b 1874), Jane (b 1877) and William (b 1879). Henry (b 1881) was followed by Elizabeth (b 1884) who died soon after her birth. George Hetherington (b 1887) was the next child and was followed in 1890 by an unnamed male baby who died very soon after his birth. The tenth identified child and youngest was Mary (b 1894). Henry Hetherington had married Elizabeth Stewart Swan in 1901. By 1911 the couple had four children: Elizabeth Swan Hetherington (aged 8. b 25th May 1902), Henrietta Hetherington (aged 6, b 5th June 1904), John Wilson Swan Hetherington (aged 3, b 24th August 1907) and Thomas Wilson Hetherington (aged 10 months, b 8th May 1910). In 1911 the family lived at High Hobberlaw, Alnwick, and Henry worked as a forester. A fifth child, Henry Hetherington, was born on 1st December 1912. When the Great War broke out Henry Hetherington and his family were living on Ilderton Farm, Wooperton in Glendale District. Henry Heatherington reportedly enlisted with the 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers when War was declared in 1914, and was listed in the 1/7th Battalion's embarkation roll as a member No. 3 Company. The battalion embarked aboard SS Invicta at Folkestone on 20th April 1915 and disembarked at Boulogne on 21st April. Henry's medal roll entry conifirms that he landed in France on 21st April 1915.
Just as the Northumbrian Division was arriving in France, the Germans launched a major attack on the Ypres Salient (Second Battle of Ypres 22nd April 1915 – 25th May 1915). Within days of landing the Northumbrian Division was heading for the Ypres Salient with no time to prepare for the realities of modern trench warfare. The Northumbrian Brigade including the 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers concentrated at Wieltje and was placed under the command of the 1st Canadian Division on 26th April. The Brigade launched its first attack the same day. The Brigade lost nearly a third of its strength in this fighting; amongst the casualties was the Brigade commander Brigadier General James Riddell (qv). On 29th April the 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers were ordered into trenches at Frezenberg and then were sent to dig trenches under the guidance of Royal Engineers. Between 3rd and 10th May the Brigade was in billets then it was sent for training in trench warfare at Wieltje. On 13th May the 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers marched to join 12th Brigade for training under the O.C. Royal Irish Fusiliers. The 1/7th battalion arrived in the early hours of 14th May and was ordered to occupy reserve trenches. Later in the day the battalion was attached to the 11th Brigade for training as follows: Headquarters, machine guns and Companies 3 and 4 were attached to 2nd Monmouthshire Regiment, and Companies 1 and 2 were attached to the 1st King’s Own (Lancaster) Regiment. Casualties from the 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers for the period 13th to 16th May as recorded in the battalion war dairy were ‘1 officer wounded, other ranks 4 killed, 7 wounded’ (TNA WO95 2830/1, 16th May 1915). Henry’s widow was left with five young children to support and she received pension payments towards their support. On 26th December 1918 she married Robert Hall and the couple had at least two children: Robert Edward Hall (b 28th January 1917) and Lucy Alexandra Hall (b 22nd July 1918). Robert Hall had served in the Army during the War, although he did not serve overseas. Immediately after the war Elizabeth was apparently living at New Heaton, Cornhill on Tweed. The 1939 Register records that Elizabeth Hall, once again a widow, was living in Noble Lands, Wooler with two of her sons, Thomas Hetherington, assistant shepherd (b 1910) and Robert Edward Hall, motor wagon driver (b 1917).
Memorials: Powburn Pillar 1914-18 1939-45 Community Garden (NEWMP P39.01); Alnwick War Memorial 1914-18, 1939-45, Korea, Denwick Lane (NEWMP A11.01); Alnwick, Plaque served 1914-18 Northumberland Hall (NEWMP A11.03); Alnwick, Roll of Honour 1914-18 St Michaels's Church, Canongate (NEWMP A11.22); ROH 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, in Buckley, War History of the Seventh Northumberland Fusiliers, Appendix IV, p.136-144 (NEWMP A11.59)
See also: NEWMP - Alnwick: Hetherington, H, Pte, 1915; Breamish Valley Roll of Honour - Private Henry Hetherington; Bailiffgate Collections - Henry Hetherington; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 7/2013, Henry Hetherington; 01/01/2023; 04/03/2023; 11/04/2023; 22/06/2023; 26/02/2024; 28/03/2024; |
Thomas Alexander Hetherington
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101
OO HETHERINGTON, Pte Thomas Alexander, No. 21/1629, 21st (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Scottish), died of wounds, in the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station at Puchevillers, on 2nd July 1916, aged 19, and is buried in Puchevillers British Cemetery, Somme, France Thomas Alexander Hetherington was the grandson of Thomas Hetherington (b 1850) and his wife Catherine Ternent (b 1850). The birth of Thomas Alexander Hetherington was registered in the Spring of 1897, and he was baptised on 21st August 1897 in Alnwick. His parents were named as Andrew and Catherine Hetherington. No other record of his parents has been found.[Note 26] Thomas Alexander Hetherington, No. 21/1629, 2nd Tyneside Scottish was just 19 years old when he died from wounds suffered on the Somme. The 21st battalion (2nd Tyneside Scottish) was a ‘Pals’ battalion was raised on Tyneside and formed as part of the 102nd (Tyneside Scottish) Brigade comprising four Tyneside Scottish battalions and under the orders of 34th Division.[Note 27]
On the opening day of the Battle of Somme (1st July 1916) the 102nd Brigade comprising the four Tyneside Scots battalions was tasked with taking German trenches to the north and south of the village of La Boiselle. The divisional history records that:
To the north of La Boiselle, the 20th battalion (1st Tyneside Scots) led the advance across Mash Valley against German trenches supported by the 23rd battalion (4th Tyneside Scots). The 21st battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Scots) led the attack to the south of La Boiselle, supported by the 22nd battalion (3rd Tyneside Scots). Eight groups of bombers under Lts Rotherford and Connolly and drawn from 102nd Brigade entered the village itself.
