Photo: James Pasby
29192 Private
M. Cunningham
Lincolnshire Regiment
17th August 1919 Age 25
On whose soul
Sweet Jesus have mercy
R.I.P.
Son of James and Bridget Cunningham, of 20, Armstrong Street, Dunston-on-Tyne.
Jackie Cooper has provided the following:
Michael Cunningham was the fourth of nine children born to James Cunningham and Bridget King who had married in the summer of 1885 in Newcastle. Their first child, a son, died in infancy, and they had two surviving sons by the time of the 1891 census return. The young family was living on St Anne’s Terrace, Newcastle and James was a cartman.
Michael was the next child born into the family on 20 May 1893. He was taken to St Dominic’s church in Newcastle for baptism three weeks later on 11 June. At some point between the end of 1898 and early 1901 the family moved to 34, Donnison Street, Dunston. When the 1901 census James was working in a local flour mill, and now had six children to support. James stayed in his job at the flour mill, still working there in 1911, though the family had moved to 20 Armstrong Street, Dunston. By that time the older children were old enough to go out to work, and only the three youngest were still at school. Michael was described on the census return as an unemployed labourer.
The Newcastle Daily Journal reported on 25 July that Michael had been arrested and was charged under the Military Service Act with being an absentee from the army. He was described as a local boxer known as ‘Young Grainger’ and had been arrested following a boxing contest at St James’ Hall. When he was told why he was wanted, Michael apparently replied ‘I was expecting it…’ It is likely that he had been sent a conscription notice, but didn’t present himself for service. Michael was fined £2 and handed over to an army escort.
He was posted to 12th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment and given the service number 29192. This battalion was a newly formed labour battalion which landed in France in August 1916 to work on the Lines of Communication. The battalion was transferred to the Labour Corps in April 1917 as the 16th & 17th Labour Corps, and the men were given new service numbers. Michael’s new service number was 9093, which tells us that he was transferred to 16th Labour Company.
Unfortunately Michael’s service records have not survived, though we know that he spent some time in 37 Casualty Clearing Station and No.1 Stationary Hospital at Rouen towards the end of the war, when he was admitted with an infection in October 1918.
It is not known when Michael was discharged from the army, but it appears that he went back to his home town to live. His death was reported at some length in a local paper, initially on Tuesday 19 August the Shields Daily News. The article notes that Michael was well known locally as ‘Young Mickey Grainger of Dunston.’It seems that about 4pm on 17 August, Michael, Munro Grainger, and Chris Beadling went for a row in the open sea. The survivors described how they had pulled out about three miles from the sands, when six destroyers passed them and the wash from the vessels hit them. They sought help from a nearby boat and Michael was put into the boat which had come to their rescue.
Mr Beadling was quoted as saying ‘Both Munro and I could swim but Mickey (Cunningham) couldn’t, so we decided to put him in the other boat and try to row ours to the shore.’ As they rowed away they saw Michael stand up, apparently to change seats, and he shouted ‘Charlie, hurry up, we’re sinking.’ The two tried to get back to the rescue boat, but when they were about ten yards away the rescue boat upset and the men were thrown into the water. Grainger and Beadling strived to rescue the men, and after a struggle they managed to get one of the men from the rescue boat into their own craft. Mr Beadnell continued: ‘One of them disappeared immediately, but Mickey was still in the water and I shouted to him “Cling to the oar”.”When the men were about three yards away from him Michael apparently felt the upturned boat touch his back and he turned to round to grasp it. They saw his hands go up in the air and then he sank. With all hope of saving the others had gone Beadnell and Grainger began to row back towards the shore, and after about half a mile, with the boat half full of water, were picked up and taken to Whitley by H.M.S. Newark.It wasn’t until 4 September that the same newspaper ran an update: ‘The body of Michael Cunningham (25) of 20 Armstrong Street, Dunston, who was one of two victims in a drowning fatality at Whitley Bay on August 17th, was found last night at Whitley…’
For his service to his country Michael was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. His mother, Bridget, paid to have the inscription ‘On whose soul sweet Jesus have mercy R.I.P. to be added to his headstone.
Michael’s parents both died in Dunston, Bridget in 1928 at the age of 64, and James in 1936 aged 72.
The name of Michael Cunningham does not appear on any local war memorial.
