Edward Wilson Sanderson
George Sanderson
Robert Sanderson
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SANDERSON, Pte Edward Wilson, No. 6385A, 28th battalion Australian Infantry, formerly No. 6385, 27th battalion Australian Infantry, killed in action on 9th October 1917, and commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Edward Wilson Sanderson, gardener of Cranmore Park, Walebing, Western Australia, enlisted on 21st October 1916. Edward was the eldest of the five sons of Charles Sanderson and his wife Elizabeth Wilson. Charles Sanderson of Barmoor Cottage, Beal, Northumberland, was head forester on the Barmoor Castle estate. The couple had married 1881, when Charles was working as a coal miner and the family lived on the Main Street in Lowick. By 1901 Charles was working as an estate woodsman, and by 1911 the family had moved to a cottage at Barmoor and Charles was forester on the Barmoor Castle estate. The couple had five sons: Edward Wilson Sanderson (b 1882), George Sanderson (b 1885), John Sanderson (b 1888), Charles Sanderson (b 1890) and Robert Sanderson (b 1892). In 1901 Edward the eldest son was 19 years old and working as a gardener. He emigrated from Britain to Australia: he can possibly be identified with the Edward W Sanderson, who sailed on the Orient Lines Omrah from London on 8th December 1911 with Fremantle as his destination.[Note 1] Edward enlisted on 20th October 1916 at Blackboy Hill, Western Australia.[Note 2] His service record notes that he had a weakness in his right leg, and that he no ‘natural teeth’. Edward embarked on the transport A35 “Berrima” at Fremantle of 22nd/23rd December 1916. The ship arrived at Devonport on 16th February 1917. Edward was posted to the 7th Training Battalion at Rollestone Camp on Salisbury Plain. He landed in France ‘ex 7th Tng. Bn. Rollestone’, on 22nd May 1917. He was taken onto the strength of the 27th battalion Australian Infantry, as No. 6365, on 12th June 1917 and then joined the 28th battalion, as No. 6365A, on 13th June. The 28th battalion was part of 7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division. Edward was killed in action on 9th October 1917. On 7th October the 28th battalion with two companies of the 26th battalion attached was in the line holding a series of connected shell holes and strong posts. On 8th October, the battalion was relieved and proceeded ‘independently’ to bivouac at ‘KIT KAT’. The battalion was detailed then to help with cable laying. On 9th October the battalion left Kit Kat for the Broodeseinde Ridge where it manned a support trench. Small parties were sent forward from the battalion. The 28th battalion had one officer wounded, three other ranks killed and seven wounded on 9th October. The casualties included Edward Sanderson. Edward was unmarried, and his effects and medals were left to his father in his will. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres. Two of Edward’s four brothers – Robert and George – served in the British Army in the Great War. The youngest brother Robert (b 1892) served with the Army Service Corps Motor Transport. Before joining the Army he had been chauffeur at ‘Stella Hall, Stocksfield‘ (Berwickshire News, 19 November 1918, p 7). He was in France by September 1915 and was eligible for the 1915 Star. In 1921 Corporal Robert Sanderson was still in the Army and was based at the RASC Mechanical Transport Repair Depot on Hounslow Heath. He married Amelia J Grant in 1931 in Glendale District. In the 1939 Register the couple were listed living at 148 Warwick Street, Newcastle upon Tyne. Robert was a described as a ‘Motor Driver, Heavy License’; presumably he was licensed to drive heavy goods vehicles. The couple had no children. No further information has been found thus far. George Sanderson (b 1st September 1885; d 1969) the second oldest brother served with Royal Garrison Artillery during the Great War. In 1910 George had married Catherine Eddy. In 1911 the couple lived at The Holt, Twyford, Wargrave, Berkshire, and George was working as a ‘domestic butler’. Their first child, (Charles William) Marcus Sanderson was born in 1912 and the birth was registered in Woking District, Berkshire. Their second son George E Sanderson was born in Cornwall in 1915 and the birth was registered in Falmouth. When George enlisted he had been working as butler to Mrs Tuckett, of Glendurgan, Mawnan, Falmouth, Cornwall (Berwickshire News, 19 November 1918, p 7).[Note 3] In 1921 George and Catherine were in Cornwall and living in Glendurgan Cottages, Constantine, Cornwall with their two sons. George was once again butler to Mrs Tuckett. Mrs Rachel Elizabeth Tuckett died in 1923 aged 90. In the 1939 Register George and Catherine were still living in Glendurgan Cottages, but George was now described as ‘Gardener (Head) Private’. George died aged 84 on 2nd December 1969 in Cornwall. His wife Catherine died on 9th July 1974. Their home address was Chy-an-Gwel, Mawnan Smith, Falmouth. Memorial: Lowick, Cross 1914-18 1939-45 Village Green (NEWMP L37.01);
Virtual War Memorial Australia VWMA - Bindi Bindi War Memorial. See also: Virtual War Memorial Australia VWMA - Edward Wilson Sanderson; VWMA - Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Canberra; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 6385, Pte Edward Wilson Sanderson. 19/02/2022; 17/07/2022; 14/08/2022; 19/05/2023; 29/06/2023; |
Samuel Sanderson
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SANDERSON, Pte Samuel, No. 315354, 1st/4th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died in action on 26th October 1917, aged 21, and is buried in Poelcapelle British Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Samuel Sanderson was the eldest of the five children of Alexander Hogg Sanderson (b Chillingham) and Margaret Robson (b Doddington). The couple had married in 1894. Samuel Sanderson was born in 1896 and christened at Chillingham on 29th November. Two sisters and two brothers followed: Margaret (b 1899), Charles Alexander (b 1901), Robert (b 5th March 1905) and Isabella Hogg (b 1907). Samuel had his 18th birthday soon after the War broke out. When he enlisted is unknown, but he was posted first to the 35th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers and subsequently posted to the 1/4th (TF) battalion. The 1/4th battalion was part of the 149th Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division. Samuel Sanderson was killed on 26th October 1917 on the opening day of the Second Battle of Passchendaele, 26 October – 10 November 1917 (Third Battle of Ypres 31 July – 10 November 1917). At 5 pm on 24th October the battalion moved into the frontline to relieve the 11th battalion Suffolk Regiment south of Houthoulst Forest. On 25th October the battalion received its orders for an attack the next day. At 5.40am on 26th October the 1/4th battalion attacked together with the 1/5th battalion on its left and 1/7th battalion further to the left. On the battalion’s right was the 4/5th battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (57th Division). The battalion's war diary entry for 27th October records a total of 266 men and officers as killed, wounded or missing from the attack on 26th October which was 46% of its fighting strength. The casualties recorded in the war diary comprise 36 other ranks killed, 156 wounded and 64 missing, and three officers killed, five wounded and two missing. The CWGC lists 91 dead from the 1/4th battalion on 26th October. Samuel Sanderson is one of only 15 who have a known grave. The remaining 76 dead are remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial. Memorials: Chillingham St Peter’s Plaque 1914-1918 (NEWMP C30.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Samuel Sanderson; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 315354, Pte Samuel Sanderson; 31/03/2020; 27/09/2020; 16/04/2023; 29/06/2023; |
Adam Scott
The information of the engagement of Adam Scott and Olwyn Mary Roberts comes from Olwyn’s family and is recorded in the entry for Sapper Adam Scott on the Coldstream & District Local History Society History Society’s website.
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SCOTT, Sapper Adam, No. 64505, 56th Field Coy, Royal Engineers, killed in action 22nd May 1916, aged 29, he is buried in Wytschaete Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Adam Scott was the fourth son of William Scott and his wife Rachel Bradford. The couple married in 1877, and their first child and eldest son Alexander Bradford Scott was born in 1878 at Norham. The second child Robert was born at Norham in 1880. Robert died on 5th July 1918 at the age of 37. The third child James Denholm Scott was born in early 1885 and died on 21st December the same year. The fourth child and fourth son Adam Scott was born at Norham in 1886, and fifth child and only Janet Isabel was born in 1890 at Norham. The 1911 Census return confirms that William and Rachel Scott had had five children one of whom had died young. In 1901 Alexander and Robert Scott were both working as hinds, and the fourteen year old Adam was working as a ‘carter on farm’. However in 1911 Adam was living in Coldstream and was a joiner working as engineer and millwright. He was lodging with Andrew Brown and his family in the Market Square, Coldstream. Andrew was a blacksmith and also engineer and millwright. Adam Scott was the father of an illegitimate daughter Agnes Bell Scott born on 8th July 1908. The mother was Annie Nisbet Bell, a domestic servant. The birth was registered in the parish of Gordon, where the girl was born.[Note 4] Adam Scott’s service record shows that he enlisted on 25th January 1915 at Coldstream, and was posted to 108th Field Company and joined the Royal Engineers at their Depot at Chatham on 3rd February 1915. He was posted on 29th September 1915 to No. 1 Depot Company, on the North Wales coast at Deganwy, Clwyd for training. While at Deganwy he met and became engaged to Olwyn Mary Roberts. He embarked for France and the General Base Depot disembarking on 19th February 1916. From there he was posted to 56th Field Company R.E. on 29th February 1916. In May 1916 56th Field Company was based at R.E. Farm and was working in frontline trenches joining up what the war diary describes as ‘grouse butts’ to create a continuous trench (TNA WO95 1403/1). There was also work in the carpenters’ shops and work on the ‘trench tramway’. For the period 19th to 23rd May 1916 the war diary records ‘four sections in front line joining up ‘grouse’ butts in front line (sic) at night’. It further records that Cpl Young and Sapper Scott were killed on 22nd May. Adam Scott’s oldest brother Alexander Bradford Scott also served as a sapper with the Royal Engineers (No.96870). He joined up in May 1915 and after 9 months at Chatham, he went to France in February 1916 (Berwick Advertiser, 14th July 1916, p 5). He was discharged from the Army due to illness (under Paragraph 2 (b) (i) of Army Order II 10th August 1917) and was awarded a Silver War Badge. He suffered from ‘chronic nephritis’ (inflammation of the kidneys) and was awarded a disability pension after the war. Alexander Bradford Scott had married Annie Thompson in 1903. In 1911 Alexander and Annie and their family lived at Cramond’s Hill, Cornhill on Tweed, and Alexander worked as a plate layer for the North Eastern Railway. Prior to enlisting he had worked for Glendale District Council, and the family lived at Mindrum (Berwick Advertiser, 14th July 1916, p 5). In 1939 Alexander was working as a horse-keeper underground in a colliery and the family lived in Ashington.
