Photo: Geordie at War Project
In Gateshead East Cemetery is a family headstone which is not easy to read:
In
loving remembrance
of
Private
Henry Craggs Sutton
........
........
........
between ..............
........
Aged 20 years.
Also in loving remembrance of
Private John William Sutton
King's Own Scottish Borderers
brother of the above
who was killed in action November 25th 1917br />........
........
........
........
Also Margaret
........ wife ......
........
........
....John George Sutton ......
grandson of (the above?)died March 8th ............
(the rest is illegible)
Pauline Priano has submitted the following:-
John William Sutton was born at Gateshead, County Durham, August 17th 1894, he was the first born son and eldest of 7 children, 4 sons and 3 daughters. His father John George Sutton and mother Margaret Bewick were also natives of Gateshead born April 24th 1870 and September 9th 1873 respectively. His parents were married July 30th 1893 at Christ Church, Gateshead, settling at 22, Northbourne Terrace John George supported his family employed as a railway time-keeper for the Locomotive Department of the North Eastern Railway Company. At the age of 16 years John William was also employed by them as a locomotive engine cooler, his brother Henry Craggs Sutton worked as an assistant sugar boiler at a confectioners, his other siblings were scholars.
On the outbreak of war John William Sutton enlisted at Gateshead assigned as Private 21967 to the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and transferred to the Depot at Berwick-on-Tweed and then sent on to Borden into temporary accommodation. After the formation of the 6th Battalion by September 12th 1914 the 7th and 8th Battalions were formed. After training for 3 to 4 months in their own civilian clothes they were finally issued with uniforms and equipment and once they had reached a satisfactory level of training half the battalion was allowed to spend Christmas with their families the second New Year.
After the seasonal holidays they were sent to Whitehill ranges where they were attached to the 46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division and moved to Borden. February 1915 they were sent to billets at Winchester then to Park House and finally Chisledon Camps on Salisbury Plain for final training. The 7th and 8th Battalion K.O.S. B. departed to France landing at Boulogne July 10th 1915 where they fought in the Action at the Hooge and as part of the 15th Division were the first to be attacked by flamethrowers and participated in the action in the 2nd Attack on Bellewaarde. May 28th 1916 the 7th and 8th merged to form the 7/8th King’s Own Scottish Borderers.
September 25th 1915 they were at the Battle of Loos and the following year during the Battles of the Somme at Pozieres July 23rd-September 3rd, Flers-Courcelette September 15th-22rd and Le Transloy October 1st-18th and in December on the Ancre. By the spring of 1917 they had moved to Arras where the offensive lasted from April 9th-May 15th, they fought at Mounchy. In August they were at Langemark in Belgium and in November at Cambrai.
Private 21967 Thomas William Sutton was killed in action November 25th 1917 and interred at Level Crossing Cemetery, Fampoux, Pas de Calais, France, grave II. C. 30. He was 23 years old and single.
His father John George Sutton received all monies due to him and his awards of the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal sent to him at 36, South Street, Gateshead, County Durham. He commissioned an additional inscription to be added to his military headstone at a cost of 10 shillings 6 pence, it reads, “Until The Day Break And The Shadows Flee Away.”
The death of John William only added to his parent’s profound grief for the loss of his brother Henry Craggs Sutton who had been killed in action only 7 weeks earlier.
Margaret Sutton nee Bewick died August 8th 1925 aged 52 years, John George Sutton died January 4th 1938 aged 68 years, sons Sydney George Sutton 1902-1983, Richard Jefferies Sutton 1909-1998 Francis Thoreau Sutton 1915-1998, daughters Jane Ballantine Sutton 1900-1985, Elizabeth Evangeline Sutton 1904-1970, Dorothy Wordsworth Sutton 1906-1981 and Margaret May Sutton 1912-1995, all registered in the district of Gateshead, County Durham with the exception of Francis Thoreau Sutton at Haltwhistle, Northumberland.
In God’s safe keeping. Rest In Peace.
John William Sutton is remembered at Gateshead on G39.004, G39.029 and G39.032