The attack by the four Tyneside Scottish battalions was costly in casualties, with 859 men of the four battalions recorded by the CWGC as killed on 1st July. Worst hit were the 20th and 23rd battalions which had to cross Mash Valley, and which lost respectively 323 and 242 men killed including both battalion commanders: Lt Col Charles C A Sillery of the 20th battalion, and Lt Col William Lyle of the 23rd battalion. Thomas Hetherington was seriously wounded on 1st July and admitted to No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station located at Puchevillers. He had suffered a penetrating gunshot wound to his chest. He died from his wounds on 2nd July, and was buried in what is now the CWGC Puchevillers British Cemetery. Memorials: Alnwick War Memorial 1914-18, 1939-45, Korea, Denwick Lane (NEWMP A11.01)
See also: Baillifgate Collections - Thomas Alexander Hetherington; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 21/1629, Thomas Alexander Hetherington; 03/03/2023; 07/03/2023; 11/04/2023; 22/06/2023; 26/06/2023; 26/02/2024; |
Adam Davidson Hill
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102
HILL, Pte Adam Davidson, No. 3815, 1/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died on 15th September 1916, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France Adam Davidson Hill was the great grandson of David Hills (b 1823; d) and Elizabeth Inglis (or Ingles) (b 1819; d ) and the son of their granddaughter Elizabeth. Adam was born at Fenton on 11th July 1897 and baptised at Doddington on 29th August 1897. David Hills and Elizabeth Inglis were both born in Scotland, and they married at Ayton, Berwickshire on 17th April 1842. Their first four children – Jessie (b c 1841), John (b March 1843), Elizabeth (b c 1846) and Isabella (b c 1848) - were born in Scotland. Three further children – David (b 1851), Agnes (b 1854) and George (b 1858) – were born in Northumberland. The family seems to have used ‘HILL’ and ‘HILLS’ as their family name at different times.[Note 28] In 1891 David and Elizabeth Hill were living at West Newton with their daughter Agnes (b c 1854, Carham) and granddaughters Elizabeth (b 1875, Carham) and Jessie (b 1878, Norham). In 1901 the widowed David Hill, aged 78 and described as a retired groom, was living at Fenton with his daughter Agnes, his granddaughters Elizabeth and Jessie, and great grandchildren Henrietta (b c 1895), Adam Davidson (b 1897), John (b c 1899) and Bessie (b 1900). In 1911 Agnes Hills and Elizabeth, described as Agnes’s niece, were living in Milfield together with Elizabeth’s children Henrietta, Adam Davidson and John. Adam was born and brought up at Fenton on a farm where the family worked for Herbert Philip DEEDES (qv). Later Adam worked as a shepherd at Whitton Hill farm, Milfield where Deedes was the tenant (Berwick Advertiser, 21 July 1916, p 5;16 October 1916, p 3). Adam Hill enlisted in October 1915 and after training he was posted to France landing in April 1916. He served with the 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers and was killed in action on 15th September 1916 in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15th-22nd September 1916) during an attack by the 149th Brigade of 50th Division launched from near Mametz Wood. The attack was supported by two tanks. The war diary of the 1/7th battalion records 3 officers and 40 other ranks killed, 7 officers and 219 other ranks wounded and 74 other ranks missing (TNA WO95 2830/2, 16th September 1916). The CWGC records 90 men of the 1/7th battalion and 193 men of the 1/4th battalion killed on 15th September. Adam was unmarried and his sole legatee was his brother John. Memorials: Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); ROH 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, in Buckley, War History of the Seventh Northumberland Fusiliers, Appendix IV, p.136-144 (NEWMP A11.59) See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Adam Davidson Hill; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Adam Davidson Hill; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 7/3815, Adam D Hill; 15/08/2018; 03/05/2019; 11/14/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
Bryan Hills
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103
HILLS, Sgt Bryan, No. 202881, 12/13th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, formerly 1/5th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died of wounds at the 55th Casualty Clearing Station on 20th February 1918, and is buried in Tincourt New British Cemetery, Somme, France Bryan Hills was the eldest of the nine surviving children of Ralph Hogg Hills (b 1864), and his wife Emily Agnes Cuthbert (b 1864, Stackpole Elidor, Pembrokeshire, Wales). Ralph and Emily married on 25th November 1885. They had 10 children, four sons and six daughters, but one child died in infancy. Bryan Hills was born in 1886. He was followed in 1888 by a sister Mary (b 1888), a second son Samuel (b 1889), then two further sisters Jane (b 1891) and Anne (b 1892). The next child, George, was born in late 1895, but died soon after his birth. The next child was Emily Agnes (b 1896) and she was followed by Ralph (b 1898), then by two daughters, Grace (b 1899) and Margaret (b 1901). Their father Ralph died on 11th November 1907, and their mother died on 19th December 1915. Bryan Hills married Elizabeth Henderson in later 1907, and the couple lived in Hirst, Ashington, where Bryan worked as a coal miner. The couple had four children, George (b 11th January 1910), Eleanor Adelaide (b 6th December 1911), Emily Agnes (b 25th May 1914) and Esther Stephenson Henderson Hills (b 5th August 1916). Bryan Hills was a pre-War Territorial and served with the 1/5th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. The 1/5th battalion was part of the Northumbrian Brigade, Northumbrian Division, which became 149th Brigade, 50th Division. When the Division went to France in May 1915, Bryan Hills, who was an NCO, was kept back in Britain to help with the training of recruits. When he eventually went to France, he served with 12th/13th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. The latter battalion had been formed on 10th August 1917 by the amalgamation of the 12th and 13th (Service) battalions. The merged battalion remained under the orders of 62nd Brigade, 21st Division. Bryan Hills died of wounds in the 55th Casualty Clearing Station (2/2nd London (TF) CCS) on 20th February 1918. The CCS was then located at Tincourt, near Peronne, Somme, and Bryan Hills was buried in the Tincourt New British Cemetery. Bryan Hills had two younger brothers who were of an age to serve in the Army. At the meeting of the Berwickshire Military Tribunal at Duns on 8th June 1916, Ralph Hills, one of these younger brothers, was ordered to serve in the Army and the other brother, Samuel, being a married man, was given an ‘absolute exemption’ from serving (Berwick Advertiser, 16 June 1916, p 4). Ralph Hills (qv) was killed in action in October 1918. There was another Bryan Hills from Lowick serving as No. 28093 in “A” Company, 23rd (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (4th Tyneside Scottish). He was a cousin whose father, also called Bryan, was the elder brother of Ralph Hogg Hills. No. 28093 Bryan Hills was taken prisoner at Bullecourt on 21st March 1918 during the opening days of the German Spring of 1918, and was held in the prisoner of war camp (Kriegsgefangenenlager) at Münster I. [Note 29] In 1923 he married Grace Gilchrist Scott, the younger sister of Sgt Joseph Charlton Scott (qv). Memorial: Lowick, Cross 1914-18 1939-45 Village Green (NEWMP L37.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Bryan Hills; Coldstream Local History Projects - Sgt Bryan HIlls; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 202881, Bryan Hills; 10/02/2022; 13/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
Ralph Hills
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104
HILLS, Pte Ralph, No. S/18217, 1/5th (TF) battalion Princess Louise's (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders), formerly 1/8th (TF) battalion, and previously 11th (Service) battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, was missing believed killed in action on 14th October 1918 and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Ralph Hills (b 1898) was the youngest of the three surviving sons of Ralph Hogg Hills and his wife Emily Agnes Cuthbert (b 1864, Stackpole Elidor, Pembrokeshire, Wales), who married in 1885. His eldest brother Bryan Hills (qv) was a Territorial serving with the 1/5th Northumberland Fusiliers, who was killed in action. Both parents died before any of their sons were casualties in the war; Ralph Hogg Hills had died in 1907, and Emily Hills died in 1915. Ralph Hills joined up in June 1916. He had been ordered to enlist before 30th June by the Military Tribunal for Berwickshire meeting at Duns on 8th June 1916. Samuel the middle brother, being a married man, was given an ‘absolute exemption’ from military service (Berwick Advertiser, 16 June 1916, p 4). Ralph enlisted with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, initially with the 11th (Service) battalion which was part of 45th Brigade, 15th (Highland) Division. In June 1918 the 11th battalion was reduced to a training cadre and excess personnel presumably including Ralph Hills, were transferred to the 1/8th (TF) battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, which was under orders of 183rd Brigade, 63rd Division. Ralph was serving 1/5th (TF) battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders when he was missing in action on 14th October 1918. He must have been posted after the 1/5th battalion was transferred from 52nd (Lowland) Division in June 1918, and came under the orders of 103rd Brigade, 34th Division. On 14th October the 1/5th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were in support. To their front right were the 1/8th Scottish Rifles, with the 1/5th KOSB on the left. The attack went in with the support of a heavy artillery barrage and was met by a counter barrage, but nonetheless it reached its objective. The 1/5th Argylls suffered 70 other rank casualties and two officers wounded (TNA WO 95 2466/1, War Diary 1/5th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders). The CWGC records nine men of the battalion killed on 14th October and of these five have no known grave and are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. Ralph’s eldest brother Sgt Bryan Hills (qv), who had been a pre-War Territorial, died of wounds in February 1918. A cousin also called Bryan Hills serving with 23rd (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (4th Tyneside Scottish) was captured by the Germans during their Spring Offensive in March 1918 and held as a prisoner of war at the Münster II prisoner of war camp. He had arrived home in December 1918; his safe return was reported in The Berwick Advertiser, 13th December 1918. Memorial: Lowick, Cross 1914-18 1939-45 Village Green (NEWMP L37.01)
See also: Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Ralf Hills; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. S/18217, Ralph HIlls; 11/02/2022; 13/04/2022; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
John Hinson
James Hinson
Photo IRS 10 Sept 2019
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105
HINSON, Pte John, No. 290996, previously No. 7/3491, 1/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died on 15th September 1916, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France John Hinson was one of the nine children of Robert Hinson, farm steward, and Mary Hinson (née Waite) of West Weetwood, Wooler. John Hinson was born 1895 at Doddington, Northumberland. He had four older brothers – Robert (b 1886), William (b 1887), Thomas (1890) and James Alexander (b 1891), and one - Alexander (b 1898) - who was younger. He also had three sisters Margaret (b 1888; d 1910), Christina Isabella (b 1892) and Mary Ann b 1900). In 1911 he was a 'horse boy on farm'. He enlisted in June 1915. He served with the 1/7th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers and was attached to the machine gun section when he went missing in action at High Wood on 15th September 1916 during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15th-22nd September 1916). He was lost during the attack launched by the 149th Brigade of 50th Division from near Mametz Wood, the same attack that claimed the life of Adam Davidson HILL (qv). The 1/7th and 1/4th battalions were in the first wave with the 1/6th battalion in support and the 1/5th battalion in reserve. The attack was supported by two tanks. John Hinson's friend Pte Henry GIBSON (qv) had been killed at St Eloi on 26th or 27th March 1916. His brothers Thomas HINSON (qv), and James Hinson (No. 16339, 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers; No. 50073, Machine Gun Corps) also served in the army. In 1923 James Hinson married Annie Atkinson, daughter of Peter Atkinson, farm steward, and his wife Isabella, of Kimmerston, Ford, Northumberland.
Memorials: Wooler Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, West Church Communion Chair (NEWMP W68.06); Chatton Village Green Cross 1914-18 &1939-45 (NEWMP C20.01); ROH 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, in Buckley, War History of the Seventh Northumberland Fusiliers, Appendix IV, p.136-144 (NEWMP A11.59)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - John Hinson; Coldstream Local History Project - Pte John Hinson; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 7/3491, John Hinson; 07/08/2018; 04/05/2019; 13/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
Thomas Hinson
Photo IRS 10 Sept 2019
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106
HINSON, Pte Thomas, No. 11644, 14th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died on 2nd January 1917, aged 26, and is buried in Wooler (St. Mary) Church Burial Ground Thomas Hinson was one of nine children of Robert Hinson, farm steward, and Mary Hinson (née Waite) of West Weetwood, Wooler. He was born in 1890 at Belford. He had two older brothers Robert (b 1886) and William Waite (b 1887) and an older sister Margaret (b 1888, d 1910), and three younger brothers James Alexander (b 1891), John (b 1895) and Alexander Waite (b 1897), and two younger sisters Christina Isabella (b 1892) and Mary Ann (b 1900). Thomas Hinson worked on the farm of Mr Barber at West Weetwood, Wooler. Thomas Hinson enlisted on 7th September 1914, and was posted to the 14th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers on 26th September 1914. The 14th battalion came under the orders of the 21st Division as army troops and was converted to a pioneer battalion in June 1915. He landed in arrived in France on 9th September 1915 with the battalion. He was wounded during a bombing attack on 24th December 1915. The wounds in his left shoulder and left hand were reported as slight. However in January 1916 at Armentieres he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and he was discharged as medically unfit with T.B. on 24th August 1916 and died five months later. His younger brothers John HINSON (qv) and James Hinson (No. 16339, 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers; No. 50073, Machine Gun Corps) also served in the Army.
Memorials: Wooler Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, West Church Communion Chair (NEWMP W68.06); Chatton, Village Green Cross 1914-18 & 1939-46 (NEWMP C20.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Thomas Hinson; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Thomas Hinson; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 11644, Thomas Hinson; 07/08/2018; 04/05/2019; 13/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
Robin Cavers Hogg
Photo IRS 10 Sept 2019
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107
HOGG, Pte Robin Cavers, No. 4545, 2nd/14th battalion London Regiment (London Scottish), died of wounds on 2nd October 1916, aged 19, and is buried in Maroeuil British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France Robin or Robert Cavers Hogg was the third and youngest son of Andrew White Hogg and Annie Amelia Hogg (née Caird) of Ravensdowne, Wooler; he was born on 2nd September 1897 at New Cumnock, Ayrshire. He had two older brothers George (b 1881, Edinburgh) and Francis Caird (b 1882, Edinburgh), and two older sisters Margaret (b 1887, Edinburgh) and Elizabeth (Elsie) Caird (b 1893, d 1916). He attended Old Cumnock Grade School, and then George Watson's Boys' College, Edinburgh during 1912-1914. He enlisted on 30th March 1915, served first in Ireland, and then with the B.E.F. from 21st June 1916. He served with the Transport section and then with the Lewis gun section of his battalion. An officer of his battalion wrote that
Robert Hogg was only 19 years old and was not married. His legatees were his father Andrew and his older brothers George and Francis.
