Memorial Details

Copyright notice

1999 Mr D. Bell and Mr D.N. Revell assert the moral right to be identified as the Authors of this work.

This book is presented to the Egglescliffe Parish Church for their safe- keeping. Hopefully this Roll of Honour will be made available for reading within the church by all parties who have an interest in this work, subject to the following conditions. It shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, sold, or hired out or circulated without prior consent of the authors in any form of binding or cover than that in which it was published.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems - without the prior permission in writing of the authors.

A great deal of information is contained within the pages of this Roll of Honour, all addresses are accurately recorded from Soldiers enlistment papers at that time, it also contains historical information, which local people will recognise.

Some private information has been withheld due to its sensitivity.

This information may be viewed by relatives with proven identity and by appointment with the authors only. 

D. Bell

D.N. Revell

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INTRODUCTION

The task of researching the names on the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial has taken over seven years to compile. It was decided from the outset to include as much personal data as could be gathered from the sources available to us.

This ultimately took up a substantial amount of our spare time.

The result of our research has been to provide what we consider to be as accurate and exhaustive record of the war dead of the Egglescliffe Parish that can be compiled, bearing in mind the difficulties and in some cases, the impossibility of obtaining information at this time. Three factors in particular have hindered our research:

1.The death of many of the old Egglescliffe parishioners who could have helped to identify their next of kin and neighbours.

2. The loss of First War Army Records at Kew which suffered so badly from enemy bombing in the Second World War.

3. The privacy of many sources due to rules specifying periods of confidentiality (1911 census) will remain closed until 2012.

Apart from some minor exceptions most of our information has been extracted from the following sources:

A. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Provided a soldier's name and his regiment are known, it is now possible to trace the war dead from the commissions register. 

In the case of the Egglescliffe war dead only the rank is shown next to the soldier's name on the war memorial. Had it not been for a small handbook, (A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF EGGLESCLIFFE MEN Who fought in the Great War) our task would have been almost impossible.

B. Local Newspapers Archives.           

The Northern Echo, Darlington & Stockton Times, and Evening Gazette were searched for information. The Egglescliffe Parish Magazine was another useful source of information in regard to the Second World War. 

The Rev S.E.R Fenning M.C, when recording the deaths of our Second World War men, referred to them as "his village boys" most had served him as Choir Boys and Bell Ringers (pre-war). 

C. Soldiers Died 

Published in two separate works, one being obvious for each entry: 

Officers Died in the Great War.  HMSO 1919

Soldiers Died in the Great War.  HMSO 1921

These two volumes include most of the United Kingdom war dead and are contained in 80 separate volumes and record most of the United Kingdom war dead covering some 700,000 men.

D. Register of Electors 1913-1938.

Census returns for these years would have provided confirmation of home addresses for some of our men on the eve of the Second World War and would 

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have saved many hours of research. Nevertheless the 1938 Registers held at the County Records Office Northallerton provided most of the information we required. 

E. Directories 1913-1938    

These were a great help in identifying local family addresses and occupations. The Reference Libraries at Middlesborough, Northallerton, and Stockton all have excellent selections to choose from.

F. Military History   

Local Regimental Museums hold records of engagements in which Egglescliffe men lost their lives. The Durham Light Infantry Museum Durham, and The Green Howards Museum Richmond, were more than helpful in tracing a number of medal honours won by Egglescliffe men. Over the years a number of these medals have found their way into the very impressive Medal Rooms of both regimental museums. 

G. Local History

Had I not grown up amongst the relatives of the fallen, our research would have been a great deal more difficult due to the fact that most of those near relatives have long since passed away. Nevertheless I am grateful that many of their grandchildren still live in the Egglescliffe Parish. 

One soldier was almost impossible to trace, our research on this one man took over 5 years trying to find a living relative who could confirm that our research was correct. That confirmation was finally confirmed by the soldier's elderly relative (still living in the Yarm area) who, through our persistence, finally found an entry of his death recorded in the family bible.

The past seven years of my life has been dedicated to walking the Somme Battle Fields with two of the best battlefield guides and authors in Europe, Mr Paul Reed and Mr Vic Puick, taking time out to check that all known soldiers of this parish were accounted for. Wreathes were laid on the larger memorials. Poppy posies and a poppy Cross were laid on all known graves. 

Two graves were found with incorrect Army numbers, according to information supplied by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 

After reporting my findings to the CWGC, the errors were found to be due to defective OCR (Optical Character Recognition) computer scanning of its own records. That in turn had corrupted the Commissions own database. 

The problem has now been resolved.

No Roll of Honour exists for the men of Egglescliffe, so it can only be assumed that the criteria used is the standard criteria used throughout the country, which in part is made up by law with the odd exception. 

The criteria for entries in this Roll of Honour are as follows:

(A) Any person whomsoever, regardless of sex or rank who was residing within the Parish of Egglescliffe on the date of enlistment or was resident of the Parish after enlistment or at the time of his death, or

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(B) who had enlisted either in a whole or part time capacity in any of the military, naval or air force units of the crown or commonwealth or any country allied thereto. 

(C) auxiliary, non-combatant or service units attached to or serving with any military, naval or air force units as aforesaid. 

(D) home defence or home guard unit.

(E) British, Commonwealth or allied Merchant or fishing vessel or on any vessel sailing under a British, Commonwealth, or allied flag and who was concerned in anyway whatsoever with operations of war which had been in progress or was imminent. 