Memorials: Carham, Cross 1914-18 & 1939-45, Crossoads (NEWMP C8.02)
See also: NEWMP - Norham, Adam Scott; Coldstream Local History Projects - Sapper Adam Scott; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 64505, Sapper Adam Scott; 31/08/2020; 06/11/2020; 22/01/2022; 19/05/2023; 29/06/2023; |
John Scott
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SCOTT, Pte John, No. 38400, 1st battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, attached 9th Brigade Light Trench Mortar Battery, died on 29th October 1917, aged 21, and is buried in Favreuil British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France John Scott was one of the four children of Robert Scott, shepherd, and Margaret Mary A Scott (née Matthewson), of Kilham, Mindrum, Northumberland. He was born in 1896 at Kirknewton, Northumberland. He had an older brother Alexander (b Kirknewton 1892) and an older sister Annie (b Kirknewton 1895), and a younger brother Robert (b Kirknewton 1901). In 1911 John was a 'horseman on farm'. He enlisted in August 1915 and went to France in January 1916 (Berwick Advertiser, 5th January, 1917, p 7). He was posted to the 1st battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, which was part of the 9th Brigade, 3rd Division and had landed in France with the B.E.F in 1914. By January 1917 he had transferred to the 9th Brigade Trench Mortar Battery. He was home on leave in January 1917. He was slightly wounded and gassed on 3rd May 1917 and spent three weeks in hospital in France. The 3rd Division was involved in the fighting in the Battle of Polygon Wood (26th September – 3rd October 1917) initially under the orders of V Corps but later as part of II Anzac Corps. On 1st October the 9th Australian Infantry Brigade relieved the 9th Infantry Brigade, which assembled in the Vlamertinghe – Brandhoek area prior to moving to Looge Hoek in the Winnezeele area, where from 2nd to 4th October it rested and was refitted. On 4th October the Brigade went by train to Bapaume and then marched to the Léchelle - Ytres area. On 9th October the Brigade moved to Favreuil and the 9th MG Company and 9th Light Trench Mortar battery went into the line at Noreuil. On 10th October the infantry battalions went into the frontline relieving the 186th Infantry Brigade (62nd Division). The Brigade spent the rest of October in the Noreuil section, with battalions rotating between frontline, support trenches and Brigade Reserve. On 26th October the weather was described as squally with showers and there was slightly less hostile artillery activity but heavier hostile trench mortar fire. The circumstances of John Scott’s death on 29th October are not recorded. Apparently he had been home on leave again in August only weeks before he was killed (Berwick Advertiser, 16th November 1917, p 7). He was just 21 years old and unmarried. Memorials: Wooler, Church School plaque (NEWMP W68.03); Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); Howtel, Plaque 1914 - 1918 Beaumont Presbyterian Church (NEWMP H79.01): Howtel ROH 1914 - 1918 Beaumont presbyterian Church (NEWMP H79.02)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - John Scott; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte John Scott; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 38400, Pte John Scott; 02/09/2018; 09/06/2019; 27/09/2020; 16/04/2023; 19/05/2023; 29/06/2023; |
Joseph Charlton Scott
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SCOTT, Sgt Joseph Charlton, No. 401794, 852 Area Employment Company, Labour Corps, previously Cpl, No. 2765, 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers, died of wounds on 21st March 1918, aged 25 years, and is buried in Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France Joseph Charlton Scott was the youngest son of James Scott (b c 1840) and his second wife Grace Muckle, who married in 1875. James Scott had been married previously to Agnes Fairbairn. James Scott, who worked as a rural post messenger, had married Agnes in Coldstream in 1865 and the couple had had three sons all born in Coldstream: James (b 11th February 1866), John (b 1967) and Ralph (b 2nd October 1869). The father James was still working as a rural post messenger in Coldstream 1871. Agnes died sometimes between the 1871 and 1875. By 1881 James, who had re-married, was working as a railway porter and living in Main Street, Norham. The family comprised James and his second wife Grace, two sons – John (12) and Ralph (11) – from his first marriage, and first three children from his second marriage: Alexander (b 1876), Robert (b 1878) and Janet (b 1880). In 1891 the family were still in Norham, but James Scott was working as a railway signalman and the family included Hannah (b 1882), Margaret Jane (b 1884), James (b 1887) and George William (b 1888). By 1901 family had moved to Ord, near Berwick-upon-Tweed. James was still a signalman and the last two children, Joseph Charlton (b 1892) and Grace Gilchrist (b 1894), were listed in the Census. By 1911 James had retired as a railway signalman and he and his wife and sx of their children were living in West Newbiggin near the Twee southwest of Norham, Northumberland.[Note 5] Sgt Joseph Charlton Scott served originally as Private No. 2765, with the 1/7th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. Subsequently he served as a Sergeant with No. 852 Area Employment Company, Labour Corps, in France. He died of wounds on 21st March 1918 and is buried in Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France, which is located to north-west of Bapaume. Area Employment Companies provided a number specific types of trades or skills other than straight labouring, for example providing batmen, cooks, butchers, shoemakers and tailors, clerks and orderlies, policemen, telephone operators, and so forth, within Corps and Army areas.[Note 6] Many of the men were of lower medical categories, some having served previously in fighting units and been medically downgraded. Joseph Charlton Scott was unmarried and his widowed mother was awarded a dependent’s pension ‘for life’ on 8th October 1918. She was then living at East Farm, Bowsden. His younger sister Grace Gilchrist Scott, who is named as his next of kin in the CWGC records, was also living at Bowsden. In 1923 she married Bryan Hills (b 22nd May 1888) who was serving as No. 28093, with ‘A’ company 23rd (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (4th Tyneside Scottish) when he was taken prisoner at Bullecourt on 21st March 1918. Subsequently, he was held in Münster I prisoner of war camp (ICRC Archives [ACICR C G1] PA 22542, Gefängenenliste, Münster I, Westfalen). He had previously served with 8th (Service) battalion and the 1st battalion Northumberland Fusiliers. After his release from captivity he was granted home leave and was later discharged to Z Reserve. He was the son of Bryan Hills (b c 1860) and his first wife Annie Simpson, and a cousin of Sgt Bryan Hills (qv) who served with the 12/13th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers and died of wounds in 1918. In 1939 Bryan and Grace Hills were living in Bowsden with one child (not identified) ‘under school age’. Memorial: Lowick, Cross 1914-18 1939-45 Village Green (NEWMP L37.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Joseph Charlton Scott; Coldstream Local History Projects - Sgt Joseph Scott; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 401794, Cpl Joseph Charlton Scott; 19/02/2022; 22/07/2022; 12/08/2022; 16/04/2023; 19/05/2023; 29/06/2023; |
Robert John Scott
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SCOTT, Cpl Robert John, No. 34444, 9th battalion Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), previously King's Own Scottish Borderers, he died of wounds on 27th October 1918, aged 22, and is buried in Kezelberg Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Robert John Scott was one of the five children of Robert Dickinson Scott, domestic gardener, and Janet Ann Scott (née Brown) of North Middleton, Wooler. Both parents were born in Scotland and they married at Ancrum, Roxburghshire in 1892. Robert Dickinson Scott had been married previously. Robert John Scott was born on 28th July 1896 at Ancrum, Roxburghshire. He had two older sisters Isabella Margaret (b Ancrum 1892), and Thomasina (b Ancrum 1894) and a younger sister Jessie Elizabeth (b Ancrum 1900) and younger brother Oliver (b Ancrum 1902). In 1901 the family lived in Kirklands Mansion House Lodge at Ancrum. Two sons – George (aged 20) and Edward (aged 17) – from John Scott’s first marriage were living with the family. The family move to North Middleton in about 1903. In 1911 the younger Robert was 14 years old and working as a farm labourer. Robert Scott was working as an apprentice gardener at St Boswells in October 1914, when he enlisted in the King’s Own Scottish Borderers at Galashiels (Berwickshire News, 27 June 1916, p 5). It is probable that he joined the 1/4th (TF) battalion KOSB, which was part of what became the 155th Brigade, 52nd (Lowland) Division, and which sailed from Liverpool for service in Gallipoli landing on 14th June 1915. However Robert Scott did not sail with battalion, instead he was posted to Grantham to train with the newly created Machine Gun Corps, and embarked for France in July or August 1916, where he served with the machine guns of the 9th (Scottish) Division (Berwickshire News, 27 June 1916, p 5). The three Machine Gun companies of the 9th Division were numbered 26th (formed 29th January 1916), 27th (formed 23rd December 1915), and 28th (formed 3rd January 1916) and were under orders of the three Infantry Brigades. Shortly after arriving at the front Robert Scott was wounded 'his injuries being caused by the nose cap of a shell' (Berwickshire News, 12 Sept 1916, p 5). He was sent to a General Hospital at Rouen.[Note 7] He returned to his unit after his recovery. On 1st March 1918 the three Brigade Machine Gun companies and together with the Divisional Machine Gun Company (197th) were reorganised to form the 9th battalion Machine Gun Corps. It is probable that Robert Scott was fatally wounded in the action of Ooteghem on 25 October 1918 during the final stages of the advance in Flanders.
Memorials: Wooler Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, West Church Communion Chair (NEWMP W68.06); Scottish National War Memorial RoH - Cpl Robert Scott, No. 34444;
See also: Bailiffgate Collection - Robert Scott; Coldstream Local History Projects - Cpl Robert Scott; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 34444, Cpl Robert Scott. 02/09/2018; 22/06/2019; 27/09/2020; 16/04/2023; 19/05/2023; 14/06/2023; 29/06/2023; 15/02/2024; |
Thomas Scott
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SCOTT, Private Thomas, No. M2/047260, Motor Transport, Army Service Corps, attached 621st MT Company A.S.C., died from pleurisy at the Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot, on 5th January 1916, and is buried in the churchyard of St John the Evangelist Church, Bilton, North Yorkshire Thomas Scott (b 1883) was the second son of James Sherriff Scott and his first wife Harriet Foster, who had married on 3rd August 1880. Thomas had an older brother John William Scott (b 1881) and younger sister Isabella (b 1886). James Sherriff Scott was a blacksmith by trade and he and his family lived in Chillingham in 1881 and 1891. James Scott’s first wife Harriet, died in 1889 and he married his second wife Elizabeth Green on 25th September 1890. By 1901 the family had moved to Embleton, and Thomas Scott was working as a gardener, and his older brother John William was working as a blacksmith with their father. There are no recorded children from the second marriage. By 1911 James Sherriff Scott had retired as a blacksmith and the family had moved to Red Row, Rennington, Alnwick. The elder son John William was then working as horseman on a farm rather as a blacksmith, and the younger son Thomas Scott was continuing to work as a gardener. Thomas Scott married Jenny Lillian Jennings (b 1885 Boroughbridge, West Riding, Yorkshire) at Knaresborough in 1915, just before he went to France where he served with the Motor Transport, Army Service Corps. He disembarked in France on 1st May 1915 and was eligible for the 1915 Star.
However he returned to Britain suffering ‘from pleurisy cont[racted] on active service’ and was admitted to the Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot [Note 8], where he died on 5th January 1916, aged 31. At the time of his death was attached to 621 Mechanical Transport Company A.S.C. which was the MT Reception and Discharge Depot and which received men returning from the B.E.F.. His death was reported in The Berwickshire News and General Advertiser (18 January 1916, p 3). Pte Thomas Scott was buried in the churchyard of St John the Evangelist Church, Bilton, North Yorkshire [Note 9]. Thomas Scott’s wife Jenny was living at 51 Eastville Terrace, Ripon Road, Harrogate at the end of the War. In October 1917 she had married Jan Urban at Knaresborough, and the couple had a daughter Peggy J Urban born in 1918. Jan Urban died in 1922 aged just 36. Jennifer Lillian Urban died aged 79 in 1963. Memorials: Powburn Pillar 1914-18 1939-45 Community Garden (NEWMP P39.01)
See also: Breamish Valley Roll of Honour - Thomas Scott; Bailiffgate Collections - Thomas Scott; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. M2/047260, Pte Thomas Scott; 22/02/2023/ 16/04/2023; 30/06/2023; |
Beauchamp Henry Selby
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SELBY, Capt Beauchamp Henry, 1st battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died of wounds on 20th September 1914, age 31, and is commemorated on La Ferté-sous-Jouarre Memorial, Seine-et-Marne, France. Beauchamp Henry Selby was the elder of the two sons of Beauchamp Prideaux Selby and his wife Fanny Pocklington-Senhouse of Cumberland. Beauchamp Henry was born in London on 4 June 1882, and educated at Harrow and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Commissioned in January 1901 he was appointed to 1st battalion Northumberland Fusiliers in March 1901. He served with the battalion in India between 1906 and 1912. He received the India General Service medal with “North-West, 1908” clasp and the Delhi Durbar 1911 medal during his service in India. The 1st battalion was part of 9th Brigade, 3rd Division which landed at Le Havre France on 14th August 1914. Captain Selby himself disembarked on 13th August 1914. He was shot and wounded on 20th September 1914 near Vailly during the 1914 Battle of the Aisne. Selby died of his wounds 24 hours after being shot having never recovered consciousness. Memorials: Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); Selby Brothers Memorial Cross, Mindrum Station (NEWMP M10.01) (now located in the church yard of St Gregory, Kirknewton)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Beauchamp Henry Selby; Coldstream Local History Projects - Capt Beauchamp Selby; IWM Lives of the First World War - Capt Beauchamp Henry Selby; 09/06/2019; 16/04/2023; 19/05/2023; 30/06/2023; |
Prideaux Joseph Selby
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SELBY, Pte Prideaux Joseph, No. 4541, 8th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died in the Military Hospital, Gibraltar on 3rd October 1915 aged 29, and is buried in the Gibraltar (North Front) Cemetery, Gibraltar Prideaux Joseph Selby was the younger of the two sons of Beauchamp Prideaux Selby of Pawston, Northumberland and his wife Fanny Pocklington-Senhouse of Netherhall, Cumberland. The couple married at Cockermouth in 1881. Their eldest son was Beauchamp Henry was born in 1882, and Prideaux Joseph was born in 1885. In 1911 Prideaux Joseph Selby then aged 25 was boarding with L H Wace and his wife at Kingsland Lodge, Beaminster Dorset. He and two other boarders were described as pupils ‘in market garden’, and L H Wace was recorded as a ‘market gardener’. In volume 7 of Utility Poultry Journal, published by Harper Adams Agricultural College, Shropshire, in 1922, L H Wace’s address was listed as Kingsland Poultry Farm, Beaminster. Prideaux Joseph Selby enlisted at the beginning of the war and served with 8th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (11th (Northern) Division). He landed on Gallipoli with battalion on 10th July 1915. Unfortunately he contracted dysentery and was evacuated to the Military Hospital in Gibraltar where he died on 3rd October. Memorials: Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); Selby Brothers Memorial Cross, Mindrum Station (NEWMP M10.01) (now located in the church yard of St Gregory, Kirknewton)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Prideaux Joseph Selby; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Prideaux Selby; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 4542. Pte Prideaux Joseph Beauchamp. 02/03/2019; 16/04/2023; 19/05/2023; 25/05/2023; 30/06/2023; |
Thomas Nesbit Shell
Photo IRS 13 Sept 2019
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SHELL, acting LCpl Thomas Nesbit, No. 290960, 4th (Reserve) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, first enlisted as No. 7/3433, 1/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, then served as No. 290960, 27th (Service) battalion (4th Tyneside Irish), then with 24th/27th (Service) battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, and later with 19th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Pioneers), died on 1st November 1918, aged 23, and is buried in Kirknewton (St. Gregory) Churchyard, Northumberland Thomas Nesbit Shell was the younger of the two son of Thomas Shell, shepherd, and his wife Jane Nesbit. The couple had married in 1888. Thomas Nesbit was born in 1895, and his older brother Andrew had been born in 1889. Both sons were born at Ancroft. In 1901 the family were living at Goswick in Ancroft, but by 1911 Thomas’s parents and his unmarried older brother Andrew had moved to Kirknewton, where both Andrew and his father were shepherds. Thomas Nesbit Shell was also in Kirknewton working as assistant shepherd to another shepherd called Andrew Shell and was lodging with Andrew, his wife Margaret and their two small children. Thomas enlisted and joined the 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers in May 1915 and after a short period of training he landed in France on 2nd September 1915. He served later with the 27th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (4th Tyneside Irish) and was still serving with the battalion when it amalgamated with the 24th battalion (1st Tyneside Irish) to form the 24th/27th battalion on 10th August 1917. The 24th/27th battalion was disbanded in late February 1918. Thomas Shell then served with the 19th battalion (2nd Tyneside Pioneers) which was attached as divisional troops to 35th Division. Thomas Nesbit Shell died of influenza and pneumonia in hospital in Hull and is buried in the churchyard of St Gregory, Kirknewton. At the time of his death he was officially with the 4th (Reserve) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers.
Memorials: Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); Milfield Plaque 1914-18 Memorial Garden (NEWMP M9.03)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Thomas Nesbit Shell; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Thomas Shell; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 7/3422, Pte Thomas L Shell (sic). 02/03/2019; 19/06/2019; 27/09/2020; 01/02/2021; 16/04/2023; 19/05/2023; 30/06/2023; |
Cecil Moore Sidley
Photos IRS 24 May 2021
Photo IRS 24 May 2021
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OO SIDLEY, Pte Cecil Moore, No. R/20144, “C” Company, 21st (Service) battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps (Yeoman Rifles), killed in action on or after 15th September 1916 aged 31 years, and commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France Cecil Moore Sidley was the younger of the two sons of the Rev John James and his wife Ann Morton Ryott. John James Sidley was a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, became a deacon in 1877, and was ordained priest in 1878. He was appointed vicar of Cambo by Sir Charles Trevelyan in 1882, after serving as a curate at Christ Church, Gateshead, and at Newcastle Cathedral. John James Sidley married Ann Morton Ryott in Gateshead on 23rd January 1883. She was the daughter of Elisha Hunter Ryott. Their eldest son John Charles Sidley was born on 30th January 1884, and Cecil Moore Sidley was born in late 1885. Both were born at Cambo. Towards the end of 1888 the Rev John Sidely was appointed vicar of Branxton. The couple had a daughter Violet Margaret born in 1889 at Branxton, but the baby died soon after her birth. The Rev John Sidley died in 1890, aged just 36. His widow moved back to Gateshead with their two sons. In 1911 Cecil Sidley was working for the North Eastern Railway as an inspector at a Loco Depot, and by 1915 when he enlisted he was an acting locomotive foreman at Darlington Bank Top. He lived at No. 20 Beverley Gardens, Cullercoats. Cecil Moore Sidley served in the 21st battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps (‘Yeoman Rifles’), which was raised in September 1915 by the Army's Northern Command from volunteers from northern farming communities and included a company raised in Durham and Northumberland. The battalion was part of 124th Brigade under orders of 41st Division. Cecil Moore was killed in action during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The 124th Brigade attacked between Flers on the left and Gueudecourt on the right. The 21st KRRC was in the first line on the left the Brigade, with the 10th Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) on their right. The attack started at 6.30am, the first objective was Flers Trench where a few prisoners were taken. During the advance to the second objective ‘the Battalion suffered rather heavily through getting too near to our own barrage’ (TNA WO95 2643/4, 15th September 1916). The battalion consolidated its position on the second object, because it lacked the support to continue the advance. The CO of the 21st KRRC Lt Col the Earl of Feversham went forward with the CO of the 10th Queen’s with ‘as many men as could be collected to endeavour to occupy the third and fourth objectives' (ibid.). The men reached the third objective and withstood counterattacks, but were eventually forced to withdraw to the second objective. Amongst the casualties was the Earl of Feversham who was killed. The battalion was relieved by the 11th Queen’s of 123rd Brigade the following morning. The battalion war diary (TNA WO95 2643/4, 15th September 1916) records its losses:
Private Cecil Moore Sidley was amongst those killed. His body was never found and his name is listed on the Thiepval Memorial.
Pte Sidley’s older brother, John Charles Sidley, also served in the Army during the Great War. He had attended Durham School, and later trained as an accountant. On 23rd September 1914 he had sailed for Port Said from Liverpool aboard the City of London. He was to have a long association with Egypt. In Egypt he volunteered with the Red Cross, before he joined the Army. John Charles Sidley joined the Army Service Corps and served in Palestine with the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps. He arrived in the theatre of war on 22nd June 1916. He was a 2nd Lieutenant, later promoted to Lieutenant, and then made acting Major. He reverted to the rank of temporary Lieutenant on 30th December 1918 (London Gazette No. 31351, Supplement, 20 May 1919, p 6346). He was granted the rank of Captain on relinquishing his commission (London Gazette No. 32293, Supplement, 15 April 1921, p 3065). In 1924 John Sidley sailed to Egypt from Liverpool aboard the SS Pegu. He established an accouncy practice in Cairo. It was in Egypt that he married his first wife Madeline Oliver, who was born in Suffolk in 1889. She was a hospital nurse and had travelled to Egypt from London in 1924 aboard the P&O ship Macedonia. Unfortunately Madeline Sidley died on 12th August 1929 in London. John Sidley subsequently married Phyllis Mary Lewis, probably in 1930 or 1931 in Egypt. The couple travelled home to England in 1931, arriving in London on 18th September. In 1932, John Charles Sidley was awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list (London Gazette No. 33831, Supplement, 31 May 1932, p 3578). On 26th September 1936 John Charles and Phyllis, their first two children Margaret and Richard, together with a nanny Miss E T Gatty departed for Egypt aboard the Orontes. Margaret V Sidley had been born in Bristol in 1933, and Richard J L Sidley had been born in Egypt at end of 1935 or beginning of 1936. Their third child Kristina Mary was born in Egypt on 29th October 1937. On 28th February 1946, John Charles Sidley, his wife Phyllis and their third child Kristina Mary sailed from London aboard the P&O ship Strathnaver with their destination Egypt. However they must have returned soon from Egypt, because John Charles Sidley died on 23rd July 1946 at Fairway, Bamburgh, where the family had a home. He was 62 years old. He was interred in the churchyard at Branxton where his father had been vicar before his untimely death.
Memorials: North Shields, Memorial Wall 1914-18 War Memorial Garden Linskill Community Centre (NEWMP N34.77); Cullercoats, Crucifix 1814-18 St George’s Churchyard (NEWMP C68.01)
See also: Coldstream Local History Projects - Cecil Moore Sidley; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. R/20144, Pte Cecil Sidley. 09/03/2021; 17/04/2023; 30/06/2023; |
William Simm
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SIMM, Pte William, No. 23379, 15th (Service) battalion Cheshire Regiment, formerly No. 19/396, 19th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died on 21st October 1916, aged 22, and is buried in Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France William Simm was the youngest of the six surviving children of the late John Simm, carpenter and joiner, and Jane Ann Simm (née Robson), of Brand's Yard, Wooler, Northumberland, he was born in 1894 at Wooler. He had three older sisters, Jane Ann (b 1876), Alice (b 1883) and Ethel May (b 1892), and two older brothers, John (b 1880) and George Charles (b 1886). He enlisted in the Northumberland Fusiliers soon after war broke out (Berwick Advertiser, 3 November, 1916, p 7) and was posted to the 19th battalion (2nd Tyneside Pioneers), which was attached as disional troops to the 35th Division. Because of his love of horses he was chosen by Brigadier General J G Hunter (GOC 105th Brigade, 35th Division) to be his groom and went to France with the General. The Division began landing in France in January 1916 and was concentrated east of St Omer by 6th February. When General Hunter returned to England as Inspector of troops at Dover, William Simm remained in France as groom to Captain R. Hall of the 15th (Service) battalion Cheshire Regiment, which was under the orders of the 105th Brigade. William was 'killed by the bursting of a shell while asleep in his tent during the night.' According to Captain Hall, William Simm was hit by a fragment from a shell that exploded 20 yards from the tent in which he was sleeping. Captain Hall wrote that 'your boy was such a cheerful groom and was simply splendid with horses'. (Berwick Advertiser, 3 November, 1916, p 7). 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 - William Simm; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte William Simm; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 23379, Pte William Simm. 02/09/2018; 19/06/2019; 16/04/2023; 30/06/2023; |
Robert Sisterson
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SISTERSON, Able Seaman Robert, No. R/1575, Anson Battalion, Royal Naval Division, died on 31st December 1917, and is buried in Rocquigny-Equancourt Road British Cemetery, Manancourt, Somme, France Robert Sisterson of High Linhope was born on 25th March 1887 and christened at Alnham on 24th April 1887. He was the seventh child and fifth son of Adam and Ann Sisterson. Adam Sisterson (b c 1833, Falstone) was a gamekeeper and had married Annie Ferguson (b 1851, Tosson Tower, Rothbury) in 1876. Adam Sisterson died in 1910. His wife died on 22nd August 1915 and is buried at Ingram (Newcastle Journal, 25th August 1915, p 4). Robert Sisterson had two older sisters Mary Ann Ferguson (b 1871) and Hannah (b 1879), three surviving older brothers John (b 1877), Adam (b 1880) and William (b 1883) and a younger brother James (b 1889). There had been a fourth older brother (b 1883, d 1883), who had been named William, but who had died shortly after his christening. Robert had attested in 1915 and had been posted to the Army Reserve on 14th December 1915, but he was not called up until 9th June 1917 when he joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve and was posted to the 3rd Reserve battalion Royal Naval Division and rated Ordinary Seaman. He was taken on the strength of the battalion on 11th June 1917. On 11th October 1917 he was drafted to Anson Battalion, which was part of 189th Brigade, 63rd (Royal Naval) Division, and on 12th October he was rated AB (Able Seaman). He landed in France and on 19th October left the 63rd Division Base Depot in Calais for his battalion. The 63rd Division was the under command of V Corps (Lt. Gen. Sir Edward Fanshawe). On 23rd December 1917, the 63rd Division relieved the 36th and 61st Divisions in the frontline and occupied the whole of Welsh Ridge in the south sector of the Cambrai Front. On 30th/31st December 1917 German troops camouflaged with white clothing launched an attack against the battalions holding the ridge. Anson battalion was part of 188th Brigade and was in reserve behind 189th Brigade which had Drake and Hood battalions forward. These two battalions together with the 7th Royal Fusiliers (189th Brigade) suffered the heaviest casualties. The Official History gives total casualty figures for 63rd Division were 68 officers and 1366 other ranks (Military Operations in France and Belgium. 1917 Vol 3: The Battle of Cambrai, p 277, n 2). The Anson battalion war diary records 4 killed, 28 wounded and 4 missing on 30th December (TNA WO95 3111/1). On 31st Anson battalion moved into the frontline relieving Howe battalion (188th Brigade) and its war diary entry for 31st December records that ‘except for Artillery activity at times by the enemy the situation was normal.’ The Anson battalion was relieved on 4th January 1918 and went into billets. Its casualties for the period 30th December 1917 to 3rd January 1918 included 17 men killed (CWGC). In total the 188th Brigade lost a total of 49 men. By contrast in the same period the 189th Brigade, which suffered the heaviest casualties, lost 186 men and the 190th Brigade 138 men (CWGC figures). Robert Sisterson’s record card (ADM 339/2/4247) shows that he was admitted to the 21st Casualty Clearing Station on 31st December 1917 and that he died of his wounds the same day. He was 30 years old. His death was reported in The Newcastle Journal (28th January 1918, p 5). The report noted that Robert was ‘well known as a wrestler in the Cumberland style’. He was unmarried and his legatee was his youngest brother James, who was also named as his next of kin in his service record. Robert Sisterson had two brothers who served in the War. His older brother William SISTERSON (qv) served with the Grenadier Guards and died shortly after his demobilisation at the end of the War. His younger brother James Sisterson served with the 2nd battalion Coldstream Guards (No. G/59135) and with the Middlesex Regiment (No. 19614). He had married Eleanor Young in 1903 and survived the war and died in 1943. Memorials: Branton Presbyterian Church RoH (now in 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 - Robert Sisterson; Bailiffgate Collections - Robert Sisterson; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. R/1575, Robert Sisterson. 14/06/2020; 18/07/2020; 27/09/2020; 22/10/2022; 16/04/2023; 30/06/2023; |
William Sisterson
Photo IRS 21 Sept 2020
William Sisterson's pension records give the date of his marriage as 28th March 1901
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SISTERSON, Guardsman William, No. 26506, 3rd battalion, formerly 4th battalion Grenadier Guards, died on 26th October 1919 of pneumonia following an infection, and is buried in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels, Ingram, Northumberland William Sisterson of High Linhope was born on 18th December 1883 and christened at Alnham on 23rd December. He was the sixth child and fourth son of Adam Sisterson (b 1833, d 1910) and his wife Annie Ferguson (b 1851; d 1915). The couple had married in 1876. William had two older sisters Mary Ann Ferguson (b 1871) and Hannah (b 1879), and two surviving older brothers John (b 1877) and Adam (b 1880). He also had two younger brothers Robert (b 1887) and James (b 1889). There had been a third older brother (b 1883, d 1883), who had been named William, but who had died shortly after his baptism. William married Elizabeth Jobson on 28th March 1902 at Wooler. They had five children: four sons Adam (b Aug 1902), John (b 1905), Ernest William (b 1909), Robert (b 1910) and a daughter Jean (b 1914). William was a gamekeeper like his father and was just over 6ft tall. William attested on 11th December 1915, aged 32 years and 6 months. He was posted initially to the Army Reserve. He was only mobilised on 1st September 1916 and posted to the Guards Depot at Caterham where he arrived on 2nd September. He joined the 5th (Reserve) battalion Grenadier Guards for training. Almost a year later on 12th August 1917 he embarked at Southampton, landing at Harfleur where he joined No. 7 Infantry Base Depot. He was posted to No. 7 (Guards) Entrenching battalion ‘in the field’ on 31st August 1917, and then was posted to the 4th battalion Grenadier Guards ‘in the field’ on 24th September 1917. The 4th battalion Grenadier Guards was under the orders of 4th Guards Brigade, Guards Division.[Note 10] He served with the 4th battalion until after the Armistice. He had had home leave between 14th and 28th September 1918. He was transferred to the 3rd battalion Grenadier Guards on 19th February 1919 and embarked at Dunkirk with the 3rd battalion for England on 4th March 1919. He was transferred to Class Z Reserve on 19th October 1919. He died on 26th October 1919 a week after demobilisation, and is buried at Ingram. One older brother, Adam, and one younger brother, Robert, also served. Adam Sisterson served with the 2nd battalion Coldstream Guards (No. G/59135) and with the Middlesex Regiment (No. 19614). He had married Eleanor Young in 1903. He survived the war and died in 1943. Robert SISTERSON (qv) was an able seaman (No. R/1575) with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, who served with Anson Battalion in the Royal Naval Division, and was killed in action on 31st December 1917.