Memorials: Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, Plaque 1914-18, United Reformed Church (NEWMP W68.06); Wooler, Hogg Vase 1916, United Reformed Church (NEWMP W68.07); Cumnock War Memorial [Note 30]; George Watson's College, A Memorial Record of Watsonians who served in the Great War, Edinburgh, 1920, p 143, photograph facing p 146 [Note 31]
See also: NEWMP - Wooler: Richard Waters, Hogg, Pte R C, 1916; Cumnock War Memorial - Robin Cavers Hogg Note Bailiffgate Collections - Robin Cavers Hogg; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Robin Cavers Hogg; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 4545, Robin Cavers Hogg; 07/08/2018; 04/05/2019; 28/02/2021; 10/08/2022; 13/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; 10/04/2024; |
John James Hume
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HUME, Pte John James, No. 19/133, 19th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Pioneers), was killed in action on 12th April 1918, and is buried in the St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France John James Hume was the younger of the two sons of Joseph Hume, blacksmith, and Mary Hume (née Hannan) and he was born in 1895 at Wooler. In 1901 the family lived in West Street, Wooler. In 1911 he was living in Cheviot Villa, Cheviot Street, Wooler with his aunt Annie Hannan, who was boarding house keeper, and was working as a butcher’s assistant. His parents and his older brother Robert were then living at No. 1 Haydon Place, Gateshead. John James Hume is listed amongst those ‘at present serving in His Majesty’s Forces’ in February 1915 (Berwick Advertiser, 5 February 1915, p 5). He served with the 19th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, which was formed in November 1914 and became a pioneer battalion (2nd Tyneside Pioneers) on 8th February 1915. It is very possible that John James Hume was an original member of the battalion. The 19th battalion was attached as divisional troops to 35th Division from July 1915, and landed at Le Havre in January 1916. From 1st to 5th April 1918 the battalion was under canvas at La Houssoye resting and refitting and awaiting orders. On 6th April the battalion received orders to go to Contay and set out at 2.30pm arriving at 4.30pm. The battalion went into billets. On 7th April the battalion received a draft of 212 other ranks. On 8th April Headquarters and "Y" company went into billets at Warloy, while "W" and "Z" companies went to Senlis. On 9th April "W" and "Z" companies began work on the Support Line and "Y" company worked on the Warloy-Senlis Road. This work continued until 22nd or 23rd April, with companies alternating between the Support Line and Warloy-Senlis Road. A number of casualties are recorded in the battalion War diary during this period, particularly between 9th and 14th April, the period during which John James Hume was killed (TNA WO95 2477/8). His brother Robert Stanley HUME (qv) served in the Royal Engineers. Memorials: Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, Church School plaque (NEWMP W68.03)
See also: Bailiffgate Collection - John Hume (no details); Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte John Hume; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 19/133, John James Hume; 07/08/2018; 05/05/2019; 13/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 22/06/2023; |
Robert Stanley Hume
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HUME, Sapper Robert Stanley, No. 459525, 450th (Northumbrian) Field Company, Royal Engineers, missing presumed drowned at Fallujah on 11th January 1918, he is commemorated on the Basra Memorial, Iraq Robert Stanley Hume was the older of the two sons of Joseph Hume, blacksmith, and Mary May Hume (née Hannan), and was born in 1889 in North Shields. In 1901 the family lived in Wooler, but by 1911 Robert was living with his parents at No 1 Haydon Place, Gateshead and was working as a quarryman. He gave the same address when he attested on 3rd June 1915. He married Joanna Dorothy Carr on 1st January 1916 and the couple had a daughter Dorothy Susan born on 2nd November 1916 in Gateshead. Joanna and her daughter lived at 20 Deckham Place, Gateshead. Robert Hume was posted to the 3/2nd Northumbrian Field Company on 19th June 1915, then in July 1916 he was posted to 2/2nd Northumbrian Field Company, RE in the 63rd Division. On 6th March 1917 the 2/2nd Northumbrian Field Company was re-numbered 450th Field Company and by 10th March 1917 had been transferred to the 15th (Indian) Division in the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. No. 459525, Sapper Robert Stanley Hume went missing together with No. 459133, Lance Corporal J Wood on 11th January 1918 in Fallujah, Iraq. Fallujah lies on the Euphrates to the west of Baghdad. Witnesses, some of whom had been guarding a bridge, reported hearing a splash as of someone falling into water, of hearing cries for help, and calls for a boat, and others reported of seeing men in a boat. A court of enquiry into the disappearance of the two Royal Engineers, presided over by Major G W Atkins (24th Punjabis), was held on 18th January 1918. Two copies of the transcript of the evidence given at the court of enquiry survive in Robert's service record. The enquiry concluded that the two men had accidently drowned. No bodies were found. His brother John James HUME (qv) also served and died in the War. Memorials: Wooler, Church School plaque (NEWMP W68.03)
See also: IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 459535, Robert Stanley Hume; 07/08/2018; 05/05/2019; 22/06/2023; |
Thomas Hume
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HUME, Private Thomas, No. 35187, 10th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, previously 12th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, killed in action of 17th September 1917, and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West Vlaanderen, Belgium Thomas John Hume was the only child of John Hume of Cornhill on Tweed and his wife Alice Falkender from Ford. John Hume had married Alice, in the first half of 1887. Their son Thomas John was born early in 1888, but unfortunately Alice died either while giving birth to Thomas or very soon after. She was just 30 years old. John Hume was left with small baby to look after. In 1891 John and his three year old son were living at Cornhill and sharing a house with three of John’s unmarried older sisters: Jane, Christina and Margaret. John was working as an agricultural labourer. By 1901 John was a shepherd, and he and his son were living with John’s widowed mother Jane, at Twizzell Stead Cottage, Twizzell. Thomas attended Tillmouth School, but in 1901 now aged 13, he was working as a ‘salmon net fisher’. Thomas John Hume served with the Northumberland Fusiliers in the Great War first with the 12th (Service) battalion then with the 10th (Service) battalion. Both the battalions were initially raised in Newcastle in 1914. Later the 12th battalion moved to Halton Park, Buckinghamshire, as part of 62nd Brigade, 21st Division, and the 10th battalion went to Bullswater Common, near Frensham, Surrey with 68th Brigade, 23rd Division. After completing their training the 12th battalion disembarked in France in early September and the 10th battalion disembarked at Boulogne at the very end of August and in early September 1915. The date and circumstances of John Hume’s transfer from 12th battalion to 10th battalion are not known. All that is certain is that he was with the 10th battalion when he was killed in action on 17th September 1917. On 15th September 1917 the 10th battalion had been at Ottawa Camp. On 16th the battalion left and marched to No, 1 Area (Dickebusch) and there on 17th September the battalion was able to bathe. Although the battalion was not in action, its war diary records that on that day
The CWGC records that three men from the 10th battalion died on 17th September 1917, when the battalion was not in action but was enjoying bathing. The three men are No. 41907 Lance Corporal James Arthur Cave, No.32343 Pte Robert William Boyd and No. 35187 Pte John Hume. All three are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. It seems likely that these men are three of the four casualties suffered during this patrol. There is no mention of any other casualties on that day in the war diary.