(F) who was reported to have been killed in action or died as a result of wounds or disease suffered or who died between the following dates:

Boer War 12th October 1899 to 31st May 1902. (From the declaration of to the signing of the surrender). 

World War I: - 4th August 1914 to 31st August 1921 (as specified under SR&O rules No 1276).

World War II: - 3rd September 1939 to 31st December 1947 (from the declaration on war to the date determined by the War Graves Commission as being the one beyond which they would not record deaths. 

On a number of occasions I have overheard unfounded accusations made regarding certain names recorded on the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial that should not have been. (To those people I can only say better they are recorded in error than not at all).

Throughout this book reference is made to the dedicated name of Egglescliffe Parish Church (Blessed Virgin St. Mary) which was the dedication that my family and the war dead of two World Wars were brought up to believe in. Included within this book are other references to St. Mary's Churchyard, Egglescliffe, by the War Graves Commission in 1922.

Research into the change of dedication in 1960 resulted in the Church of England stating that no change to the dedication had ever taken place. Further research in 2001 resulted in the same answer, a letter from the Church of England Archives office shortly followed, stating that the Queen had in fact signed a change to the dedication in 1989. (30 years after the event). 

Whatever the reason for the change of dedication rests within the politics of the Church of England, this book records only the historical facts prevailing at that time.

It is sad that little of our past history was ever recorded on paper which it so richly deserved. What does exist we must thank the Rev A.T. DINGLE. M.A. for his forethought in keeping notes on his conversations with the rustics of this parish.

In 1974 his daughters had his recorded notes published in a small book entitled "A SHORT HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE" available from Egglescliffe Parish Church for a small fee. 

THE RESEARCH

The task of researching the names of the fallen on the Egglescliffe Parish Memorial and the Urlay Nook Memorial Tablet has taken over seven years to compile.

When the Stockton Branch of Royal British Legion decided to add the memorials to its list for research and rededication, we never envisaged that our task would take our enquiries to many parts of the World.

It was decided from the outset to include as much personal data as could be gathered from the sources available to us. This ultimately took up a substantial amount of our free time. To this end I must thank my very good friend and co-author Mr. D.N. Revell, Stockton Branch President for his expertise in this field.

Our research would also include a little history of the battles in which each man fought and died. Though our research was not intended to become public knowledge, it soon became apparent that it was by the sheer numbers of enquires we received from the general public at large. Most enquiries coming from relatives who knew very little or nothing about their ancestry. Hopefully this Roll of Honour will fill that gap in their past family history. 

Reading through the pages of this Roll of Honour will leave nobody in any doubt as to the hardships and the suffering these men endured in the cause of freedom.

The past seven years of my life have been dedicated to walking the Somme Battlefields, taking time out to check that all known soldiers of this parish were accounted for. Wreathes were laid on the larger memorials, Poppy Posies and a Poppy Cross were laid on all known graves. Two graves were found with the incorrect Army numbers, according to information supplied from the CWGC. After reporting this problem to the CWGC they immediately suspended all scanning of documents until the problem was corrected.

The research if nothing else, uncovered the identity of two Egglescliffe Men and two Yarm men, who had not been recorded on their respective Parish War Memorials.

(1) Lieutenant George Thompson, of The Garth, Egglescliffe, who died of wounds 1915.

(2) Private Harold Wright of Old Hall, Egglescliffe Village who died in 1941. Private Wright, for reasons unknown is recorded on the Worsall War Memorial. He should be recorded on the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial.

(3) Private Charles Edwin Taylor who died 1916 is recorded on the Urlay Nook Memorial Tablet but is not recorded on the Yarm Memorial, though he enlisted from his home in Yarm. 

(4) Private Thomas Hyland, is recorded in the Yarm Roll of Honour, but is not recorded on Yarm War Memorial though he also enlisted from his home in Yarm.  

D. BELL.

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A Short History of the Egglescliffe Parish Memorial.

In September 1919 a decision to erect a memorial was taken at local level with a committee formed and entrusted with the job of raising funds, deciding on a location and most important of all, gathering names to be inscribed. Another point that had to be considered was the criteria for the purpose of adding names to the memorial.  

Funding for the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial came from donations collected weekly from the general public living within the parish boundary. 

The amount of money donated came in by means of one or two pence per week collected by a group of volunteers and took over four years to accumulate into a worthy fund for this project.

It is well to remember that most of the money donated came from farm labourers and gardeners, which was by far the main employment within the parish, so they could ill afford very much from their low weekly wages at that time. The parish of course was not the built up area we see today, but open fields. Houses were few and far between making the collectors work difficult depending on weather conditions. The five farms have long since disappeared under bricks and mortar along with our rural history.    

A great deal of thought went into deciding where the local war memorial would be sited.  A decision was made to site the memorial at the top of Stony Bank where residents could easily see it as they went about their daily routines.

It was also a form of bringing the war dead back home and giving them a place in the day-to-day life in their home area. 

It will be seen in the document from Stockton Borough Council that Egglescliffe Parish Council on completion would undertake its maintenance and repair.  

The Scrope family of Yarm gave the land the memorial stands on to the people of Egglescliffe for this purpose.

The memorial was not erected in the churchyard as it was thought necessary to bear in mind that not all who were to be commemorated were of the Christian faith. By erecting the memorial in its present location it would be thought not to offend those of other religious beliefs. 

The committee's next decision was to decide in which order names were to be commemorated. Thankfully they took the decision to record the names in alphabetical order and not rank order, and of course all memorials had names added to them after the Second World War.

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For the past two years it has been more personal to hear our good friend Howard Taylor (now deceased) read out the names of the fallen in full on Armistice Day. 

This simple act of remembrance brings back a sense of reality that those names carved in stone were not only living people, but were our very own flesh and blood.

Hopefully the church will accept this book for safekeeping, and allow all who are interested to view its contents.

D. Bell.

For clarity this is a copy of the page opposite accepting the offer made by The Rev Dingle to maintain the three War Graves in

EGGLESCLIFFE (ST MARY'S) CHURCHYARD.

IMPERIAL WAR GRAVES COMMISSION

AGREEMENT FOR MAINTENANCE OF WAR GRAVES

IN EGGLESCLIFFE (ST. MARY'S) CHURCHYARD 

EGGLESCLIFFE YORKSHIRE

Sir,

In consideration of a payment at the rate of 5 shillings per annum for each grave or proportionate payment for any period less than a year the RECTOR offers to maintain the THREE war graves in EGGLESCLIFFE CHURCHYARD identified as stated below, clear all weeds, stones, loose soil and rubbish, to mow the turf from time to time as occasion shall require and to fill up, level, and re-turf all holes and bare places.

The agreement may be terminated at any time by the Imperial War Graves Commission by one month's previous notice in writing.

Identification of Graves

Plot            

"             C.S.M   H. Atkinson  D.C.M.     

North East                         and BAR    

"             2nd Lt.  A. Braithwaite     D.L.I/ R.F.C  

North West

"             FLGT Lt.  F.F. Smith             R.F.C  

South  East

Signature     A.J. Dingle

Date          8 Nov 1924             

Witness       M Bell                   

Date          8 Nov 1924

The Secretary,

Imperial War Graves Commission,

89, Baker Street, 

London W 1

For clarity this is a copy of the letter opposite sent to the

Rev A.T. Dingle on the 15th November 1924.

The letter thanks the Rev Dingle for agreeing to waive 

the fee to erect a headstone over the grave of C.S.M. H. Atkinson's Grave in ST. MARY'S CHURCHYARD  

IMPERIAL WAR GRAVES COMMISSION

Any further communication on this      82, BAKER STREET,

Subject should be addressed to: -      

THE SECRETARY" (WORKS)                 LONDON, W 1

and the following number quoted: - 

15/ME 4/709/W

                                       15th November 1924.

Sir,                              

EGGLESCLIFFE (ST. MARY'S) CHURCHYARD, YORKSHIRE.

I am directed by the Imperial War Graves Commission

to thank you for your offer dated 8th November 1924, to       maintain three war graves in this churchyard on the terms therein stated, and to inform you that they accept your offer,

a copy of which is enclosed herewith for your retention. The Agreement to be operative from the 8th November 1924, payable in arrears.

I am to say that the Commission much appreciate the

action you have taken, in agreeing to waive your fee for permission to erect a headstone over the grave of C.S.M. H. Atkinson DCM.

I am, Sir,   

Your obedient servant,

S Hilton

for DIRECTOR OF WORKS.

Rev. A.T. Dingle,

The Rectory,

Egglescliffe,

Yorkshire.  

Copy of letter sent to the Egglescliffe Parish Council

From the REV. S.E.R. Fenning. M.C.

December 19th 1939.

This letter makes reference to the memorial's lack of maintenance at the beginning of the Second World War.

                           REV. S. E. R. FENNING. M.C.

                           SURROGATE FOR

                           MARRIAGE LICENCES

                           Telephone: Eaglescliffe 2210

                           Telegrams: EGGLESCLIFFE RECTORY,

                           CO DURHAM.

                           STATION: L.N.E.R YARM OR

                           EAGLESCLIFFE JUNCTION       

                           BUSES EVERY 15 MINUTES TO AND FROM 

                           FROM STOCKTON-ON-TEES  

                           19th Dec. 1939

I propose that:

That this Parish Council undertake forthwith and in perpetuity the Maintenance of the 1914-18 War Memorial as Empowered so to do under the local Government Act of 1884 Section (8) Paragraph (h) Sub-Section and that arrangements be now made to attend regularly to all works of maintenance and improvements of the said Memorial and its surround.

The Rev Fenning M.C had himself served on the Somme and had

been in attendance at the sides of the wounded and dying on the battlefields. The letter records his dissatisfaction at the way in which the memorial's surrounds were showing a distinct lack of maintenance. Though I remain puzzled as to why Rev Fenning was not aware of the 1923 Memorials Act, or was he more astute and took offence at its wording (if they so wish).

Whilst parish councils beautifully maintain most memorials, no one body is legally responsible for their upkeep. When most memorials were erected, after the First World War, the problem of maintenance was rarely considered and resources tended to be directed into-fundraising and construction rather than any provision for long-term upkeep. In 1923, the War Memorials (local Authorities) Act permitted local authorities to use public money for the maintenance of memorials, the key wording being (if they so wish).

A SHORT HISTORY OF MAJOR JOHN McRAE'S

MOST MEMORABLE WAR POEM

In Flanders fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields

Take up our quarrel with the foe;

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We will not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

It remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915.

One of the most asked questions is: Why Poppies? The answer is simple, only poppies grow in well churned up soil. The whole of the Western Front consisted of well churned up soil in 1915. So when McCrae wrote his poem, around him poppies blossomed like no one had ever seen before.

In the main only the first two verses are cited or printed. This was not just because of the lack of quality in the third verse, but also because the last verse speaks of the unending battle with the foe.

If one thing became clear during the Great War it was this: there was no quarrel between soldiers, except in the heat of battle. The quarrel existed only in the minds of politicians and high-ranking officers (who never experienced the horror of war on the battlefields).

One death particularly effected McRae. A shell burst on The 2nd of May 1915 had killed a young friend and former student, Lieut Alexis Helmer of Ottawa. 

Lieut. Helmer was buried later that day in a little cemetery outside McRae's dressing station beside the Yser Canal, a few hundred yards north of Ypres. McCrae vented his anguish by composing a poem.

The Major was no stranger to writing, having authored several medical texts besides dabbling in poetry. Cyril Allinson a twenty-two-year-old Sergeant Major was delivering mail that day when he spotted McCrae. The major looked up at Allinson as he approached, then went on writing while the sergeant major stood there quietly, Allinson recalled McRae's face as being very tired, but calm as he wrote looking around from time to time at Helmer's grave.

When McCrea finished five minutes later, he took his mail from Allinson and without saying a word, handed his notebook to the young N.C.O Allinson was moved by what he read. The poem was an exact description of the scene in front of both men. He used the word blow in the poem because the poppies were actually being blown that morning in the gentle east wind. It never occurred to Allinson that the poem would ever be published. 

Dissatisfied with the poem McCrae throw the poem away, but a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to the newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London rejected it, but the Punch published it on 8th December 1915. 

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THE EGGLESCLIFFE 

PARISH WAR MEMORIAL 

1922-2003     

THE MEMORIAL SERVES AS A COMMUNAL WAR GRAVE FOR ALL WHO DIED FROM THIS PARISH AND TO THOSE MEN WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED A KNOWN AND HONOURED GRAVE. 

To the end it will forever remain a War Grave where relatives and the general public can go and pay their respects to The Fallen at any time. Not only on 11th November. 

This Roll of Honour came about because of the neglected state of the Egglescliffe War Memorial in 1996.

From 1996-99 on behalf of relatives and friends I attended Parish Council Meetings in an effort to have the memorial surrounds refurbished.

It became quite obvious from the outset that council members were unaware that Egglescliffe Parish Council had made a commitment to undertake repair and maintenance of the memorial in 1922. 

"Reconfirming their commitment in 1996 when the Ancient Monuments Officer made enquiries to the clerk"

On the 19th September 1939, Rev S.E.R. Fenning M.C. wrote to the parish council when he first became concerned about the memorial surround, urging them to take responsibility for its upkeep, quoting the 1894 Local Government acts which allowed rates to be collected for that purpose. Though I am puzzled as to why he was not aware that an undertaking had already been given by the parish council to maintain the memorial and its surrounds on completion in 1922.

The answer may have been that he knew the 1923 Memorials Act contained the wording that a parish council may undertake and repair a parish memorial (IF THEY SO WISH)

Towards the end of 1999 Egglescliffe Parish Council did refurbish the Memorial at a cost of some £4,000 and we see it today in pristine condition: -

A PARISH WAR MEMORIAL TO BE PROUD OF

 Its greatest need is for a memorial fund to be set up costing far less than half a penny in the pound, had that been the case when the Rev Fenning first made his request to the council we would have a memorial fund worth many thousands of pounds today. 

The memorial belongs to the people of this parish, and will only remain in its present condition provided we the residents make sure it is kept that way out of common decency towards the men of Egglescliffe who died. "After all we do pay the parish rate and should have some say in the way it is spent"

  Page 2 of 3

It was not designed or indeed intended to be a viewing point over Yarm, or a refuge for larger louts and drug addicts, which unfortunately it became throughout the nineties and still ongoing. 

From 1922-1965 the front section of the original memorial was closed off with heavy decorative chains, which gave it some sense of privacy.

It also serves as a reminder to all of the hardships suffered and final sacrifice made by the men of Egglescliffe on behalf of our freedom.

This was the only place in 1922 were relatives could come and pay their respects to The Fallen. Wives, brothers, sisters and no doubt lovers.

Though it is hard to believe that 84 years after the Great War ended, no Roll of Honour exists for the men of this Parish who gave their lives in the cause of our freedom.

A small number of older residents of the parish do have in their possession a small hand book named "A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF EGGLESCLIFFE MEN Who Fought In The Great War 1914-1918"

It is not clear who compiled this invaluable book but it does contain a tremendous amount of information on the men of Egglescliffe who served in the Great War.

The book appears to have been compiled possible from church records about 1919, unfortunately it does not include all of THE FALLEN from this parish. 

It was decided from the outset to include as much personal data as could be gathered from the sources available to us. This ultimately took up a substantial amount of our free time. To this end I must thank my very good friend and co-author Mr D N Revell for his expertise in this field. 

Our research would also include a little history of the battles in which each man 

fought and died. 

Though our research was not intended to become public knowledge, it soon became apparent that it was by the sheer numbers of enquiries received from the general public at large. Most enquiries coming from relatives who knew little or nothing about their ancestry. Hopefully this Roll of Honour will fill that gap in their past family history. 

The last seven years of my life have been dedicated to walking the Somme Battle Fields, taking time out to check that all known soldiers of this parish were accounted for. Wreaths were laid on the larger memorials; Poppy Poises and a Poppy Cross were laid on all known Graves.

Only two headstones were found recording the wrong army number, this apparently was due to defective OCR (Optical Character Recognition) computer scanning of The War Graves Commissions Records, resulting in a corrupted electronic database. 

Page 3 of 3

Reporting my findings to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, all OCR scanning was suspended until scanning equipment was updated and made reliable. Unfortunately not all C.W.G.C. records are correct. 

There are still an estimated 15,000 of "The Fallen" still missing from the C.W.G.C registers and memorials throughout the world.

I can now say without fear or contradiction that all known records relating to the fallen of the Egglescliffe Parish are accurately recorded in this Roll of Honour. Fellow Legionnaires of the Stockton and Yarm Branch R.B.L sought out the parish war dead whilst on holiday in other parts of the World. 

I am most grateful to ex-village boy Mr Geoff Bridle, for all the information supplied regarding his brother Stanley, who died a Prisoner of War at the hands of the Japanese in Jakarta.    

The Second World War of 1939-1945 saw the offspring of those who fought in the 1914-18 war once again fighting over the same land their fathers had fought over just 21 years earlier.  This time it was my school friends and the people I grew up with in the parish who went off to war, five of which were killed in action from the village itself, one being my own brother.

Today politicians boast of 50 years of peace in Europe since the end of the Second World War, unfortunately this is not the case, today we call them conflicts or skirmishes instead of wars. Whatever we call them, men die in battle for the freedom of others.

Please note the original pen sketch of the Egglescliffe War Memorial by Elsa. M. Hood drawn in October 1919. The sketch clearly shows the bridleway to the left of the footpath and one of the two cottages, which stood within the churchyard grounds.   

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THE EGGLESCLIFFE PARISH

         ROLL OF HONOUR

THIS ROLL OF HONOUR HAS BEEN COMPILED IN HONOURED MEMORY OF THE GALLANT MEN OF EGGLESCLIFFE WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WARS

1914-1919   1939-1946

Note: - This Roll of Honour does not include men from that 

part of the old Parish connected with Preston-on-Tees. 

Relatives seeking information for those men who are commemorated on the Eaglescliffe and Preston-on-Tees War Memorial should contact either Egglescliffe or Preston-on-Tees Parish Council Clerks for further information.

We've paid in our toil and our woundings;

We've paid in the blood we've shed;

We've paid in our bitter hardships;

We've paid with our many dead.

We fought with a definite object,

And it's this - and we want it made plain,

That it's God, and not any devil,

That's to rule in the world again.

Oxenham

Page 2 of 5

ATKINSON Herbert   Aged 27

Company Sergeant Major, D.C.M and Bar.

Yorkshire Regiment                     6th Apr 1918

AYTON Benjiman   Aged 19

Private                                16th Sep 1916

Durham Light Infantry                       

CLARKE Alfred William    

Private   Age Unknown                  16th Sep 1915   

Kings Own Yorks Light Infantry                         

CORDINGLEY Ernest   Aged 22

Private                                4th June 1918

Durham Light Infantry                         

CORDINGLEY Harry   Aged 18

Private                                4th June 1917

Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

CROSBY John Metcalfe   Aged 28

Corporal                               24th Jul 1917

Honourable Artillery Company

DINGLE Arthur James   Aged 23

Captain                                22nd Aug 1915

East Yorkshire Regiment

DINGLE Hugh John   Aged 22

Lieutenant Surgeon                     31st May 1916

(Royal Naval Reserve) 

Page 3 of 5

DOBSON William Anthony   Aged 20

Private                                7th Aug 1915

Australian Infantry, A.I.F.

DOUGHTY David Coatsworth   Aged 27

Private                                24th Apr 1915

Yorkshire Regiment

DOUGHTY Robert Thomas   Aged 21

L/Corporal                             20th Sep 1917

Yorkshire Regiment

ELLIS William   Aged 22 

Private                                28th Sep 1918

Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

GOLDIE Benjamin James   Aged 27

Private                                11th May 1917

Yorkshire Regiment

HENDERSON Robert Thomas   Aged 37

Private                                10th Apr 1917

Northumberland Fusiliers

HUTCHINSON Thomas   Aged 24

Corporal                               9th Nov 1918

Yorkshire Regiment

JOHNSON Robert Stephen   Aged 28 

Private                                15th Dec 1918

Yorkshire Regiment

Page 4 of 5

MOODY James William   Aged 17

Private                                15th Oct 1918

Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment)

SHERWOOD Walter George   Aged 32

Corporal                               20th July 1916

Yorkshire Regiment

SMITH Fredrick Forster   Aged 21

Second Lieutenant (Pilot)              1st Sep 1918

Royal Air Force

THOMPSON George   Aged 34

Lieutenant                             19th Jan 1917

Royal Garrison Artillery 

WALKER Edward William   Aged 21

Private                                27th Sep 1918

York and Lancaster Regiment

WALKER Harold   Aged 20

Private                                24th Apr 1915

Durham Light Infantry

WALLINGER Richard George   Aged 34

Corporal                               24th May 1915

Yorkshire Regiment

WARD Laurence   Age Unknown    

Lieutenant                             10th Apr 1918

Yorkshire Regiment 

Page 5 of 5

WELFORD Matthias Lyth   Aged 36 

Private                                21st Mar 1918

Durham Light Infantry

WILES Anthony   Aged 22

Corporal                               5th Oct 1918

Yorkshire Regiment 

WILKINSON George Thomas   Aged 30

Private                                Died 4th Sep 1918

Yorkshire Regiment

WILSON Geoffrey Hutton   Aged 34

Lieutenant                             Died 23rd Dec 1918

Royal Engineers

WILLIS Richard   Aged 25

Private                                Died 15th Jan 1918

Dragoon Guards (Prince Wales Own)

WILSON Edward   Aged 23

Second Lieutenant                      Died 25th Mar 1915

Durham Light Infantry

"THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD,

AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD,

AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM,

NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN

AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN,

AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM"

WHEN YOU GO HOME,

TELL THEM OF US AND SAY,

FOR YOUR TOMORROW, 

WE GAVE OUR TODAY.

Page 1 of 3

In Memory of

HERBERT ATKINSON DCM and Bar

Company Sergeant Major

203809

lst/4th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment

who died on

Saturday, 6th April 1918. Age 27.

Original Text

Son of Thomas and Florence Elizabeth Atkinson (nee Leggart) of Myrtle Road, Preston-on-Tees. Husband of Emily Jane Harrison (formerly Atkinson) of Cross Row, Egglescliffe Village and father of Maurice and Cecily.

Company Sergeant Major Atkinson, had been in the Territorials and joined the Yorkshire Regiment in August 1914. He served on the Western Front. Wounded three times and died of wounds on Saturday 6th April 1918 whilst in hospital at Bournemouth.

Atkinson was buried in Egglescliffe (St Mary's) Churchyard with full Military Honours on Thursday 11th April 1918. 

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: EGGLESCLIFFE (ST. MARY'S) CHURCHYARD, North Yorkshire. 

Location: Butts Lane, Egglescliffe Village, 

Grave Reference: In North-East part.

Additional Information

Herbert Atkinson born 1890 was the son of Thomas and Florence Elizabeth Atkinson (nee Leggart) of Myrtle Road, Preston-on-Tees. His Father a Railway Signalman was born 1865 at Egglescliffe. 

His mother was born 1862 at Lowestoft. His Parents were married in Egglescliffe (St. Mary's) Parish Church on Thursday 3rd December 1885.        

They had at least seven children. Annie - 1887. Thomas - 1889. Herbert - 1890. Edith - 1891. Frank - 1894. Elizabeth - 1896.  John - 1890.

C.S.M. H. Atkinson married Emily Jane Main of Egglescliffe Village on Friday 6th June 1913.

At which time he was a gardener at Holy Trinity Church - Stockton-on-Tees.

They had two children, Maurice Herbert, who was born on Wednesday 11th November 1914.

Baptised in Egglescliffe (St Mary's) Parish Church on Wednesday 9th December 1914.

Cecily was born on Sunday 20th May 1917.

The father of Emily Jane Main is also recorded as a gardener living in Egglescliffe on their Marriage Certificate.

See next page for Citation to Company Sergeant Major Atkinson. 

Page 2 of 3

The London Gazette

On the 28th March 1918.  The London Gazette published the award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal to Company Sergeant Major H. Atkinson, No 203809 Yorkshire Regiment.

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty on two separate occasions by digging out men who had been buried by exploding shells.

He was finally buried himself and on being dug out fainted. Although severely bruised and shaken he remained with his company until relieved.

On the 3rd September 1918, published in the London Gazette, was the award of a Bar to the D.C.M. to Company Sergeant Major H. Atkinson.

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. This warrant officer was most capable and energetic in rallying the front companies at a critical stage, when the left flank had given way under intense machine gun fire.

When the Commanding Officer and all senior officers had become casualties he assisted the officer who assumed command in collecting stragglers, reorganising the battalion and establishing a system of defence, until wounded a day or two later.

C.S.M. H. Atkinson's medals are located in the Medal Room of the Green Howard's Museum Richmond, North Yorkshire.

With his D.C.M. and Bar are three World War Medals, the 1914 Star, The British War Medal 1914-1920, and The Victory Medal.

The next entry is not a war casualty, but we believe it is a fitting tribute to his father, by including his son who obviously showed the same dedication to his country as his father in time of war. 

M. H. Atkinson D.S.C.  R.N.R

Master Mariner  -  Thames Pilot. 

The inscription on the Headstone in Egglescliffe (St. Mary's) Parish Churchyard does not reflect the full story of Lieutenant Maurice Herbert Atkinson’s naval career.

Nothing is mentioned of his War Service as a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve where he won his Distinguished Service Cross, in the action of sinking a German submarine. His headstone and grave is alongside that of his father's war grave from the 1914 - 1918 war, C.S.M. H. Atkinson - D.C.M. and Bar of the Yorkshire Regiment.

He grew up in Egglescliffe and joined the Merchant Navy, where he eventually passed his Mate and Masters Board of Trade examinations in 1939. At the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, he joined the Royal Navy, volunteering for submarine training on the 4th October 1939.

He completed his submarine training in February 1941.

The next page records a short history of Lieutenant M. H. Atkinson's Naval Career. 

Page 3 of 3

ATKINSON M H (RNR) 4 October 1939.           Made     A/Lt (RNR) 11 November 1939.

Lieutenant (RNR).   Joined HMS DOLPHIN training course on 30 December 1940  before

moving on to H.M.S AMBROSE (9th Submarine Flotilla) Dundee, on 10 February 1941.

On 27 February 1941, he joined HMS/m " P31" (later HMS/m 'UPROAR'), which was based at HMS AMBROSE (9th Submarine Flotilla) Dundee, from June 1941.

On 1st October 1941, he moved to HMS TALBOT (10th Submarine Flotilla) Malta.

In March of the following year, he moved the Depot Ship HMS CYCLOPS (7th Submarine Flotilla) Rothesay, and on 26 March 1942, joined HMS/m 'L26', a training boat on the Clyde.

He left there in May 1942 for HMS/m 'P614', later the BURAK REIS, a submarine built for Turkey, but retained on lone, at (3rd Submarine Flotilla) Holy Loch.

On 20 September 1942, 'P614' attacked a U-boat and Lt Atkinson was awarded the D.S.C.

He left on 30 October 1942, to join HMS/m 'TRUCULENT (P315) whilst undergoing trials.

He left and began the COQC on 10 May 1943, taking command of HMS/m 'OSIRIS' on 9th September 1943, in the Far East with HMS."ADAMANT" (4th Submarine Flotilla.

He remained there until 16 April 1945, when he joined HMS DOLPHIN, moving on a month later to Command HMS/m 'UNRULY', working from HMS 'CYCLOPS' (3rd Submarine Flotilla) Clyde.

On 26th May 1945, he took part in the recovery of German U-boats, Operation Odyssey. 

He took Command of U3017, On 10 June 1945, working from HMS FERRET IV, and from 22

June, the depot ship, HMS 'SANDHURST', in command of' U1233.

He was released from service on 31 December 1945. Lieutenant R.N.R.

Awarded D.S.C: 17th November 1942.

The London Gazette. 

On the 17th November 1942, the London Gazette published the award of the D.S.C. to Lieutenant M. H. Atkinson for the attack on a German U-Boat on 20th September 1942.

On leaving The Royal Navy Atkinson rejoined the Merchant Navy and became Captain of the Palacio No149643. 

Atkinson, married Patricia Novotny, formerly Kaplan of Paradise Walk, Chelsea, London. SW2.

The address for Atkinson was that of his Mother and Stepfather of Orchard Close, Croft Road, Egglescliffe. 

He died in London (South Wark) Between October and November 1968, and later buried in Egglescliffe (ST. Mary's) Parish Churchyard alongside his father.

(Sources: Guildhall Library, Captains Registers of Lloyds of London, Royal Naval Records, Marriage Certificate).

Page 1 of 1

In Memory of

BENJAMIN AYTON

Private

5/2948

lst/5th Bn., Durham Light Infantry 

who died on

Saturday, 16th September 1916. Age 19.

Additional Information

Son of Arthur and J. E. Ayton (nee Lonsdale) of Mill House, Darlington Rd, 

Yarm, Yorks.

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: DERNANCOURT COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, Somme, France

Grave Reference: II. D. 34.

Location: Dernancourt is a village 3 kilometres south of Albert. The Communal Cemetery is a little west of the village, and the Extension is on the north-west side of the Communal Cemetery.

Historical Information

The Communal Cemetery was used for Commonwealth burials from September 1915, to August 1916, and again in the Retreat of March 1918. It contains the graves of soldiers from the United 

Kingdom and Australia, who were buried from Field Ambulances at Dernancourt. The XV Corps Main Dressing Station was formed at Dernancourt in August 1916, and in that month the Extension was opened. The 45th and 1st South Midland Casualty Clearing Stations came in September, 1916, and remained until March 1917; the 3rd Australian was here in March and April, 1917, and the 56th from April, 1917 to February, 1918. The 3rd Casualty Clearing Station came in March, 1918; but on the 26th March, Dernancourt was evacuated by the British Forces, and the Extension remained in enemy hands until the recapture of Dernancourt on the 9th August by the 12th Division and the 33rd American division. In September it was again used by the 47th, 48th and 55th Casualty Clearing Stations under the name of "Edgehill" (due to the rising ground on the North-West). There are now over 2,000, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these nearly 200 are unidentified, but 29 Officers and men are known or believed to be buried among these and are commemorated by special memorials. Two Australian Soldiers, who were buried at Albert Road Cemetery Buire-sur-Ancre and whose grave could not be found are commemorated by Special Memorial Headstones. The 49th Australian Infantry Battalion erected in the Extension, two wooden memorials to their officers and men who fell in the neighbourhood in March and April, 1918. The cemetery covers an area of 5,678 square metres and is enclosed on three sides by brick walls. The following are particulars of the more important graveyards concentrated into the Extension:- MOOR CEMETERY, EDGEHILL, DERNANCOURT, was about 800 metres West, near the top of the hill. It contained the graves of 42 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell on the 23rd-25th March 1918. ALBERT ROAD CEMETERY, BUIRE-SUR-ANCRE, was 3.20 kilometres West, on the straight road from Amiens to Albert. It contained the graves of 65 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 33 from Australia who fell in April-August 1918. It was made by Australian units and by the 58th (London) and 12th Divisions.

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish Register, D/S Times, Family History).

PAGE 1 OF 1

In Memory of

Second Lieutenant Arthur Braithwaite

5th Bn; Durham Light Infantry

who died on

Monday 11th March 1918. Aged 24.

Original Register Text

BRAITHWAITE,  2nd Lt. A.  5th Bn. Durham Light Infantry. 11th March 1918. In North-West part.

Additional Information

Lieut Braithwaite, though not of this parish has a private headstone which lies flat on the ground in Egglescliffe (St. Mary's) Churchyard, he is one of the three Official War Graves within the Churchyard, and for that reason only is his name recorded in this book.

Son of Arthur and Mary Braithwaite, of Oakwell House, Dunnotter Avenue, Preston-on-Tees.

The above Officer was born 1894 at the above address.

A Territorial, Lieutenant in the 5th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry (Stockton-on-Tees).

Braithwaite served 2 years in France with his Regiment, 9th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry. He then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, graduating as a Flying Officer on the 8th May 1917. The Lieutenant was killed in an air accident on the 11th March 1918.

Court of Inquiry into the accident No 20325/1918. 2/Lt. A. Braithwaite. 

The court having examined the wreckage and duly considered the evidence is of the opinion that the accident was due to no defect in the machine or engine. It is of the opinion that the accident was caused; (1) Through a Very Light being accidentally fired inside the cockpit, which is bourne out by signs of Magnesium inside the fuselage.

(2) Either through being overcome by fumes or through pre-occupation in endeavouring to put out the fire, he put the machine into an uncontrollable nosedive, resulting in his death.

The Accidents Committee has not investigated the cause of the accident, it not being necessary in view of the foregoing evidence). 

His body was returned to his home and is buried in the Egglescliffe (St Mary's) Parish Churchyard, North Yorkshire. 

Lt Braithwaite is recorded on the Eaglescliffe and Preston-on-Tees War Memorial.

Commemorative Information

EGGLESCLIFFE (ST. MARY'S) CHURCHYARD, North Yorkshire.

North-West part.

(Sources: We are indebted to The Royal Air Force Museum Hendon, Public Records Office Kew, The Royal Air force Innsworth, Durham County Council Records Office). 

Page 1 of 2

In Memory of

Alfred William Clarke (Fenny)

Private

34934

9th Bn., King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry who died on

Saturday, 16th September 1916.

ORIGINAL TEXT

Private Clarke, Enlisted at Stockton-on-Tees in November 1914, with the Durham Light Infantry, transferred to the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. He was reported missing and presumed killed in action 16th March 1915. (Place and exact date unknown).

Additional Information

We regret that no records can now be traced relating to the military service of Private Clarke in the British Army during the 1914-18 war.

Unfortunately a large proportion of the records of soldiers who served during the period of 1914-20 were totally destroyed by enemy air action in 1940 and it would seem that those of Private A W Clarke were among them.

Commonwealth War Graves Records state Private Clarke was killed in action on Wednesday 16th September1916. Theatre of War France and Flanders.

Supplementary notes uncovered during our research also show that Clarke was formerly Private A.W. Clarke 3265 Durham Light Infantry.

On his transfer to the 9 Bn; King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, he became Private A.W. Clarke 34934. The name Fenny, is not recorded on any Regimental Records relating to Private A.W. Clarke.  

Commemorative Information

Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL 

Grave Reference: Pier and Face 11 C and 12 A (No known Grave) 

Location:  The Thiepval Memorial will be found on the D73, off the main Bapaume to Albert road (D929).  Each year a major ceremony is held at the memorial on 1 July.

Page 2 of 2

Historical Information 

On 1 July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, thirteen divisions of commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of Gommecourt to Marlcourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the German defences were barely touched and the attack met unexpectedly fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German Army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September, Thiepval was finally captured. The village had been an original objective of 1 July. Attacks north and east continued throughout October and into November in increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the Somme finally ended on 18 November with the onset of winter. In the spring of 1917, the German forces fell back to their newly prepared defences, the Hindenburg Line, and there were no further significant engagements in the Somme sector until the Germans mounted their major offensive in March 1918. The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916. The memorial also serves as an Anglo-French Battle Memorial in recognition of the joint nature of the 1916 offensive and a small cemetery containing equal numbers of Commonwealth and French graves lies at the foot of the memorial. The memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, was built between 1928 and 1932 and unveiled by the Prince of Wales, in the presence of the President of France, on 31 July 1932.  The dead of other Commonwealth Countries who died on the Somme and have no known grave are commemorated on national memorials elsewhere.  

(Sources; Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Regimental Records from November 1914 - March 1915, Soldiers Died.

Our grateful thanks to the Durham Light Infantry Records Office for their invaluable help).  

Page 1 of 1

In Memory of

Ernest Cordingley

Private 

21433

4th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment

who died on

Tuesday, 4th June 1918. Age 22.

Original Text

Joined IV Yorkshire Regiment in May 1915. Transferred to the V. Yorkshire Regiment. 

Was two years in France. Wounded and died from his wounds on the June 4th 1918.)

Additional Information

Son of John and Martha Cordingley, of Orchard House, Church Road, Egglescliffe Village, Co. