CWGC headstone
D.L.I. Memorial Book
Pauline Priano has submitted the following:-
Thomas Atkinson was born 1881 in Stainton, Lancashire. At the outbreak of WW1 he was living in Craghead and enlisted at Consett. First assigned as Private 5261 Durham Light Infantry later his number was changed to Private 320053. His military record no longer exists, one of many destroyed in the blitz of WW2, however, his medal awards card indicates that he entered the theatre of war after December 1916 as he was not entitled to the 1914/15 Star. He was attached to the 1st/8th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, wounded in the line of duty Thomas was transferred back to England for medical attention and admitted to the Netley Hospital near Southampton. Netley Royal Victoria Hospital was used by the military and to accommodate the wounded a series of huts were built to the rear of the building with some 2,500 beds, manned by Red Cross volunteers, as the staff were overseas. Private 320053 Thomas Atkinson Durham Light Infantry died of wounds October 8th 1917 and is interred at Netley Military Cemetery, created on the site of the demolished hospital, in Hampshire, England.
His awards of the British War Medal and Victory Medal and all monies owed to him went to his sole beneficiaries, Elizabeth and Fred. Records do not state their relationship with the deceased, presumably they were his siblings.
In God’s safe keeping. Rest In Peace.
Thomas Atkinson is remembered at Craghead on C120.01 and C120.04
His name is in the Durham Light Infantry Book of Remembrance kept in the DLI Memorial Chapel Durham Cathedral D47.013