Memorials: Cornhill-on-Tweed, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, roadside (NEWMP C53.01); Tillmouth Roll of Honour 1914-1918 Council School (NEWMP T18.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collection - Thomas Hume; Coldstream Local HIstory Projects - Pte Thomas Hume; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 35187, Thomas Hume; 11/03/2021; 24/04/2021; 25/04/2021; 13/04/2023; 20/04/2023; 23/06/2023; |
John Edward Hunter
Photo IRS 11 Sept 2019
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HUNTER, Pte John Edward, No. 65694, 1/5th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusilier, was missing in action on 10th April 1918, aged 20, and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Hainaut, Belgium John Hunter was the fourth child of the late Thomas Hunter (d 1901) and Jane Ann Hunter (née Gallon), and was born in 1898, and baptised in the West Chapel Wooler on 24th May 1898. In 1901 the family were living at Bridge End, Wooler and their aunt Barbara Gallon, Jane’s sister, was with the family. John Hunter had three older siblings William (b 1890), (Margaret) Adelaide (b 1893) and George (b 1895), and a younger brother Thomas (died 1901). A daughter Isabella born in 1897 had died aged 9 weeks. In 1911 Jane Hunter and three children – Adelaide, George and John - were living on Tenter Hill, Wooler. Subsequently Jane Hunter lived at No. 11, Maitland Terrace, Newbiggin-by-Sea, Northumberland. After he enlisted John Hunter was posted to the 1/5th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, which was under orders of the 149th Brigade and the 50th (Northumbrian) Division. In March 1918 the 50th Division was under the orders of XIX Corps and part of Gough’s Fifth Army. On 21st March when the Germany Army launched Operation Michael against the St Quentin sector held by the Third and Fifth Armies, the 50th Division was out of the line training. The Division was ordered to march towards Guillaucourt to support the 66th Division. From the 22nd March until the end of the month the Division was involved in a fighting withdrawal in the face of repeated German assaults. The brigades were somewhat scattered and individual companies and battalions were detached as required. The Germans did not break through despite the advances that they had made. Following a successful rearguard action at La Rosières (26th-27th March) and after some final desperate assaults by the Germans, elements of the Division were relieved and began to withdraw on the 31st March and 1st April. By 2nd April the Division except for its artillery had concentrated in the Douriez area to rest and refit. It comprised some 6,000 of all ranks. The Division had endured hard fighting and had suffered losses. It was ordered to move north to Flanders. By 4th April 149th Brigade was billeted in the Gonnheim – L’Eclême area and under command of XI Corps. Then the Division was ordered to Estaires and came under the command of XV Corps in Horne’s First Army. In the early morning of 9th April the Germans opened a massive artillery bombardment as a prelude to the opening of a further offensive on the Lys (Operation Georgette). John Hunter was missing presumed dead on 10th April during the battle of Estaires (9th-11th April 1918). John's older brother William HUNTER (qv) had served in the Australian Imperial Force and was killed at Gallipoli. John and William Hunter were cousins of James GALLON (qv) and Richard GALLON (qv).
Memorials: Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02)
See also: IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 65694, John Hunter; 07/08/2018; 05/05/2019; 23/06/2023; |
Norman Archbold Hunter
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HUNTER, 2nd Lt Norman Archbold, 26th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (3rd Tyneside Irish), died on 3rd September 1917, aged 22, and is buried in Hargicourt British Cemetery, Aisne, France Norman Archbold Hunter was the youngest of the five children of Andrew Hunter and his wife Rachel Fish. The couple had married in 1880. Their children were Ann Hilda (b 1884), Catherine May (b 1887), Robert How (b 1889), Wilfrid Bertram (b 1891) and Norman Archbold (b 1895). All five children were born in Milfield. Andrew Hunter was a school teacher and in 1901 the family lived in the Schoolmaster’s House in Milfield. Ann Hilda who was 17 in 1901 was a pupil teacher. Her younger siblings were all still at school. 1911 census records that Andrew Hunter was head teacher at Milfield, that Catherine May was an assistant teacher, Robert How was a pupil teacher, and that Norman Archbold, who was 15, was still at School. Andrew’s wife Rachel was staying with her sister Jane How in New Malden in south-west London. The eldest daughter Ann Hilda had married Thomas Urwin in 1909, and the couple were living in Milfield in 1911. Thomas was land agent’s clerk. Norman Hunter was a pupil at Berwick Grammar School where he excelled academically and was captain of cricket and football in 1911-12. In 1914-15 he was student at Edinburgh University, and had intended to become a teacher (Berwickshire News, 18 September 1917, p 8). He had not graduated when he joined up in October 1915 as a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps. In December 1916 he was officer cadet and subsequently was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 26th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (3rd Tyneside Irish) in May 1917. The battalion was part of the 103rd Brigade, 34th Division. Norman Hunter joined the battalion on 27th June 1917 at Maizières (Pas de Calais) to the west of Arras where it was then billeted (TNA WO95 2467/2, 27th June 1917). On 6th July the 34th Division transferred from XVII Corps to III Corps. During 8th, 9th and 10th July the 101st and 102nd Brigades took over the L’Omignon River - Hargicourt sector of III Corps front. The 103rd Brigade with 26th Northumberland Fusiliers was then in reserve. Norman Hunter was killed in action on 3rd September 1917 in attack on Triangle Trench in the Hargicourt sector. The battalion war diary (TNA WO95 2467/2) records that on the night of 2nd/3rd September 1917
A report of his death in The Berwickshire News (September 18 1917, pp 5-6) quotes from a letter to Mr Andrew Hunter from an officer M. S. Richardson (probably Col M. E. Richardson DSO, C.O. of 26th Battalion)
The same newspaper report describes him as “one of the most brilliant pupils Berwick Grammar School has produced.”