Memorials: Ingram St Michael and All Angels, Plaque 1914-18 (NEWMP I3.02); 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 - William Sisterson; Bailiffgate Collections - William Sisterson; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 26506, Guardsman William Sisterson; 20/05/2020; 27/09/2020; 16/04/2023; 30/06/2023; |
Oswald Skeen, CEF
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SKEEN, Pte Oswald, No. 24997, 13th battalion Canadian Infantry (Royal Highlanders of Canada), CEF, died of wounds on 21st June 1919, and is buried in the Orpington (All Saints) Churchyard Extension, Kent Oswald Skeen was the second son of Oswald Skeen and Mary Skeen (née Macdonald) of 2, Whitsun View, Wooler. Oswald junior was born in 1889 when the family were living in Back Lane, Wooler. He had an older brother James (b 1885) and an older sister Mary (b 1886). In 1891 the family were living at Alnwick Moor and Oswald Skeen senior was a plate layer on the North East Railway. The family were once again in Back Lane, Wooler in 1901 and Oswald senior was then working as a carter. Oswald Skeen junior began his working life as an apprentice tailor with Mr William Atkinson, clothier and tailor, of Glendale House, Wooler. When he had completed his apprenticeship he moved to Newcastle where he worked as a tailor for Messrs Hutton of Moseley Street. In 1911 Oswald Skeen was boarding with Hannah Johnson at No. 57 Toadman Street, Newcastle. Oswald emigrated to Canada in 1913. He sailed from Glasgow on the Allan Line's SS Parisian and landed at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 21st June. From Halifax he headed for Montreal.[Note 11] When war broke out Oswald Skeen attested on 24th September 1914 for overseas service with the 13th battalion Canadian Infantry (Royal Highlanders of Canada). This battalion was raised from the two battalions of the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada (The Black Watch) a militia Regiment was based in Montreal, of which Oswald was member. The 13th battalion formed part of the 3rd Brigade in the 1st Canadian Division, and sailed from Quebec on RMS Alaunia of the Cunard Line departing on 30th September. The Alaunia rendezvoused with a fleet of transports of the First Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and escorting cruisers on 2nd October. It was originally intended that the Canadian contingent should disembark at Southampton, but because of the threat of German U-boats in the approaches to Southampton, the Alaunia sailed into Plymouth Sound on the evening of 13th October. On 15th October 1914 the battalion began to disembark and entrained for West Down Camp on Salisbury Plain. The Canadians trained on Salisbury Plain until they left for the Front in February 1915. The 13th battalion left for France in the middle of February, disembarking at St Nazaire on 16th February and arrived by train at Hazebrouck on 19th February. After periods of rest and trench familiarisation in the line near Armentières, the 13th battalion marched to Estaires at the end of March. On 7th April they marched to Cassel, where they were inspected by General Smith-Dorrien. On 16th April the battalion was taken by bus to St Jean where it went into billets, and on 21st April the battalion prepared to go into the trenches at St Julien. This was on the eve of the German attack, which opened the 2nd Battle of Ypres, and which was launched using poison gas on 22nd April. The 13th battalion was in reserve initially and not heavily involved in the fighting during the Battle of Grafenstafel (22-23 April) although they did suffer from German artillery fire. However, the battalion was heavily involved in the Battle of St Julien (23 April-4 May 1915) and 100 men were killed on 24th April alone.
In May the battalion was involved in the Battle of Festubert (15-25 May 1915). The 13th battalion was initially in reserve in Quinque Road and tasked with relieving the 16th battalion once it had taken its objective. The 16th battalion lost heavily. The 13th battalion lost 26 men killed in action in the attack on 20th May after relieving the 16th battalion. The CWGC records a total of 40 men lost from the 13th battalion during the course of the battle. Oswald Skeen was in No. 9 Stationary Hospital, Le Havre from 9th December 1915 with scabies, which caused by tiny mites under the skin and was a common problem for soldiers at the front. He returned to his battalion on 22nd December from the Canadian Base Depot. In March 1916 he was treated at the 2nd Canadian Field Ambulance for ‘infected feet’ and discharged on 17th March. From 27th April to 29th May 1916 he was attached to 1st Army Troops Company Canadian Engineers, but on 22nd May he was admitted to the 2nd Canadian Field Ambulance with influenza. He was discharged on 29th May and then attached to the 2nd Army Troops Company Canadian Engineers until 24th August 1916, when he rejoined his battalion. In October 1916 he was admitted to 14th General Hospital, Wimereux with pleurisy, shipped to Britain where he was admitted to the Lord Derby War Hospital Warrington, which had been the County Asylum, and which later became Winwick Hospital (now closed). He was diagnosed with pleurodynia (a viral infection with flu like symptoms causing severe chest pains) in January 1917 and was transferred to the King’s Canadian Special Hospital, Bushey Park, via Clarence House auxiliary hospital.[Note 12] On 15th February he was discharged to the Canadian Casualty Assembly Centre (CCAC) Hastings. He appears to have returned to his battalion from the Canadian Base Depot only on 11th May 1917. While Oswald Skeen was in hospital, his battalion had been heavily involved in the successful attack on Vimy Ridge (9th-14th April 1917), and in the Third Battle of the Scarpe (3rd-4th May). He was back with the battalion when it was took part in the Battle of Hill 70 (15th-25th August 1917) and subsequently in the Second Battle of Passchendaele (26th October-10th November 1917).
On 7th January 1918 Oswald Skeen was admitted to 12th Canadian Field Ambulance (4th Canadian Division) once again diagnosed with pleurisy. He was discharged to duty on 13 January 1918. The battalion was not involved in fighting during the German Spring Offensive, but was heavily involved the Battle of Amiens (8th-17th August 1918) when the allies launched their counter offensive. On 12th August 1918 Oswald Skeen was admitted to the 9th General Hospital at Rouen with a gunshot wound to his back. He was paralysed. He was evacuated to Britain and on 28th August he was admitted to the King George Hospital, Stamford Street, London. His medical notes record that he was dangerously ill. His condition remained much the same through September to November 1918. On 30th November he was transferred to the 16th Canadian General Hospital at Orpington.[Note 13] He eventually died from his wounds on 21st June 1919. He is buried in Orpington All Saints churchyard, also formerly known as the Ontario Cemetery. Memorials: Wooler Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, Church School plaque (NEWMP W68.03); First World War Book of Remberance, [Canada], dedicated 11 November 1942, p 277 - Oswald Skeen
See also: NEWMP - Wooler: Jean Longstaff, Skeen, O, Pte, 1919; Bailiffgate Collection - Oswald Skeen; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Oswald Skeen; Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Pte Oswald Skeen; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 24997, Pte Oswald Skeen, CEF. 02/09/2018; 2/07/2019; 21/02/2020; 27/09/2020; 14/08/2022; 16/04/2023; 25/06/2023; 30/06/2023; |
Andrew Smart
Thomas Stanley Smart
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SMART, Pte Andrew, No. 19832, 9th (Service) battalion Yorkshire Regiment ('Green Howards'), died of wounds on 5th July 1916 at No. 36 Casualty Clearing Station, aged 25, and is buried in Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-l'Abbé, Somme, France Andrew Smart was the second of the nine surviving children of Thomas Smart, miller, and his wife Jane Ann Nesbit, of Whitsun View, Wooler, Northumberland, and was born in 1890 at Wooler. He had an older brother Robert (b 1889), and seven younger siblings James (b 1893), Thomas Stanley (b 1894), Ruth (b 1896), William (b 1897), George (b 1899), John Alfred (b 1903) and Albert (b 1904). In 1911 he was working as a labourer, but when he enlisted in 1914, he was working for Thos. Smart & Sons as a plasterer. The 9th battalion Yorkshire Regiment was under the orders of the 69th Brigade, 23rd Division, and landed at Boulogne on 26th August 1915. The Berwick Advertiser (July 21st 1916 p 6) reporting Andrew Smart's death stated that he had fought at Loos in 1915, although the 23rd Division was not involved in the battle and was at Bois Grenier at that time. In February 1916 he was badly wounded by shrapnel in the thigh, and spent eight weeks in hospital first in Boulogne and then in Hardelot, before rejoining his battalion, where he transferred to the machine gun section. The 23rd Division formed part of Sir William Pulteney's III Corps during the Battle of Albert (1st-13th July 1916). The 69th Brigade and the 9th battalion were not involved in the opening attack of the Somme offensive. On evening of 2nd July the battalion moved forward to bivouacs just outside Albert, and on 3rd July they marched through Albert into the trenches. On 4th July the 9th battalion and the 11th West Yorkshires made bombing attacks against German positions but progress was slow. The objective was the Horseshoe Trench between La Boiselle and Contalmaison. The attacks were to continue until the Brigade was relieved on 6th July. It seems most probable that it was during the attack on 4th July that Andrew Smart was fatally wounded. He had three brothers, who served in the army: Thomas Stanley Smart (Private, No. DM2/151287, RASC), William Smart (19th Northumberland Fusiliers) and George Smart (Private, No. 81681, 1/5th Durham Light Infantry). George Smart was taken as a prisoner of war at Estaires on 10th April 1918.He was unwounded. He was sent first to the camp at Dülmen and then to the camp at Hameln on the River Weser (ICRC Archives [ACICR C G1] PA 26443, Gefängenenliste, Dülmen; PA 28911, Gefängenenliste, Hameln). Andrew Smart and his siblings were the cousins to Thomas SMART (qv). 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 - Andrew Smart; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Andrew Smart; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 19832, Pte Andrew Smart. 02/09/2019; 11/06/2019; 17/04/2023; 30/06/2023; |
Thomas Smart
John Johnson Smart
George Smart
Photo IRS 20 Sept 2019
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SMART, Pte Thomas, No. 14016, 11th (Service) battalion Essex Regiment, died on 6th October 1915, aged 24, and is buried in St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France Thomas Smart was the fourth of the seven children of John and Susannah Frances Smart of Vicarage Farm, Wooler. Thomas was born on 8th November 1890 at Wooler. His three older brothers were Robert (b 1885), John Johnson (b 1887), and William (b 1889), and his younger siblings were George (b 31 December 1892), Susanna (b 1894) and Ruth (b 1898). In 1911 Thomas was a footman at Wroxton Abbey, the seat of Lord and Lady North, near Banbury, Oxfordshire. Thomas married Ethel Hughes, daughter of Charles and Mary Ann Hughes of Wroxton, in 1915 before he went to France and just a few weeks before he was wounded. Although they married in Oxfordshire, the couple were then living in Battersea. Thomas arrived in France on 30th August 1915 with the 24th Division. The 11th battalion Essex Regiment was part of the Division’s 71st Infantry Brigade. The 21st and 24th Divisions, were the first ‘New Army’ divisions to fight in a major action when they were ordered to launch an attack against the Germans on the second day of the Battle of Loos (26th September). The 21st Division had only concentrated near Tilques on 13th September and the 24th Division had concentrated between Étaples and St Pol on 4th September. No unit of these divisions had been in France for more than four weeks. Thomas Smart fought at Loos, was wounded and died on 6th October at No. 11 Stationary Hospital, Rouen. Between 25th September and 15th October when the battle ended 106 men of the 11th battalion had been killed, of whom 88 are commemorated on the Loos Memorial. Eighty two of these men died on 26th September, and only one of the latter has a known grave, the remainder being recorded on the Loos Memorial. In September 1918 three years after Thomas’s death his widow Ethel married George Alfred Searl (Private, No. M2/100564, RASC) in Battersea.
Thomas Smart’s brother John Johnson Smart, who was a tailor by trade, served in the Army (CSM, No. 415, 7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers) and was discharged to Class Z reserve in February 1919. His younger brother George, who was a footman like Thomas, served with "C" company "Drake" battalion, Royal Naval Division, but was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment in April 1918, and later was promoted to lieutenant. He survived the war and was discharged in 1919. Their cousins Andrew SMART (qv), Thomas Stanley Smart (Private, No. DM2/151287, RASC), William Smart (19th Northumberland Fusiliers) and George Smart (Private, No. 81681, 1/5th Durham Light Infantry) also served.
