Lumley Churchyard
In Christ Churchyard is a family headstone for Hutchinson which reads:
In loving memory of
Joseph
the beloved husband of
Mary Jane Hutchinson
who died December 15th 1937 aged 73 years.
Also the above Mary Jane
who died January 9th 1944 aged 73 years
Also their sons
Joseph died from wounds
November 2nd 1916 in Salonica aged 23 years.
Thomas killed in France
May (sic) 20th 1917 aged 26 years.
Their daughter Mildred Alice
beloved wife of A Thorogood died
22nd July 1953 aged 52 years.
Thomas was born in spring 1891 at Loves Row, Great Lumley. Loves Row lay behind the Warriors Arms and stretched towards what is now High Barnes.
His parents were Joseph, a Hewer at the pit and Mary Ann Hutchinson. The family spent the first years of Thomas´s life at Loves Row before they moved to 20, Finchale Terrace, Sixth Pit. Joseph and Mary Ann had ten children altogether, all of whom were living at the time of the 1911 census.
Despite Thomas being christened John Thomas he never seemed to use John, even on his military service records he is down as just Thomas. The only times I found him recorded as John Thomas was at his birth registration and on the 1911 census which his father filled in.
On the 1911 census we can see Thomas is working underground at Sixth Pit as a Pony Putter. All of his siblings, except for his oldest sister Elizabeth, were still living with their parents at Finchale Terrace. Elizabeth had married Benjamin Brown in 1908 and in 1911 they were living at 35, Blue Row, Great Lumley with their children Robert and Jane.
Thomas enlisted into the G.S. Cavalry at Shiney Row on 7th September 1914 and was assigned to The 4th Reserve Regiment of Cavalry. His original regimental number was 25652, this was later changed to 5970. According to Thomas' service records he was 5 foot 8 inches tall, weighed 10˝ stone, had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.
After training at Tidworth he joined The 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards and became part of the British Expeditionary Force. Thomas and his unit embarked for France 29th June 1915.
The 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards are known for being the first members of the British Expeditionary Force to engage the German army on 22nd August 1914 outside of Mons. C Squadron killed three or four of the enemy and captured three more.
While Thomas was with them they were involved in the Battle of Flers - Courcelette on 15th September 1916, The First Battle of the Scarpe 9th - 12th April 1917 and The Battle of Cambrai also known as The Tank Attack 20th - 21st November 1917. It was in this last battle that Thomas went missing, presumed killed in action.
The Battle of Cambrai (20 November – 7 December 1917) is often noted for being the first mass use of tanks in a combined arms operation. The attacking force was six infantry divisions of the III Corps (under Lieutenant General Pulteney) on the right and IV Corps (under Lieutenant General Woollcombe) on the left, supported by nine battalions of the Tank Corps with about 437 tanks. In reserve was one infantry division in IV Corps and the three divisions of the Cavalry Corps, under Lieutenant-General Kavanagh.
The battle began at dawn, approximately 06:00 on 20 November, with a carefully prepared and predicted but unregistered barrage by 1,003 guns on German defences, followed by smoke and a creeping barrage at 300 yards (270 m) ahead to cover the first advances. In the centre the 6th Division captured Ribécourt and Marcoing but when the cavalry passed through late, they were repulsed from Noyelles. Perhaps this is where Thomas met his fate. His service papers give his place of death as "not stated".
According to the headstone in Great Lumley churchyard, Thomas died 20th May 1917 and was with The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. I found this information to be wrong. After I looked at Thomas´s military service records I am more than convinced that he died 20th November 1917 at Cambrai and he was with The 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards.
Thomas is remembered on Panel 1 at the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing (sometimes referred to as the Louverval Memorial). The memorial lists the 7,048 missing soldiers of the United Kingdom and South Africa who died at the Battle of Cambrai and have no known graves.
Thomas was awarded the 1915 Star, the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
The Chester-le-Street Chronicle14/12/1917 reports:-
Mr and Mrs J. Hutchinson of Finchale Terrace 6th Pit, has received official news of the death of their son Trooper T. Hutchinson of the Hussars in action. This is the second son of Mr and Mrs Hutchinson who has been killed. Other two sons are abroad on active service
His brother Joseph also died in WW1
John Thomas Hutchinson is remembered at Great Lumley on G50.01, G50.02 and at Lumley 6th Pit W134.01