Both of Norman’s older brothers served in the War. His oldest brother Robert How HUNTER (qv) had been killed the year before on 15th September 1916. The middle brother Wilfrid Bertram had joined the Royal Navy in 1913, serving as an engine room artificer (No.M5773, Portsmouth). He served on the King Edward VII class pre-Dreadnought battleship HMS Hindustan from 4th March 1914 to 23rd August 1918. The ship was part of the 3rd Battle Squadron through most of the war, but in February 1918 Hindustan was detached to serve as parent ship during the preparations for the Zeebrugge Raid and first Ostend Raid, and then as depot ship during the raids. Wilfrid Hunter remained in the Navy until at least 1928. Between 1925 and 1928 he served with the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy. Memorials: Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); Crookham, Plaque, Presbyterian Church (NEWMP C66.01); Milfield Plaque 1914-18 Memorial Garden (NEWMP M9.03); Plaque 1914-18 Berwick Grammar School (NEWMP B25.21); University Of Edinburgh Roll Of Honour 1914-1919, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh and London 1921, p 45, pl xxxvii. [Note 32]
See also: NEWMP - Milfield: Hunter, N.A., 2 Lieut, 1917; Bailiffgate collections - Norman Archbold Hunter; Coldstream Local History Projects - 2nd Lt Norman Archbold Hunter; IWN Lives of the First World War - 2nd Lt Norman Archibald (sic) Hunter; 06/05/2019; 01/02/2021; 20/04/2023; 23/06/2023; |
Robert How Hunter
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HUNTER, Rifleman Robert How, No. R/19484, 21st (Service) battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps ('Yeoman Rifles'), died on 17th September 1916, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France Robert How Hunter was born in 1889 and was the oldest son of Andrew Hunter and his wife Rachel Fish. He had two older sisters, Ann Hilda (b 1884), Catherine May (b 1887), and two younger brothers, Wilfrid Bertram (b 1891) and Norman Archbold (b 1895). Robert was educated at Milfield School, where his father was master, and then at Berwick Grammar School. He was a student at Edinburgh University from 1905 to 1908 and was awarded an MA. In 1911 he was an assistant teacher employed by Berwick-upon-Tweed Council at Spittal County School. In 1915 when he joined up Robert How Hunter was a teacher at Palmer’s School, Greys, Essex. He enlisted on 17th November 1915, and was posted initially to the Army Reserve and then on 2nd February 1916 he was posted to the 21st battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps, which had been formed in September 1915 with volunteers from Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. The battalion was placed under the command of the 124th Brigade, 41st Division, which disembarked in France between 1st and 6th May 1916. Robert Hunter landed in France on 4th May 1916. The division had concentrated in the Hazebrouck and Bailleul area by 8th May 1916. According to the CWGC database Robert How Hunter was killed on 17th September 1916 during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15th-22nd September 1916). The Soldier’s Effects Registers records the date as 15th to 17th September as does his service record. At 6.20am on 15th September the 41st Division launched an attack on a two brigade front, with the 124th Brigade and 122nd Brigade, supported by tanks. The 124th Brigade on the right had the 21st battalion KRRC on the left and the 10th (Service) battalion the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) on the right in the front line. The 122nd Brigade on the left had the 18th battalion KRRC on the left and 15th battalion Hampshire Regiment on the right. The boundary between the two brigades ran through the middle of Flers. Although losses were high the 41st Division’s attack had quickly captured the first objective, and by 8.00am the second objective just south of Flers was taken. Four tanks then entered Flers followed by infantry and the village was cleared by 10 am. East of Flers the 21st KRRC and 10th Queen’s advanced on their third objective and took it. Unfortunately about this time Lt Col the Earl of Feversham the C.O. of the 21st KRRC was killed and the battalions had to fall back to the east of Flers. Nonetheless the attack on 15th September had successfully established a front line north of Flers. The 21st battalion was relieved at 3.00 am on 16th September by the 11th battalion Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment). The 18th battalion KRRC was not relieved until 18th September. The 21st battalion War diary (TNA WO95 2643/4) records the following casualties on 15th September:
The CWGC gives the following figures for the 21st battalion:
The CWGC figure for the 17th September, by which day the battalion had been relieved, seems very high, and the figure for 15th, when the battalion was in the thick of the fighting appears to be too low. It is probable that many of the casualties listed for 17th September, including Robert How Hunter, were lost on 15th September.
Robert How Hunter’s younger brother Wilfrid Bertram had joined the Royal Navy in 1913 and served as an engine room artificer during and after the War. His youngest brother 2nd Lt Norman Archbold HUNTER (qv) served with 26th Northumberland Fusiliers (3rd Tyneside Irish) and was killed action on 3rd September 1917. Memorials: Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); Kirknewton R.O.H. St Gregory (NEWMP K 15.08); Crookham, Plaque, Presbyterian Church (NEWMP C66.01); Milfield Plaque 1914-18 Memorial Garden (NEWMP M9.03); Berwick on Tweed, Angel Stautue 1914-18 1939-45 (NEWMP B25.01); Plaque 1914-18 Berwick Grammar School (NEWMP B25.21); University of Edinburgh Roll Of Honour 1914-1919, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh and London 1921, p 45, pl xxxvii [Note 33]; National Union of Teachers War Record 1914-1918, 1920.
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Robert How Hunter; Coldstream Local History Projects - Rifleman Robert How Hunter; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. R/19484, Robert H Hunter; 06/05/2019; 01/02/2021; 12/04/2023; 23/06/2023; |
William Hunter (No. 17456)
Craonelle lies short distance SW of Craonne
Vert La Gravelle is located a considerable distance to the south of Epernay and the River Marne.
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HUNTER, LCpl William, No. 17456, 1/4th (TF) battalion Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment), previously 10th (Service) battalion Yorkshire Regiment, died of colitis (Dickdarmkatarrh) on 12th October 1918 in the Prisoner of War Camp at Langensalza, aged 22 years, and now buried in Niederzwehren Cemetery, Kassel, Germany L Cpl William Hunter was the second of the five children of Adam Hunter and Mary Hunter, née Ross, of Whittingham, Northumberland and their only son. Adam Hunter was a carpenter and joiner, who later worked as an estate clerk of works. Adam Hunter and Mary Ross had married in 1891 and had five children. Their first child Sarah Ross Hunter (b 1893) was followed by William (b 24th May 1896), Isabella (Ella) (b 1900; d 22nd July 1923), Ethel Margaret (b 1902, d 1992) and Elizabeth (b 1905, d 1993). In 1911 the family lived in Whittingham and William who was 14 years old was still at school. William Hunter enlisted in the Army and after training disembarked in France on 9th September 1915, aged 18 years old. He was serving with 10th (Service) battalion Yorkshire Regiment, which was under the orders of 62nd Brigade, 21st Division. The 21st Division together with the 24th Division were the first ‘New Army’ Divisions to go into a major action in the War. The 10th battalion fought at Loos being involved in the attack on the Hill 70 Redoubt on 25th-26th September 1915. William presumably continued to serve with the 10th battalion until it was disbanded in the first week of February 1918
William Hunter’s medal roll and effects register entries confirm that he was posted to the 1/4th (TF) battalion Yorkshire Regiment. The 1/4th battalion was under orders of 150th Brigade, 50th Division, which was itself under the orders of XI Corps in 1918.
Everard Wyrall, The Fiftieth Division 1914-1919 (1939) Map facing p.335
Reproduced with the permission of the British Library under
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0 License. In late May 1918 the four Divisions of XI Corps where positioned between the east end of the Chemin de Dames NW of Craonne and Berry sur Bac and with valley of the Aisne behind them. The 50th Division was stretched out over a front of 8000 yards with all three brigades in the front line (Wylly, The Green Howards in the Great War, p 144). On 26th May 1918
In the frontline were the 5th battalion Yorkshire Regiment on the right and the 4th battalion East Yorkshire Regiment on the left of the Brigade. The 4th battalion Yorkshire Regiment was in Divisional Reserve at BEAURIEUX. When warning was received of an impending attack by the Germans to be preceded by two to three hour bombardment.