Memorials: Wooler, Tower Hill Cross (NEWMP W68.01); Wooler, St Mary's Reredos (NEWMP W68.02); Wooler, Church School plaque (NEWMP W68.03); Wroxton War Memorial, Oxfordshire [Note 14]
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Thomas Smart; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Thomas Smart; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 14016, Pte J Smart (recte Pte T Smart); 09/02/2019; 19/06/2019; 17/04/2023 |
Henry Smith
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SMITH, LCpl Henry, No. S/8019, 9th (Service) battalion Seaforth Highlanders (Pioneers), killed in action on 10th July 1916, and commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme France Henry Smith was the eldest of the three children of Matthew Henry Smith (b 1862, West Thirston, Felton, Northumberland) and his wife Mary Finn (b 1867, Ulgham, Morpeth). The couple married in late 1890. Henry was born at West Thirston in 1892. He had a younger sister Annie Mary (b 1897, West Thirston) and a younger brother Andrew (b 1900, West Thirston). In 1911 Henry’s father Matthew Henry was working at a ‘jobbing gardener’ and the family were living in West Thirston Felton. Henry himself was working as a ‘farm servant’ and living in the household of Elizabeth Ann Davidson who owned a dairy farm. Elizabeth Davidson was unmarried and living in her household were her mother Elizabeth (aged 81), her niece Margaret Davidson (b 1891) and two nephews Thomas Davison Oubridge (b 1897) and Robert Davidson Oubridge (b 1899). Her niece Margaret was working as a domestic servant and her nephews were at school. The 9th battalion Seaforth Highlanders was formed at Fort George October 1914, moved to Aldershot November 1914, joined 9th Division on 3rd December 1914. It became the pioneer battalion of 9th (Scottish) Division in early 1915 and disembarked in France on 10th May 1915. Henry Smith joined the battalion a little later having landed in France on the 4th August 1915. As a Pioneer battalion the 9th Seaforth Highlanders were used for a great variety jobs, and its companies could be deployed separately on different tasks. On 10th July 1916 when Henry Smith was killed, the battalion was on the Somme with its Division. The battalion HQ was located at the Bray dugouts (from 6th to 19th July). The battalion’s four companies were employed on quite different tasks. “A” Company was making four strong points N and E of Montauban, and wiring and sapping for dugouts on 10th July. Its report records one man killed and two wounded on 10th July. “B” Company was digging the ‘Nord Alley trench’ at Bernafay Wood on 10th and 11th July 1916. No casualty figures were recorded. “C” Company was employed repairing the main road between Montauban and Maricourt on 10th-11th July. Again no casualties were recorded. Finally between 8th and 13th July “D” Company was maintaining urgently required railways. Recorded casualties included 1 man wounded on 9th July; 2 wounded on 10th July. Since L Cpl Henry Smith has no known grave, where he died is not known. He could be the man from “A” Company killed on the 10th July 1916, but this cannot be confirmed. He was remembered by his family (Morpeth Herald and Reporter, 4th August 1916, p 11). Memorials: Ford, Plaque 1914-18, St Michael & All Angels (NEWMP F23.01); Scottish National War Memorial RoH - No. 8019, L Cpl Henry Smith;
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Henry Smith; Coldstream Local History Projects - LCpl Henry Smith. 28/03/2021; 17/06/2021; 17/04/2023; 25/05/2023; 14/06/2023; 15/02/2024; |
John Smith
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SMITH, Pte John, No. 7047, 51st battalion Machine Gun Corps, formerly No. 9689, Royal Highlanders (Black Watch), died of wounds 20th July 1918, aged 24, and is buried in Marfaux British Cemetery, Marne, France [Note 15] John Smith was the eldest son of William and Mary Smith, who in 1918 lived at 5, Heriot Mount, Edinburgh. William Smith was a freestone mason. He married Mary White in about 1894. In 1901-1902 William and Mary were living in Abbey Lane, Coldstream, with their three sons, John (aged 7), Archibald (aged 5) and William A. Smith (aged 6 months). The 1901 Scottish census records that John Smith was born in England whereas his two younger brothers were born in Coldstream. In 1911 Mary Smith was living at East Allerdean Cottages near Berwick-upon-Tweed with her sons John (aged 17, b Ross, Belford, 1894), William Adam (aged 10, b Coldstream, 1900) and Douglas Ralston (aged 2, b Duddo, 1908). The second son Archibald Smith had died in Coldstream in 1902. William the father was not at home when the 1911 census was taken, but as a journeyman mason, it is likely that work would have quite frequently taken him away from home. John Smith is reported to have enlisted in Coldstream in June 1915 and to have served with the Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) (Berwick Advertiser, Friday 28 July 1916, p. 5). He served with 11th (Reserve) battalion, which did not go overseas. He trained first at Tain in the Highlands, presumably with the Black Watch, then at Scotton north of Harrogate, before training at Grantham, Lincolnshire and finally at Brighton. He was reported as serving as a driver with the machine gun section of the Black Watch, and as landing in France in March 1916 (Berwick Advertiser, Friday 28 July 1916, p. 5). In the absence of his service record, details of his service such as how long he served with the Black Watch, and when and under what circumstances he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps, are at best uncertain. However Grantham was where the Machine Gun Training Centre was established, and his presence there prior to going to the front could indicate that he had been selected for the service with the Machine Gun Corps during training. As the Machine Gun Corps was created in October 1915 it is possible that John Smith was amongst the first men selected for training with the Corps, and that he was with the Machine Gun Corps when he landed in France in 1916. At the time of his death, John Smith was serving with ‘"B" Company transport’ of the 51st battalion Machine Gun Corps, which was the Machine Gun battalion of the 51st (Highland) Division. The battalion had been formed on 19th February 1918 ‘in the field' from the 152nd, 153rd, 154th and 232nd MG Companies that were already serving with the Division (TNA WO95 2857/2, War Diary 51st (Highland) Battalion, MGC, 19th February 1918).[Note 16] In early May 1918, the 51st Division had moved to a quiet section of the front at Oppy near Arras, but on 13th July the 51st battalion MGC received a warning order to be ready to move to an unknown destination. When the Germans launched their offensive ‘Blücher-Yorck’ against positions west of Reims which were held by the thinly-stretched French Army, the assault forced the French back creating a large salient known to the Germans as the 'Blücher Salient', Sir Douglas Haig reluctantly agreed to send a British Corps to support the French Army. A newly formed Corps (XXII, Lt Gen Sir Alexander Godley) comprising the 51st (Highland) and 62nd (2nd West Riding) Divisions, and reinforced by the 15th (Scottish) and 34th Divisions, was sent south to Champagne to support the French. The 15th Division was placed under the orders of the French XX Corps and 34th Division joined the French XXX Corps, both in the French X Army which was located on the western flank of the Blücher Salient. The 51st and 62nd Divisions of the now reduced British XXII Corps joined the French V Army on the eastern flank of the Salient south west of Reims. The 51st and 62nd had several days of very heavy fighting as they pushed up the valley of the Ardre in what is now known as the Battle of the Tardenois (20-31 July 1918). The 51st (Highland) Division advanced with Gamelin’s 9th Division on its left and the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division on its right on the opposite bank of the Ardre. To the right of the 62nd Division was the French 2nd Colonial Division. The 51st battalion Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) war diary lists the following casualties for the period 20th to 31st July 1918 [Note 17]:
On 29th July the 51st and 62nd Dvisions received orders that they were to be withdrawn from service with the French Fifth Army. On 30th July the 51st Division was relieved by the French 14th Division. On 1st August contingents from each Division where reviewed by General Bertholet before they departed the front.
The Battle of the Tardenois was part of Foch’s large scale and highly successful counter offensive in Champagne (Battles of the Marne 20th July – 2nd August 1918) and was the start of an unbroken series of Allied successes leading to the Armistice and Peace. Of John Smith’s two surviving brothers, William Adam (b 1900) was perhaps just too young to have served, although he might have been called up towards the very end of the war, but Douglas (b 1908) was certainly far too young. Memorials: Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); Howtel, Plaque 1914 - 1918 Beaumont Presbyterian Church (NEWMP H79.01): Howtel ROH 1914 - 1918 Beaumont Presbyterian Church (NEWMP H79.02); Scottish National War Memorial RoH - No. 7047, Pte John Smith;
See also: Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte John Smith MGC, IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 7047, Pte John Smith. 2/07/2019 - 27/09/2020; 27/12/2021; 31/12/2021; 17/04/2023; 14/6/2023; 30/06/2023; 15/02/2024; |
William Smith
'Victory II' was based at Portsmouth until 1915 when establishment was transferred to Crystal Palace. Victory II returned to Portsmouth towards the end of Great War.
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SMITH, Pte William, No. 40711, 1st battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, was killed in action 20th April 1918, and is buried in the Post Office Rifles Cemetery, Festubert, Pas de Calais, France. William Smith was oldest of the six children of Robert Smith and his wife Ellen Mossman, who married in 1890. The couple live at Holborn, Lowick, and Robert Smith was a Whinstone quarryman. William was born in 1892, and their second son Joseph in 1894. Three further sons followed: Robert John Smith in 1897, Adam Smith in 1900 and Arthur Smith in 1902. It appears that both Adam and Arthur died young: Arthur died aged 9 in June 1911 and Adam died aged 18 in 1918. The couple’s sixth child was a girl christened Lily Jane Smith and born in 1907. William lived with his grandfather William Smith at Hunting Hall, Beal from a young age. In 1901 both William (aged 8) and his brother Robert John (aged 3) were at Hunting Hall with their grandfather, who was a ‘Whinstone quarryman contractor’, and his two unmarried daughters Margaret, a farm servant, and Mary Ann Smith, his housekeeper; they were the boys' aunts. The young William was still at Hunting Hall in 1911; by then his grandfather had retired as a quarryman. Visiting in 1911 was another aunt, Barbara Matthewson (née Smith), and her daughter Margaret. Barbara had been married to Alexander Matthewson (b 1872) who had been licensee of the Oddfellows Arms, Blyth before his early death aged 37 in the summer of 1909.[Note 18] Barbara was working as a grocer in 1911. Their son Ralph Matthewson (b 1895, Kyloe), who was William Smith’s cousin, served in the Army in the Great War originally as No. 24279 with the 25th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Irish) and then as No. 63314 with the 2/4th (TF) battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Ralph was described as a ‘sniping scout and observer’ (Berwick Advertiser, 5th October 1917, p 7). William Smith was working as a farm servant for Mr Hogg at West Kyloe, before he enlisted. He joined the Army in early January 1917 and was posted to the Training Reserve. Much of his training was based at Gateshead. He went to France in early June 1917 (Berwick Advertiser, 5th October 1917, p 7) and was posted to 1st battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, which was under the orders of 2nd Brigade, 1st Division and had been in France since August 1914. William Smith served in the 1st Platoon, “A” Company (Berwickshire News and General Advertiser, 18 December 1917, p 6). He was killed in action on 20th April 1918. He had just returned to France after spending a leave in Lowick. The battalion war diary records the attack made by “A” and ”C” Companies on 20th April against German positions near Givenchy.
The CWGC records that 35 men of the 1st Northamptonshire died on 20th April 1918, and that 27 have no known grave and are commemorated on the Loos Memorial. Private William Smith is one of just six men of the battalion buried in the Post Office Rifles Cemetery, Festubert.
There was a memorial service in St John the Baptist Church for William Smith led by the Rev H B Stuart, vicar of Lowick. It seems that after that War his aunt Margaret was awarded a dependent pension rather than his mother Ellen Smith.[Note 19] William Smith’s younger brother Robert John Smith served in the Royal Navy in the Great War. He enlisted in January 1917 for the ‘duration of hostilities’ and served until 17th February 1919. He joined the shore establishment 'Victory II' on 17th January 1917 as No. K40013, Stoker 2nd Class for training. On 9th August 1917 Robert joined HMS Amphitrite (a Diadem class cruiser, launched 1898) as a Stoker 2nd class. HMS Amphitrite had been converted to operate as a minelayer with reduced armament and from November 1917 the ship operated on the Dover Barrage, laying well over 3000 mines. On 17th January 1918 Robert, still serving with Amphitrite, was promoted to Stoker 1st Class. During 1918 the ship was operating on the Northern Barrage in co-operation with the US Navy. In September 1918 Amphitrite was in a collision with the destroyer HMS Nessus. Robert Smith left the Navy on 17th February 1919. HMS Amphitrite was paid off in June 1919 and sold for breaking up in 1920. In 1920 Robert Smith married Grace Paterson Longbone and in 1921 they were living in Tweedmouth with their young son Arthur. In 1939 the couple were living in Ashington with two children Arthur (b 29th September 1919) and Grace (b 4th February 1922). Memorial: Lowick, Cross 1914-18 1939-45 Village Green (NEWMP L37.01); Belford, Monument 1914-18 1939-45 Roadside (NEWMP B16.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - William Smith; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 40711, Pte William Smith, 19/02/2022; 27/07/2022; 14/08/2022; 17/04/2023 |
James Stawart
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STAWART, acting Cpl James, No. C/12669, "C" Coy. 21st (Service) battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps ('Yeoman Rifles'), died aged 21 on 17th September 1916, and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France Acting Corporal James Stawart was the youngest of the seven children of Thomas Henry Stawart and Elizabeth Stawart (née Sinton) and was born in 1896 in Kirknewton, Northumberland. He had four sisters and two brothers: Jane Stawart (b 1883), Marky Minto Stawart (b 1885, d 1908), Richard Stawart (b 1886, Akeld Steads), Elizabeth Fleming (née Stawart) (b 1888), Thomas Stawart (b 1890), Christiana C Scott (née Stawart) (b 1892). James’s oldest brother Richard had emigrated to Homeglen, Ponoka County, Alberta, Canada. Before the war James was a farmer and was living at Lilburn Grange, West Lilburn and running the farm for his brother Thomas who was serving with the Lothians and Border Horse. James attested at Berwick-upon-Tweed on 3rd December 1915 and was posted to the 21st battalion KRRC. He was appointed Lance Corporal on 25th January 1916 and acting Corporal on 11th March 1916. The battalion landed in France in early May 1916. James Stawart was killed in action on 17th September during the battle of Flers-Courcelette. He was unmarried. Robert How HUNTER (qv) from Milfield also served with the 21st battalion KRRC and was killed the same day. James Stawart’s brother, Thomas served first with the Lothians and Border Horse landing in France on 22nd September 1915, and later served in Salonika. He was probably serving with A Squadron which was attached as Divisional cavalry to 26th Division. The squadron embarked at Southampton for France on 21st September. In November 1915 the 26th Division was sent via Marseilles to Salonika. During his service with the Lothians and Border Horse Thomas was promoted to Sergeant, and was subsequently was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. He survived the war.
Memorials: Kirknewton, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Roadside (NEWMP K15.01); Howtel, Plaque 1914 - 1918 Beaumont Presbyterian Church (NEWMP H79.01): Howtel ROH 1914 - 1918 Beaumont presbyterian Church (NEWMP H79.02); Plaque 1914-18 Berwick Grammar School (NEWMP B25.21); possibly Eglingham, Roadside Cross 1914-18 1939-45 (NEWMP E18.01).
