Notes: 1 The three crosses were exhibited together in 2006 for the first time since being brought from France, when the Durham Light Infantry Museum commemorated the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. The other two are in Chester le Street C105.18 and South Church, Bishop Auckland S144.03
2. The Crosses were exhibited in Durham Cathedral outside the D.L.I. memorial chapel during the summer of 2016 in Commemoration of the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme. This time all the crosses were in a standing position.
3. The notice alongside read:
Memorial Cross. 6th, 8th and 9th Battalions, The Durham Light Infantry.
This wooden Memorial Cross in the Memorial Chapel of
The Durham Light Infantry was originally erected on the
summit of the Butte de Warlencourt, in the Department of the Somme, France, immediately after the severe attack which they made there on the 5th and 6th days of November, 1916. The Cross with its plinth was prepared at Mercatel under instructions of Lieutenant (later Brigadier General) R.B. Bradford V.C., M.C., of the 9th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, from a design prepared by Captain R. Mauchlen, M.C. of the same Battalion, and was constructed by the Pioneers of the same unit under war conditions from material which was, it is believed, supplied by the Royal Engineers. The Memorial remained where it was erected for nearly ten years exposed to all the varying climatic conditions of Northern France until the autumn of 1926 when at the request of the three Battalions it was brought to England and placed in the Memorial Chapel.
The Cross bears the Badge of the Regiment and the words “Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori” and the inscription:
“In Memory of the gallant Officers, N.C.O.s and Men of the 6th 8th and 9th Battalions the Durham Light Infantry who fell in the attack on the Butte de Warlencourt and surrounding trenches on November 5th and 6th 1916.
The plinth bears the inscription: “Erected with affectionate remembrance by their friends who fought with them and who will ever keep their memory green”.
4. The damage to the horizontal arm of the cross was caused by German shrapnel later in the war.
5. Below the cross is a plaque which records the laying up of the remnants of the colours under the Butte de Warlencourt Cross in 2002.
6. The Evening Chronicle 09/11/1957 reports:
“One man will never forget the tragic story behind the wooden cross in the portico of St. Mary’s Parish Church, Gateshead. He is Mr. Ernest Mitchell of 30 Sidney Grove, Gateshead, who painted and inscribed the cross on the First World War battlefield after it had been built during the Battle of the Somme. Mr. Mitchell was a sergeant in the 9th Battalion D.L.I. at the time and the cross was put up in France as a memorial to the men of the battalion who had lost their lives. In six months, the 9th sustained 921 casualties, many of whom were killed. Paint pot in hand, Mr. Mitchell walked in front of the German lines. Although an open target, he was not fired at, and painted and inscribed the cross to his fallen comrades. “After the war the French sent it to Gateshead Drill Hall at Burt Terrace, but I claimed it as my property” Mr. Mitchell told the Evening Chronicle. “There were two holes in the cross which had obviously been made by shells, so I filled them in and repainted it”. It was placed in the church portico in 1926 and dedicated. “I could never forget the tragic story of the cross and all it stands for”, he said.
7. When first brought to England in 1926, the cross was housed in the Headquarters of the Durham County Territorial Army Association until it was decided to place it in the Cathedral.