That L Cpl William Hunter was captured at Craonne is clear. He was reported as being taken prisoner on 27th May 1918 and being unwounded on a Prisoner list dated 28th October 1918 and submitted to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva by the German War Ministry . On a second Prisoner list also dated 28th October 1918, he is recorded as having died in the hospital (Lazarett) at the camp at Langensalza, on 12th October 1918 ‘in folge Dickdarmkatarrh’ ie. from colitis.[Note 34]
Memorials: Branton Presbyterian Church RoH (now at Glanton U.R.Church - NEWMP G4.02); Glanton, Presbyterian Church Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1918 (NEWMP G4.03); Whittingham, Stained glass window 1914-18 St Bartholemew's (NEWMP W48.01); Whittingham, Plaque 1914-18 1939-45 Memorial Institute (NEWMP W48.06)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - No. 17456 William Hunter; 30/12/2022; 22/02/2023; 13/04/2023 |
William Hunter (No. 619 AIF)
Photo IRS 11 Sept 2019
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HUNTER, Pte William, No. 619, 7th battalion Australian Infantry, AIF, died on 8th or 9th August 1915, aged 24, and is buried in Johnston's Jolly Cemetery, Gallipoli William Hunter was the eldest son of Thomas Hunter (died 1901) and Jane Ann Hunter (née Gallon), of 2, Cleveland Terrace, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, England, and was born in 1890 at Wooler, Northumberland. His father Thomas was a farmer’s son and died aged 37 years old. William Hunter had two younger sisters (Margaret) Adelaide (b 1893) and Isabella (died 1897 aged 9 months) and three younger brothers George (b 1895), John (b 1898) and Thomas (died 1901). William appears to have emigrated before the 1911 census was taken. When William joined up on 17th August 1914 he was 24 years old and single, he was living at 24 Powell Street, Yarraville, Victoria and working as a labourer. In his service record there is correspondence from Miss Agnes McLeod of 24 Powell Street, Yarraville initially asking for details of his death ‘being next of kin to No. 619 Pte Hunter signaller’. However William had named his widowed mother as next of kin when he enlisted. By then William had been in Australia for about two years. His service record indicates that he had served with the Northumberland Fusiliers for three years, presumably in the Territorial Force before leaving Britain and then with the Invercargill City Guards in New Zealand, before he arrived in Australia. William Hunter served with the 7th battalion Australian Infantry and was a signaller. The 7th battalion was raised in Victoria within two weeks of the declaration of war by Lieutenant Colonel H. E. "Pompey" Elliott. The battalion embarked just two months after its formation. Together with the 5th, 6th and 8th battalions, which were also raised in Victoria, it formed the 2nd Brigade, 1st Australian Division. After a brief stop in Albany, Western Australia, the battalion embarked on HMAT A20 Hororata at Melbourne on 19th October 1914 and sailed for Egypt, arriving on 2nd December.[Note 35] After further training the Brigade embarked for Gallipoli. On 25th April 1915 the battalion went ashore near Gaba Tepe at Anzac Cove in the second wave of the landing. Ten days later, the 2nd Brigade was transferred to Cape Helles to help in the attack on the village of Krithia. The attack captured little ground but cost the brigade almost a third of its strength. The 7th battalion was transferred back to ANZAC and in August was involved in the fierce fighting in the battle of Lone Pine, where William Hunter was killed on 8th/9th August. His brother John HUNTER (qv) and cousins James and Richard GALLON (qv) all served in the War. There is no certain evidence that either of William Hunter’s other brothers - George or Thomas - served in the armed forces.
Memorials: Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, Church School plaque (NEWMP W68.03); Virtual War Memorial Australia VWMA - William Hunter; VWMA - Johnston's Jolly Cemetery Memorial; VWMA - Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Canberra;
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - No. 619 Pte William Hunter, AIF; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte William Hunter; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 619, William Hunter, AIF; 07/08/2018; 13/04/2023; 21/04/2023; 19/05/2023; 23/06/2023; |
Andrew Smith Hutchinson
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HUTCHINSON, Pte Andrew Smith, No. 4418, 1/4th (TF) battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers (The Border battalion), died on 3rd September 1914, aged 19, and is buried in Carham, St Cuthbert churchyard, Northumberland Andrew Smith Hutchinson was the second child of Thomas William Hutchinson (b 1865, Haltwhistle) and his wife Agnes (née Smith, b 1869, Cornhill on Tweed). The couple married in 1890 and had four children. The eldest was Thomas (b 1892) followed by Andrew (b 1895), then there were two daughters Mary Adelaide (b 1897) and Jeanie (b 1898). Their mother Agnes died in 1899 aged just 29. In 1901 and 1911 the Hutchinson children were living at Panama Cottage, East Learmouth, with their late mother’s brother and sister, Robert and Jane Smith. Robert Smith was a joiner and cartwright. Their father Thomas William Hutchinson was apparently with his own parents and brother in Gateshead in 1901. However by 1911 he was back in East Learmouth with his children and his brother-in-law and sister-in-law at Panama Cottage. The eldest son Thomas Hutchinson was working as an apprentice joiner, whereas his brother Andrew Smith Hutchinson was a gardener. Mary Adelaide and Jeanie were still at school. Andrew’s entry in the Soldiers’ Effects Register records that he enlisted on 4th November 1913 and that his unit was the 4th battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers, which was a Territorial Force battalion. Andrew died in Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow, but the cause of death is not known. He is buried in the churchyard at Carham. The Effects Register has a note that he was not eligible for the War Gratuity because he had served less than six months. There is neither a medal index card nor any medal roll entry for Andrew Hutchinson and it is clear that he did not serve overseas. The 1/4th (TF) battalion did not sail from Liverpool for Egypt until 24th May 1915. It subsequently landed on Gallipoli on 6th June 1915. The 2/4th (TF) battalion was formed in November 1914 and did not serve overseas. In November 1915 it merged with 2/5th (TF) battalion as 14th battalion KOSB, later renamed 2/5th battalion and was posted in January 1917 to Ireland. He named his aunt Jane Smith as his next of kin, although his father Thomas received the monies owing to Andrew. His older brother Thomas HUTCHINSON (qv) also served in the Army. He served with the Royal Engineers and was killed in action in March 1918.
Memorials: Carham, Cross 1914-18 & 1939-45, Crossroads (NEWMP C8.02)
See also: Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Andrew Hutchinson; 23/07/2020; 05/09/2020; 06/11/2020; 13/06/2021; 21/04/2023 |
Thomas Hutchinson
The Green line was the last line of the system of defence in depth devel-oped by the BEF by the spring of 1918.
The 'R. E. Batt at Bayonville' is almost certainly the 1st R.E. Battalion which was formed to fight as emergency infantry.
On 26th March the 283rd Army Troops Company was ‘amalgamated with the 173rd & 258th Tun[elling] Coys & 228th, 286th, 288th AT Coys to form the 2nd R.E. Battalion’ as emergency infantry (TNA WO95 485/5, War Diary 283td Army Troops Company RE, 28th March 1918).
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HUTCHINSON, Sapper Thomas, No. 141748, 283rd Army Troops Company, Royal Engineers, was killed in action on 26th March 1918, aged 25, and is commemorated on the Pozières Memorial, Somme, France Thomas Hutchinson was the oldest son of Thomas William Hutchinson (b 1865) and his wife Agnes Smith (b 1869). Thomas had a younger brother Andrew Smith Hutchinson (b 1895) and two younger sisters Mary Adelaide (b 1897) and Jeanie (b 1898). His mother Agnes died in 1899. In 1901 Thomas was an apprentice joiner presumably working with his uncle Robert Smith. The children were living with their mother’s brother and sister, Robert and Jane Smith in Panama Cottage, East Learmouth. Meanwhile their father, who worked as Railway booking clerk was with his parents and brother in Gateshead. However in 1911 the four children and their father were living with Robert and Jane Smith at Panama Cottage. Thomas enlisted in the Royal Engineers although the date of his enlistment is unknown. He was serving with the 283rd Army Troops Company R.E. when he was killed in action. Army Troop Companies worked on bridging and water work behind the lines. In March 1918 the 283rd Company was operating in the Fifth Army area opposite St Quentin. On 15th March 1918 the Company arrived by lorry at Croix-Moligneaux, some 24km west of St Quentin. On 16th March half of the company began work to create a dump of materials for the Green Line [Note 36]; the other half erected billets, cleaned up and unloaded lorries. On the morning of 17th March the Company paraded and went to the baths. The company continued building up the dump on the Green line. It continued to work on the dump but was also preparing defences up to 21st March, when the Germans launched their Michael offensive against the British Fifth Army (Sir Hubert Gough) and Third Army (Sir Julian Byng). On early evening of 22nd March the 283rd Company pulled back to Pertain, and on 23rd continued west to Chaulnes. On the 24th March they arranged a temporary water supply at Chaulnes and Marchelot and collected material for defences. At 4.30pm they moved further west arriving at Guilleaucourt at 8.30pm. The war diary notes that the company was ‘On outposts till midnight’. On 25th March a detachment comprised of three officers and 68 NCOs and sappers was sent ‘to R.E. Batt[alion] at Bayonvillers’. On 26th March the company moved to Wiencourt, and then the lorries, tool-carts and limbers were sent by road to Abbeville, while the rest of the company marched to Gentelles, arriving at 9pm. The 283rd Company became part of the 2nd R.E. battalion as emergency infantry. On 27th March the Left half company rejoined from the 1st R.E. battalion. On 30th March Capt. Favle and three sappers were at Boves for bridge demolition. Sapper Thomas Hutchinson was killed in action during opening days of the German offensive. His Effects Register entry records that he was ‘officially considered’ to have died on 26th March, which together with the fact that he has no known grave indicates that the precise date and place of his death is not known. His younger brother Adam Smith HUTCHINSON (qv) had enlisted in the 4th battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers in 1913. He never served overseas and died in the Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow.
Memorials: Carham, Cross 1914-18 & 1939-45, Crossroads (NEWMP C8.02)
See also: Coldstream Local History Projects - Sapper Thomas Hutchinson; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. 141748, Thomas Hutchinson; 23/07/2020; 06/11/2020; 21/04/2023; 23/06/2023; |
George Hutchison
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HUTCHISON, Pte George. No. S/11214, 1st battalion Seaforth Highlanders, died of fever on 22nd May 1916, aged 26, in Mesopotamia, and is buried in the Amara War Cemetery, Iraq George Hutchison was the third child of William Hutchison (b c 1858 Scotland) and his wife Isabella Norris (b 1855, North Sunderland). William worked variously as a domestic servant and latterly as an agricultural labourer. The couple married in 1883. Isabella already had a daughter Jane Norris born in 1879, who took the surname Hutchison. The couple had four children, three boys, John (b 1884), Robert (b 1888) and George (b 1890), followed by a daughter Isabella (b 1896). The oldest boy John had worked as a carter and later as an ‘estate labourer’, and Robert worked as a cattleman. In 1911 George was an agricultural labourer. In 1915 he was working for Mr Allan at Crookham Westfield, but in October he joined the Army (Berwick Advertiser, 30th June 1916, p 3) and was posted to the 1st battalion Seaforth Highlanders, which was under the orders of the Dehra Dun Brigade (later 19th Indian Brigade), 7th (Meerut) Division. The Meerut Division had landed at Marseille 12th October 1914 having sailed from India. After fighting on the Western Front throughout 1915, the Division was sent to Mesopotamia, where it landed at Basra towards the end of December 1915. George Hutchison may have joined the 1st Seaforth Highlanders either in France or later in Mesopotamia. It is likely but not certain that George Hutchison was with the battalion when began its advance towards Kut-el-Amarah in January 1916. The 7th (Meerut) Division (GOC Major-General Sir George Younghusband) was part of the force commanded by Lieutenant-General Fenton Aylmer that was assembled for the relief of Kut-el-Amara. On 3rd January 1916 Aylmer sent Younghusband north with the 19th, 28th and 35th Indian Brigades. On 5th January information from the local population warned them of Turkish troops dug in at Sheik Sa’ad. Younghusband’s forces encountered the Ottoman defences the next day and attacked. The attack on the dug-in and camouflaged defences (Battle of Sheik Sa’ad (Turkish: Sağ Sahil) 6th-8th January) was costly in casualties. The 1st Seaforth Highlanders alone lost 75 men killed, all of whom are commemorated on the Basra Memorial. The loses from the 1st Seaforth Highlanders and the 2nd Black Watch were such that the two battalions were merged on 2nd February 1916 to form the Highland Battalion, in the 19th Brigade. Later Younghusband’s force came up against Ottoman forces dug in at Sannaiyat. Three attempts were made during April 1916 to break through the Turkish forces in the Sannaiyat Position. The last attack was on 22 April 1916 and cost the 1st Seaforth Highlanders another 86 men killed. The failure to break through and relieve Major General Townshend and his troops besieged in Kut-el-Amara, forced Townshend to surrender to the Ottomans on 29th April. The total number of men from the 1st Seaforth Highlanders killed between 6th January and 22nd April 1916 was 245, and of these 220 have no known grave and are commemorated on the Basra Memorial. Twenty-four men were buried in the Amarah War Cemetery, on the Tigris, and one man was buried at Basra. Although some of those who were buried at Amarah had died of wounds, it is clear that many had died of fever. Between the 15th January and 30th May 1916 a total of 40 men of the 1st Seaforths were buried at Amarah, and it is likely that many of these had died of fever in hospital, as was the case with George Hutchison who died on 22nd May 1916. George Hutchison’s two brothers John (b 1884) and Robert (b 1888) were of an age to have served in the Armed Forces in the Great War, but there is no evidence that they did serve. Memorials: Ford, Plaque 1914-18, St Michael & All Angels (NEWMP F23.01)
See also: Coldstream Local History projects - Pte George Hutchison; IWM, Lives of the First World War - No. S/11214, George Hutchison; 26/03/2021; 02/05/2021; 02/04/2022; 12/04/2023; 21/04/2023; 23/06/2023 G-H n=43
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