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - James Stawart; Coldstream Local History Projects - Cpl James Stawart; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. C/12669, Cpl James Stawart; 09/02/2019; 25/06/2019; 18/09/2022; 25/05/2023; 30/06/2023; |
Alexander Stevenson
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STEVENSON, Pte Alexander, No. 487471, 15th battalion Canadian Infantry (48th Highlanders of Canada), was killed in action on 8th August 1918, aged 20, and is buried in the Demuin British Cemetery, Somme, France. Alexander Stevenson (or Stephenson) was the eldest of the two children of Robert Stephenson and his first wife Anne Isabel Logan. The couple married on 15th February 1896 in the West Chapel Wooler. Alexander was born on 12th October 1897 at Kimmerston. He was schooled at Tillmouth County School and left school 1st November 1910. His sister Alice was born on 5th June 1902 and like her brother she attended Tillmouth School. Their mother Ann Isabel Stephenson died in 1906, and Robert Stephenson remarried in 1909. Robert Stephenson's second wife was Elizabeth Black, who was born at Weston Hall, Clayworth, Nottinghamshire. In 1901 she had been working at Carham as a domestic servant to Matthew Logan, farmer, and his sister Ann Logan. At the time of the 1911 Census the Stephenson family were living at Donaldson Lodge and Robert was working as a ‘rabbit killer’. On 21st April 1911 Alice Stephenson was withdrawn from Tillmouth School. The reason given for her withdrawal as recorded in the school admissions register was ‘Going to Canada’. The family’s arrival in Canada is confirmed by the fact that Robert and his two children were listed in the Canadian Census of 1911 in Strathcona District, Alberta. The family lived at Viking, Alberta. Robert is listed as married, and recorded with his two children, and also a cousin Jane Johnson aged 22. His wife Elizabeth was not present.[Note 20] She had remained in Britain because she was pregnant and did not leave until the baby girl Catherine, born probably in July 1911, was old enough to travel in 1912.[Note 21] Alexander Stevenson enlisted on 6th December 1915 when he was just 18 years 2 months old.[Note 22] He was posted as No. 487471 initially to the 51st battalion. He was admitted to the General Hospital at Edmonton on 20th December 1915 with acute tonsillitis and discharged to duty on 28th December. After initial training Alexander sailed from Halifax on 18th April 1916, and disembarked at Liverpool on 28th April 1916. He was admitted to the Military Isolation Hospital Aldershot with Rubella (‘German measles’) on 23rd May 1916, and discharged on 1st June. He embarked for France on 8th June 1916 and arrived at the Canadian Base Depot on the 9th June; he was posted to the 15th battalion (48th Highlanders) on 10th June 1916.
On 26th September 1916 Alexander was admitted to the 5th Canadian Field Ambulance suffering from ‘shell concussion’ and he was released to duty on 28th September. From 3rd to 9th December he was at a ‘bombing’ course at the 1st Canadian Division School; the entry in his service record indicates that he was at the school as a batman. Similarly he was at the Canadian Corps School as a batman from 29th January 1917 to 24th February 1917, then at the 1st Army School on 12th August 1917 again as a batman. He returned to his unit 19th September 1917. He was granted leave in the UK from 7th October and returned to his unit on 18th October 1917. He had 2s 4d (11.66p) stopped from his pay for a lost mess tin and mess tin cover on 31st January 1918. He was killed in action on the opening day of the Battle of Amiens (8th August 1918), in which the Canadian Corps played major role. The 15th battalion suffered an estimated 150 casualties on 8th August (Libraries & Archives Canada, War Diary 15th battalion Canadian Infantry (48th Highlanders) August 1918 Appendix 32). The CWGC records 21 men from the battalion who died on 8th August and 17 who died on 9th August. Following the successful French and American counter attacks against German offensives during the Second Battle of the Marne (15 July - 6 August 1918), the further Allied successes against German Forces at Amiens and after would lead three months later to the Armistice and the end of the fighting on the Western Front. Memorials: Tillmouth, Council School Roll of Honour 1914-18 (NEWMP T18.01); First World War Book of Remberance, [Canada], dedicated 11 November 1942, p 277 - Pte Alexander Stevenson; Scottish National War Memorial RoH - No. 487471, Pte Alexander Stevenson, CEF;
See also: Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Alexander Stevenson; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 487471, Pte Alexander Stevenson, CEF; Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Pte Alexander Stevenson. 05/01/2022; 25/05/2023; 14/05/2023; 25/06/2023; 30/06/2023; 15/02/2024; |
James Stevenson
The Norfolk War Hospital was housed in the Norfolk County Asylum, which opened in 1814 and later became St Andrew’s Hospital.
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STEVENSON, acting LCpl James, No. P/16648, Corps of Military Police, Foot Branch, formerly No. 46030, 8th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died on 27th February 1919, and is buried in Les Baraques Military Cemetery, Sangatte, Pas de Calais James Stevenson was the fourth son of Andrew Stevenson, farmer, and Margaret Stevenson (née Melrose) of Cheviot Street, Wooler. He was born in 1885 at Ilderton, Northumberland. He had four older siblings Alexander (b 1876), Job Melrose (b 1877), Hannah (b 1881) and Andrew (b 1884), and a younger brother William (b 1887). James had been an apprentice in Winton’s grocery store in Wooler in 1901, but in 1911 his occupation was ‘rabbit catcher’. A newspaper report of James’s wounding in 1917 confirms that he had served an apprenticeship in Winton’s store in Wooler (Berwickshire Advertiser, April 6th 1917, p 7). However by 1911 John Winton, grocer, and his wife had left Wooler and were living near Ramsgate, Kent, and it is possible that James lost his position when John Winton gave up running his grocery store. James Stevenson had married Gladys Eleanor Brown of Alnwick in 1910 and James and Gladys and their baby son Andrew (b 1911) emigrated to Australia in 1912. They sailed from London on 26th July in the New Zealand Shipping Company’s RMS Remuera (1911-1940). In the passenger list for the Remuera James’s occupation is listed as ‘Rabbiter’. The family were booked to disembark in Hobart, Tasmania. The family settled in Surrey Hills, Melbourne, Australia, but returned to Britain when the war broke out. On his return James enlisted in the Army. Gladys Eleanor and family lived at No. 23, Duke Street, Coldstream, Berwickshire. James Stevenson reportedly originally joined the Tyneside Scottish, but subsequently was posted to the 8th Northumberland Fusiliers and served with the machine gun section. He was wounded on 13th March 1917, his wound was ‘caused by an exploding bomb’, and he was evacuated back to Britain and admitted to the Norfolk War Hospital, Thorpe, Norwich on 18th March (Berwick Advertiser, April 6th 1917, p 7). He later joined the Military Foot Police and was serving at Calais when he succumbed to the Influenza epidemic. James Stevenson’s death from ‘Flu’ on 27th February 1919 is recorded in his Soldiers’ Effects register entry. Memorials: Wooler, Church School plaque (NEWMP W68.03); Coldstream War Memorial; See also: Bailiffgate Collections - James Stevenson; Coldstream Local History Projects - LCpl James Stevenson. 09/02/2019; 25/06/2019; 25/05/2023; |
Samuel Stonehouse
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STONEHOUSE, Pte Samuel, No. 40715, 1st battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, died on 17th September 1918, aged 26, and is buried in the Vadencourt British Cemetery, Maissemy, Aisne, France Samuel Stonehouse was the only son of Andrew Stonehouse and his wife Elizabeth. Andrew Stonehouse was from Sunderland and his wife Elizabeth was from Gateshead. In 1901 the couple lived in Kyloe, near Norham. Elizabeth Stonehouse died in 1909. In 1911 Andrew and his family – his daughter Margaret (b 1884), son Samuel (b 1892) and his step daughter Mary Ann Gibb and her four children - were living at High Letham, Berwick-upon-Tweed. Mary Ann, who was unmarried, was working as housekeeper for Andrew Stonehouse. Andrew Stonehouse died in early in 1914. Samuel Stonehouse of East Fenton, Wooler attested at Wooler on 11th December 1915 and was posted to the Army Reserve. His sister Margaret Stonehouse and his half-sister Mary Ann Gibb and Mary Ann’s four children Robert, George, Elizabeth and Andrew Gibb were all apparently living in East Fenton at the time. In 1919 Margaret Stonehouse was living at East Learmouth, Cornhill on Tweed. In 1939 Mary Ann Gibb and her youngest son Andrew were living at Howburn, Cornhill on Tweed. Samuel was not called up until 18th January 1917. He left for France on 26th June and arrived at the 34th Infantry Base Deport on 29th June 1917. He was posted to 1st battalion Northamptonshire Regiment on 14th July 1917 and joined the battalion on 19th July. The 1st battalion was part of 2nd Brigade and under orders of the 1st Division. On 16th September 1918 the battalion had moved from Tertry to a wood near Caulaincourt, Aisne. At 3am on the morning of 17th September German aeroplanes bombed the battalion. The battalion war diary records 3 men killed and 22 wounded and also 5 horses killed (TNA WO95 1271, 17th September 1918). Samuel was almost certainly one of the men killed by the bombing. Memorials: Doddington, 1914-18 Plaque, St Mary & St Michael (NEWMP D13.01); Carham, Cross 1914-18 1939-45, Cross Roads (NEWMP C8.02) See also: Bailiffgate Collections - Samuel Stonehouse; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte Samuel Stonehouse; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 40715, Pte Samuel Stonehouse. 11/06/2019; 01/10/2020; 26/05/2023; 30/06. 2023; |
George Stothart
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STOTHART, LCpl George, No. 24269, "Z" Coy. 11th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, died of wounds on Wednesday, 6th September, 1916 aged 21, and is buried in the Étaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France George Stothart was the youngest surviving child of Thomas Stothart and his wife Cecily Philips of Hetton Limeworks, Lowick, Northumberland. The couple married in 1886, and their first son William was born in 1888. Mary Isabella was born in 1892 and George in 1894. The couple had another son Thomas James born in 1900, but he died in 1903. In 1911 George Stothart was working for his father on the family farm. In the absence of a service record it is uncertain when George enlisted and when he joined the 11th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, which was part of 68th Brigade under the orders of 23rd Division. The battalion disembarked in France in 1915. George Stothart died of wounds on 6th September 1916. The battalion had been in the trenches on 1st September when it had suffered from heavy German artillery fire on front line and support trenches. Four men were wounded and very likely George Stothart was one them. The battalion was relieved on 3rd September and came out of the trenches and went to Bailleul for training and on the 4th September went into billets at Meteren. No other casualties were recorded. He died within weeks of his two closest friends L Cpl Walter Charles Milburn (qv) and Pte Thomas Young (qv) (Berwick Advertiser, 17 November 1916, p 7).. Memorials: Chatton Village Green Cross 1914-18 & 1939-45 Roadside (NEWMP C20.01); Lowick Village Green Cross 1914 - 1918 1939 - 1945 (NEWMP L37.01) (service incorrectly shown as with 'K.O.Y.L.I.') See also: Bailiffgate Collections - George Stothart; Coldstream Local History Projects - LCpl George Stothart; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 24269, Pte George Stothert (recte Pte G Stothart) 18/06/2019; 09/08/2022; 26/05/2023; 30/06/2023; |
John Stothart
Photo IRS 12 Sept 2019
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STOTHERT, Pte John, No. 30/74, 30th (Reserve) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (Tyneside Irish Reserve batttalion), died 12th August 1917, and is buried in Wooler (St. Mary) Churchyard, Northumberland John Stothert was the youngest child of the late James Stothert, butcher (d. 1890), and the late Jane Cryle Stothert (née Thompson) (d. 1909) of Wooler and was born in about 1872 in Wooler. He had an older brother James (b 1866, d 1897) who was a butcher, and two older sisters Eleanor (b c 1867) and Isabella (b c 1870). In 1895 Isabella, who was a school teacher, married Joseph Waters Brand, who was a printer and compositor. In the 1901 census John Stothert was living with his mother, and his widowed sister in law Mary Jane Stothert (née Morton) in the High Street, Wooler, and he is recorded as having 'no occupation'. In 1911 John Stothert was boarding with Robert Young and his family at Earle Mill, and he was single and 'living on his own means'. On his attestation form (dated 26th October 1915) he gave his address as the High Street, Wooler, his occupation as butcher, and named his sister Isabella Brand as his next of kin. Her address was West Terrace, High Street Wooler. He had previous military experience as a member of the 2nd Northumberland (Percy) Artillery Volunteers. He joined the 30th (reserve) battalion at Scotton Camp on 2nd November 1915, but is recorded as deserting on 15th January 1916, and then rejoining the battalion on 17th February 1916. It is likely that like many of the early volunteers he had not appreciated that coming and going as one pleased was not acceptable military practice! On 2nd July 1916 he was discharged from the Army as 'physically unfit for service due to rheumatism'. His medical report (17th June 1916) states that he 'has had rheumatism for the last 30 years ...’ He died just little over twelve months later in August 1917 and is buried at Wooler.
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 - John Stothert; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte John Stothert; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 30/74. Pte John Stothert; 09/02/2019; 26/05/2023; |
Thomas Straffen
Thomas Straffen’s attestation form has ‘4th Hussars’ written in then scored through on one page and ‘Cavalry of the Line’ inserted. In another section is written ‘General Cavalry of the Line’. On yet another page entry reads ‘No.28066’ and ‘General Service Cavalry’, both of which have been scored through.
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STRAFFEN, acting L Cpl Thomas, No. 18488, 3rd (Reserve) battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, formerly 1st battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, died aged 22 of valvular disease of heart and oedema of the lungs in the Military Convalescent Hospital Alnwick, on 12th February 1919, and is buried in Alnwick Cemetery Thomas Straffen (b Brunton, Embleton 1896) was the only son of John Straffen (b Kirkarle, near Morpeth 1865) and Isabella Wale (or Wall) (b Sorbie, Wigtown, Scotland 1874). The couple married at Sunderland 1895. Their son Thomas Straffen’s birth at Brunton, Embleton in 1896 was registered at Alnwick. Thomas had a younger sister Edna who was born at Brunton in 1899. In 1911 the family were living at High Brunton, Christon Bank, Embleton and Thomas Straffen aged 14 years was working as butcher’s apprentice. His father was working as a ‘coachmen (domestic)’. When Thomas Straffen attested on 15th September 1914 the family were living at ‘Breamish, Powburn, Glanton, Northumberland’ and Thomas was no longer a butcher, but working as a groom. At his attestation Thomas gave his age as 19 years and 2 months, but in reality he was only 18 years old. He was called up within ten days of attesting and joined up at Scarborough on 25th September 1914. His initial posting is recorded in his service record as 'No. 28066' with the ‘--th Hussars’ (obscured) in the ‘Cavalry of the Line’. On 2nd June 1915 he was posted to the 3rd (Reserve) battalion East Yorkshire Regiment at Hedon near Hull for infantry training. He landed in France a little over a month later on 16th July 1915 and was posted to the 1st battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, which was then under command of 18th Brigade, 6th Division. On 26th November 1915 at Armentières the battalion transferred to 64th Brigade, 21st Division.
In September 1916 the 21st Division was fighting on the Somme including the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15th-22nd September 1916). On 25th September 1916, Thomas suffered a gunshot wound to his right arm. He was fit to rejoined his battalion on 29th October 1916. Thomas was promoted to paid acting Corporal on 12th May 1917 and he was promoted to paid acting Sergeant on 31st July 1917. He suffered a more serious wound to his left arm in October 1917, and was return to Britain for treatment on 24th October. His departure from France meant that he reverted to his substantive rank of private. Then on 18th December 1917, presumably having recovered from his injury, Thomas was posted back to 3rd (Reserve) battalion East Yorkshire Regiment at Withernsea (Humber Garrison). He was appointed acting lance corporal without pay on 23rd September 1918 and later was appointed acting lance corporal with pay (date not legible). Acting LCpl Thomas Straffen was taken ill and admitted to the Military Convalescent Hospital at Alnwick where he died at 4.15am on 12th February 1919 from ‘valvular disease of the heart’ (V.D.H.) and ‘oedema of the lungs’ (pulmonary edema, ie. fluid build-up on the lungs). He was buried in Alnwick Churchyard. Initially his grave was marked by a wooden cross, later replaced by a Commonwealth War Graves headstone. Thomas Straffen’s sister Edna married John James Mordue in 1921 and the couple had two daughters Shirley (b 1922) and Kathleen (b 1924) and lived at Edlingham Hut, Edlingham. John Mordue had served as No.100571, Private Mordue, 13th battalion Durham Light Infantry in latter part of the Great War. In the 1939 Register John Mordue was described as a haulage contractor. He was the son of farmer John Mordue and his second Janey Mordue (née Wealleans); the family lived and farmed at Edlingham Hut. Janey Wealleans was the aunt of Rosanna Wealleans who was thus John James Mordue’s cousin. Rosanna worked later as elder John Mordue’s housekeeper. Rosanna had married Robert James Harvey, who had worked as a horseman on Mordue’s farm, just before he went to War. Robert served as No. 40672, Private Harvey (qv), with the 1st battalion Northamptonshire Regiment and had died of wounds on 10th April 1918.
Memorials: Embleton, Memorial Cross 1914-18 1939-45 Cemetery (NEWMP E27.01); Embleton, Plaque1914-18 C of E School (present location Village Hall) (NEWMP E27.05); Powburn, Pillar 1914-18 1939-45 Community Garden (NEWMP P39.01); Whittingham, Stained Glass Window 1914-18 St Batholomew (NEWMP W48.01)
See also: Terry Howells, Mary Kibble and Monica Cornall, The Fallen of Embleton 1914-1919; NEWMP - Alnwick: Joyce & Neil Brison, Straffen, T L/Cpl, 1919; Bailiffgate Collection - Thomas Straffen; Coldstream Local History Projects - Rifleman Thomas Straffen; IWM Lives of the First World War - S/Sgt Thomas Straffen (recte Acting L/Cpl) 07/04/2023; 26/05/2023; |
George Straughan
There is a mistake in the recording of the ages of Straughan children in the 1901 Census return where George is recorded as 8 years old and Eleanor as 6 years old. George was the younger child.
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OO STRAUGHAN, L Sgt George, No. 13394, 11th (Service) battalion Border Regiment, then 8th (Service) battalion Border Regiment, killed in action near Frémicourt on 21st or 22nd March 1918, and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France George Straughan was the only son of Peter Straughan (b 1862, Felton, Northumberland) and Jane Straughan (née Davison, b 1866, Doddington) of South Crossing, Wooler. The couple married in 1892. In 1901 Peter and Jane were visiting Thomas and Isabella Ormiston and their family at Chatton. With them were their daughter Eleanor and son George. Peter worked as a railway signalman and by 1911 the family had moved to Carlisle. They lived at "No 4, Hardbank, Carlisle". George, then 16 years old was working as a railway clerk, and his sister Eleanor (aged 18) was a dressmaker. Eleanor had been born at Hedgeley, near Powburn in 1893, and George at Willington, Co Durham in 1895.
George Straughan enlisted on 29th September 1914 and his address was Railway Cottages, How Mill, Hayton, Cumberland. The rest of his family seem to have returned to Northumberland and to be living in Wooler. George joined the 11th (Lonsdale) battalion Border Regiment, which was under the orders of 97th Brigade, 32nd Division. He embarked for France with the 11th battalion on 23th November 1915 at Folkestone, and landed at Boulogne on 24th November. On 12th December 1915 the ‘Right half’ of the battalion had been taken by bus from Molliens au Bois to the trenches for instruction. On 13th December they were attached to the garrison (unnamed) in ‘F1 & F2 sub-Sectors’. On 14th the ‘Left half’ of the battalion replaced the ‘Right half’ for instruction in the trenches. While in the trenches the ‘Right half’ had suffered one other rank wounded on 13th, and one other rank wounded and another killed on 14th December. Presumably George Straughan was one of wounded other ranks. George was admitted to ‘Highland Casualty Clearing Station’ with a gunshot wound to the arm on 14th December and subsequently was transported by ambulance train to Rouen. He was sent back to Britain on the Hospital Ship St Denis on 19th December. He had been in France just 28 days. After treatment and recovery from his wound, George Straughan embarked for his return to France on 15th July 1916 and was sent to the 25th Infantry Base Depot Étaples. From Étaples he was posted to the 8th battalion Border Regiment on 27th July, joining the battalion ‘in the field’ on 28th July 1916. The 8th battalion was under the orders of 75th Brigade, 25th Division. He had been appointed an ‘unpaid L Cpl’ on 26th June 1916 and was posted on 25th July 1916 as a lance corporal. He was promoted to corporal on 14th June 1917, and month later promoted to Lance Sergeant. In March 1918 the 25th Division was positioned north-west of Bapaume as the Reserve Division of IV Corps. When the Germans launched opening attack of their Spring Offensive (Battle of St Quentin, First Battles of the Somme 1918) on 21st March, the 74th Brigade was sent to reinforce 51st (Highland) Division, and 75th Brigade including the 8th battalion Border regiment was sent to Favreuil to support 6th Division. The 7th Brigade occupied a position at Frémicourt on the eastern edge of Bapaume.
On 21st March the 8th battalion was placed under the orders of 16th Brigade (6th Division) and ordered to counter attack north of Vaux. By 26th March the men of the 8th battalion were digging in at Puisieux au Mont on the old Somme battlefield after five days of fighting a rearguard action. The battalion had lost 56 men killed between the 21st and 24th March 1918 and 2 more on 26th March. George Straughan was killed in action on 21st or 22nd March 1918 near Bullecourt north east of Bapaume. The Division was relieved on 26th March and was able withdraw from the firing line. The Division it had lost more than half its fighting strength with 318 officers and men dead, 1496 wounded and 1588 missing, many of whom had been taken as prisoners of war.[Note 23] Following L Sgt George Straughan’s death, probate was granted to his father Peter; the probate register gives the deceased George Straughan’s address as ‘Hardbank, How Mill, Hayton, Cumberland’. His parents’ address was South Crossing, Wooler. George Straughan is not remembered on any war memorial in Northumberland, but he is remembered on a family tombstone in Wooler New Cemetery and he was commemorated with an entry in De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour 1914-18 (Part 5, p 159). George Straughan’s mother Jane was awarded a dependant’s pension, and when she died in April 1940, the pension ended. Jane Straughan is buried in the New Cemetery Wooler. Her husband who died in June 1950 is also commemorated on her headstone. George’s sister Eleanor never married and when she died in 1958 she was living at 13 Togston Crescent, Broomhill, Northumberland.
Memorials: none identified
See also: IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 13294 (recte 13394) L Sgt George Straughan. 09/10/2022; 11/10/2022; 30/06/2023; |
William Straughan (No. 27418)
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OO STRAUGHAN, Pte William, No. 27418, 46th Company, Labour Corps, formerly No. 34554, 7th Infantry Labour Company, Lincoln (Lincolnshire Regiment), killed by an explosion while handling ordnance on 25th September 1917, he is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium William Straughan was the youngest of the four sons of the late John Straughan of Low Humbleton, Wooler and his wife Eliza Tait. John Straughan was born at Doddington in 1840, and Eliza Tait was born at Carham in 1839. The couple’s first two children, Margaret (b 1863) and Adam (b 1865), were probably born at Wooler, but their other five children, George (b 1867), Jane (b c 1870), James (b 1873), Eleanor Tait (b 1874) and William (b 1878), were born at Carham. In 1871 the couple and their first four children were living at Carham, and John Straughan was working as a coachman. In 1891 the family were living at Humbleton Buildings and John Straughan was working as an agricultural labourer. William was 14 years old and still at school. In 1901 the family were still at Humbleton. William Straughan now aged 24 was single and working as a roadman presumably for the County Council. His father John was now also working as a roadman. William's mother Eliza Straughan (née Tait) died in 1909 aged 70. In 1911 her widower husband John was living at Path Head Wooler. He was described as a retired groom. Also in the household at the time were his married daughter Eleanor Forsyth, his unmarried son William, a grandson John Straughan (aged 16) who was a blacksmith's apprentice, and finally a boarder Philip Emond, who was a blacksmith from Selkirk. The father John Straughan died in 1912 aged 72. William Straughan served first as No.34554, Lincolnshire Regiment with 7th Infantry Labour Company at Lincoln. Following the creation of the Labour Corps in 1917 he served with 46th Company, Labour Corps. Men of the Labour Corps comprised those who were either too old or not fit enough for service with the infantry. They were not armed but nonetheless served at the front very often under fire. William Straughan 'lost his life through the explosion of a bomb which was being handled at the time of the accident’ (Berwickshire News, 9th October 1917, p 8). He has no grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.[Note 24] William Straughan was unmarried and his brothers and sisters and nieces and nephew were his legatees. Memorials: possibly the William Straughan named on the Eglingham 1914-18 1939-45 Roadside Cross (NEWMP E18.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - William Straughan (Labour Corps) ; Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte William Straughan 19/06/2021; 17/04/2023; 26/05/2023; |
William Straughan (No. 242460)
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STRAUGHAN, Pte William, No. 242460, formerly No. 5/7300, 1/5th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, previously No. 7/3298, 1/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, was missing presumed killed in action on or after 26th October 1917, aged 23, and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium William Straughan was a son of Thomas Straughan (Thomas Strauchen, b Eccles, Berwickshire, 1854) and his wife Mary Ann Wallace (b 1862). The couple married in 1890. They had five children, although child one died young. The eldest was George (b 1892) and was followed by twin boys Thomas and William (b 1893). The next child was possibly John (b 1895) and died young (d 1901). The last child was a daughter Catherine Margaret (b 1899). The father Thomas was working as a quarryman in 1891 and the family lived at Carham, but later he worked as a cattleman and farm labourer at Ford and then at Castle Heaton. His widow Mary Ann was living at Campsfield, Cornhill after the War. Exactly when Thomas Straughan died is uncertain, but he may have died as late as 1923.[Note 25] William served first as No. 7/3298 with the 1/7th battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, then as No. 7/7300 with the 1/5th battalion. He was not eligible for the 1914-15 Star and which shows that he arrived in France and joined the 1/7th battalion after end 1915. In the absence of his service record the date and circumstances of his transfer from the 1/7th battalion to the 1/5th battalion is not known, but it was probably before the start of 1917 since he was issued with a regimental number 5/7300.[Note 26] In 1917 he was issued with the new regimental number 242460.
Second Battle of Passchendaele, 26 October 1917 - 10 November 1917 (Third Battle of Ypres, 31 July 1917 - 10 November 1917) On 24th October 1917, 50th Division moved into the frontline North of Ypres to relieve the 34th Division. The 149th Brigade moved into a position south of Houthulst Forest and astride the Ypres-Staden railway line. The 1/5th battalion's position straddled the railway, with the 1/4th battalion to their right and the 1/7th battalion to their left. The 1/6th Northumberland Fusiliers were in support. At 5.40am on 26th October the 149th Brigade began its attack. The 1/5th battalion war diary records that by 7.10am reports received suggested that all companies had taken their first objectives (TNA WO95 2828/2, 26th October 1917). Thereafter reports recorded in the war diary tell a grim tale. "B" company on the left after taking its first objective reached a road that was 'wired between the trees', and first and second waves attempting to cut the wire 'were practically wiped out'. "C" company on the right and the 1/4th Northumberland Fusiliers to their right were stopped by machine gun fire after their initial advance. "D" company took their first objective then 'advanced under heavy fire. No further news can be obtained of this Coy' (my emphasis). At 4.15pm it was recorded that the 'Remains of the battalion are back on original line'. At 11pm the battalion was relieved by the 4th battalion Yorkshire Regiment and went back to the Red Crossroads Camp. At 10am on 27th October the battalion suffered further casualties at Boesinghe when a Nissen hut was hit by enemy artillery fire (TNA WO95 2828/2, 26th October 1917).
The battalion war diary (TNA WO95 2828/2) for 31st October 1917 records the casualties for 26th October:
William Straughan was amongst those missing in action and presumed dead on 26th October 1917.
The war diary also records changes to the strength of the battalion during October:
;It is uncertain whether William's twin brother Thomas served in the armed forces during the Great War; there are several men called 'Thomas Straughan' who served, but none can be confirmed as William's twin. William and Thomas's older brother George attested on 7th November 1914, but was discharged on 16th November 1914 'as not likely to become an efficient soldier.'
Memorials: Ford, Plaque 1914-18 St Michael & All Angels (NEWMP F23.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - William Straughan (Northumberland Fusiliers); Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte William Straughan; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 242460, Pte William Straughan. 20/03/2021; 29/08/2021; 31/08/2021; 17/04/2023; 26/05/2023; 30/06/2023; |
William Suthern
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SUTHERN, LCpl William, No. 7/3192, 1st/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, formerly 2nd/7th battalion, attached 1st/5th (TF) battalion Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment), killed in action on 3rd September 1916, aged 23, he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France William Suthern was the eldest of the seven children of John Suthern (b 1866, Kyloe, Northumberland) and Barbara Jane (b 1869, Belford, Northumberland), who married in 1892 at Belford. William was born in Gateshead in 1893, and he was followed by two girls, Elizabeth Palmer Suthern (b 1895 Gateshead) and Barbara Jane Suthern (b 1897; d 1897 Gateshead). The couple had a second son John Joseph Whittle Suthern (b Gateshead) in 1900. John Joseph died in 1915 at just 14 years old. When the 1901 Census was taken the family were living still at Gateshead, and John Suthern was as an iron driller. Their next child Andrew Suthern was born in 1903 at Kirknewton, where it must be presumed that the family were then living, and that John Suthern was no longer working as an iron driller; certainly by 1911 he was working as horseman on a farm. The couple had another daughter Mary born at Kirknewton in 1908, and a son George born at Carham in 1910. William Suthern initially served with the 2/7th (TF) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers before being posted to the 1/7th battalion. He was attached to the 1/5th (TF) battalion West Riding Regiment in 1916 for the assault on the Schwaben Redoubt on 3rd December 1916.[Note 27] The 1/5th battalion was under the orders of 147th Brigade, 49th Division. The assault was to be made by the 49th Division, with 146th Brigade on the left and 147th Brigade on the right. The latter brigade was to attack on the right front of the Schwaben Redoubt, with the 1/4th battalion West Riding Regiment on the right and the 1/5th battalion on the left. Both battalions had the task of taking the German front line and support trenches. The 1/7th battalion West Riding Regiment was in support with the 1/6th battalion in reserve. The whole assault failed. The 146th Brigade attack on the left of the Redoubt did not reach its objective, and although the 147th Brigade managed to reach its objective, it was unable to hold the position. The 1/5th battalion suffered very heavy casualties. The battalion war diary records that 350 of the 450 who went into the attack were casualties (TNA WO95 2800/2, 3rd September 1916). The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that the 1/5th Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment) lost 111 men, not including William Suthern, on 3rd September 1916. The 1/4th battalion lost 156 men. William Suthern was reported missing believed killed and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial along with 76 other men from the 1/5th battalion. Memorials: Branxton, Stained Glass Window 1914-18, St Paul (NEWMP B56.01); Crookham, Plaque 1914-18, Presbyterian (NEWMP C66.01); Ford, Plaque 1914-18, St Michael & All Angels (NEWMP F23.01)
See also: Bailiffgate Collections - William Suthern; Coldstream Local History Projects - LCpl William Suthern; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 7/3192, L Cpl William Suthern. 31/08/2020; 26/05/2023; 30/06/2023; |
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SUTTON-JONES, Flight Cadet Cecil Gwyn, Royal Air Force, killed in a fatal air accident during a flight from 52 Training Depot Station Cramlington on 11th September 1918, aged 28, and is buried in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Old Bewick, Northumberland Cecil Gwyn Sutton-Jones was the only son the late Colonel George Goring John Sutton Jones (India Army) and Georgina Augusta Meriam Sutton-Jones (née Vandeleur) of Roseden, Wooperton, Northumberland. The couple had married in St Mary’s Church, Poona, Bombay on 11th June 1884. In 1911 Cecil Gwyn Sutton Jones (b 1889, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India) was living with his widowed mother in Preston, Lancashire and was an ‘Electrical Engineer (pupil)’. He subsequently worked for the Crossley Motor Co. for three years, testing and racing cars, and for Dick Kerr & Co as an ‘electrical traction tester’ also for three years. He seems to have intended emigrating to the USA. He arrived in Louisiana on 23 February 1917 in company with his mother and a Mr Thomas ‘mechanical engineer’. They landed from the SS Sulimane, which had sailed from Belize, British Honduras, where they had been living and where Cecil had been a ‘rancher’. Cecil and his mother listed as their nearest relative or friend ‘Mrs A Bordon’ Wooperton, Northumberland, who was Mrs Alice Gertrude Burdon (née Vandeleur) of The Hall, Wooperton. She was the widow of the late Major Augustus Burdon (b 11th October 1851, Chennia, India; d 29th December 1908) and the sister of Mrs Sutton-Jones. Cecil Sutton-Jones did not remain long in Louisiana, because on 19th December 1917, he was in Surrey where he signed attestation papers to join the Army. According to the evidence of the Surrey recruitment registers he signed up to join the Royal Field Artillery. In the recruitment registers it is recorded that he was 6ft 2in tall and weighed 164lbs. His occupation was recorded as ‘ranching’. Cecil Sutton-Jones’s service records show that he actually joined the Royal Flying Corps on 12th December 1917 initially as an ‘Air Mechanic 3’ and transferred to the RAF on its formation on 1st April 1918. He ‘graduated’ as ‘Flt Cadet’ on 15th July 1918, having passed second in his graduation exam and on 22nd July 1918 was appointed Flight Cadet. Although he was posted to the former RNAS station at East Fortune, near Edinburgh, he was attached to the 52nd Training Depot Station (52 TDS) at Cramlingtion, Northumberland for flying training. Flt/Cadet Cecil Sutton-Jones and 2nd Lt Coghill were killed on 11th September 1918 when their plane, an Avro 504K (130hp Clerget engine), crashed during a flight from Cramlington. The Court of Enquiry into the crash held on 17th September 1918 concluded that
As a training aircraft, the Avro 504K had dual controls; either man could control the aircraft in flight. It seems most likely that F/Cadet Sutton-Jones would have been at the controls of the aircraft in a training flight. The RAF Roll of Honour states that he was ‘Killed while flying 11 September 1918 aged 28’. That the conclusion of the court of enquiry was recorded on 2nd Lt Coghill’s casualty card reflects the fact that Coghill was the instructor and the senior in rank of the two men and therefore retained some responsibility. The body of Alexander Oswin Coghill, who was married to Jessie Lovell Coghill (née Purdy) of 8, Bushy Park Road, Rathgar, Dublin, was returned to Ireland for burial. 2nd Lt Coghill was laid to rest in the Dublin Friends' Burial Ground, Temple Hill, Blackrock.
Flt/Cadet Cecil Gwyn Sutton Jones was buried in Holy Trinity churchyard, Old Bewick with full military honours (Newcastle Daily Journal, Friday 20 September 1918, p 5). His grave is marked by a rough rock with cast bronze plaques. He was interred next to his uncle Major Augustus Edward Burdon, who died in 1908. Also remembered with a memorial stone is Major and Mrs Burdons’ only daughter Norah Studd (née Burdon), who had lived in the Cotswolds at Lower Slaughter Manor, Gloucestershire and was interred in the churchyard of St Mary’s, Lower Slaughter.[Note 28]
Memorials: Eglingham 1914-18 1939-45 Roadside Cross (NEWMP E18.01); Powburn Pillar 1914-18 1939-45 Community Garden (NEWMP P39.01); Neuadd Cross War Memorial, near Ponthirwaun, Ceredigion, Wales Ceredigion
See also: NEWMP - Old Bewick: Sutton-Jones, C.G., Flying Cadet, 1918; Breamish Valley Roll of Honour - Cecil Gwyn Sutton-Jones; Bailiffgate Collections - Cecil Gwyn Sutton-Jones; IWM Lives of the First World War - Flight Cadet Cecil Gwyn Sutton-Jones; 16/10/2022; 15/12/2022; 30/06/2023; 07/03/2024; |
William Swan
Amongst those killed was Lt Col C E Atchison, DSO, commanding 6th KOYLI, who had been commisioned in the Shropshire Light Infantry. He is buried in the Menin Road South Military Cemetery.
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SWAN, Pte William, No. 235372, 6th (Service) battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, formerly No. 1956, 11th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, was missing presumed dead on or after 24th August 1917, and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium William Swan was the fourth child of Francis Swan and his first wife Martha Fairley. Francis had been a salmon fisherman, but later worked as a van man for a grocer. The couple married in late 1889 and had four children: James (b 1892), Mary Elizabeth (b 1893), Agnes Fairley (b 1895) and finally Nicholas William F[airley] Swan (b 1896). The latter would serve as 'William Swan' in the Great War. Martha Swan died in later 1896 following the birth of Nicholas William. Francis Swan, with four young children to support, married his third cousin Margaret Swan in 1897. Their fathers were second cousins. The couple had three children: Robert (b 1899), Alison Chisholm (b 1901) and Francis (b 1903). Francis, the father, died in 1922, and his widow died in 1942. In 1901 (Nicholas) William was living with his aunt Margaret Fairley in Wallsend, but by 1911 Nicholas William Swan, aged 14, was living with his now married aunt Margaret Proctor (née Fairley) and her husband Charles, at 58 Second Avenue, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne. Margaret Proctor was living at 34 Victoria Avenue, Whitley Bay in 1922, when she was claiming a pension as a dependant of her nephew No. 235372 William Swan. According to Soldiers Died in the Great War, William Swan originally served as No. 1950 (sic) with the Northern Cyclist Battalion. His medal index card and medal roll entries indicate that he served as No. 1956 with the 11th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, and later as No. 235372 with the 6th (Service) battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. The 11th (Service) battalion Northumberland Fusiliers was raised at Newcastle upon Tyne in September 1914. The battalion came under the orders of 68th Brigade, 23rd Division in December 1914, and disembarked in France in August 1915. William himself disembarked in France after the end of 1915; the exact date is unknown. It is just possible that William Swan did serve with one of the three Northern Cyclist battalions, and that subsequently he was posted to the 11th Northumberland Fusiliers with a later draft. The 11th Northumberland Fusiliers went to Italy in November 1917 with the 23rd Division, but William Swan had already been transferred to the 6th battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, the unit with which he was serving when he was killed in action in August 1917. The 6th KOYLI were under the orders of 43rd Brigade, 14th (Light) Division.
On 16th August 1917 the 6th KOYLI had been at Connaught Camp, Wippenhoek, where it was training. On 17th August the battalion moved to Ottawa Camp at Ouderdom and then on to Dickebusch where it remained until 20th August. From Dickebusch the battalion moved to the Chateau Segard area where it remained until it moved to Sanctuary Wood via Dormy House, Zillebeke on 22nd August. At 7.00am on 22nd August the 43rd Light Infantry Brigade launched an attack in the direction of Inverness Copse to the left of the Menin Road. The purpose of the attack by the 14th Division was to clear the woods either side of the Menin Road. The 6th KOYLI remained in reserve in Sanctuary Wood under heavy shell fire. The battalion was then ordered to reinforce the front line occupying the positions near Sterling Castle vacated by the 10th Durham Light Infantry. "Z" company occupied the old front line and drove off a German counter attack. "Y" company formed a flank guard facing south. A little later they were relieved by two companies from 8th King's Royal Rifle Corps, and were guided forward to come under command of 6th Somerset Light Infantry. At about 7 pm, "W" and "X" companies were ordered to fall back to the original frontline by the commander of 10th Durham Light Infantry. On 23rd August "W" company was relieved by the King's Own Rifle Corps (presumably 8th battalion) and moved up to the left of Inverness Copse. A similar move by "X" company was ordered but unfortunately the runner carrying the message was killed. Most of the day was spent consolidating positions. The heaviest fighting seems to have been on 24th August when the Germans launched a counter attack. Large numbers of Germans were observed advancing on the positions in Inverness Copse. The attack was eventually held after hard fighting. The 6th KOYLI war diary records the loss of 5 officers (3 killed, 2 wounded) and 182 other ranks (22 killed, 129 wounded and 31 missing) during operations on 22nd to 24th August. It seems that some of the loses on the 24th August were due to British guns: (TNA WO95 1906/5, 24th August 1917).
William Swan, who has no known grave, was amongst the missing. He death in action was confirmed in the summer of 1918 (Berwickshire News, 2nd July 1918, p 2).
Memorial: Cornhill on Tweed Cross 1914-18 1939-45 roadside (NEWMP C53.01)
See also: Coldstream Local History Projects - Pte William Swan; IWM Lives of the First World War - No. 235372, Pte William Swan; 12/03/2021; 14/08/2021; 26/05/2023; 30/06/2023; S n=33
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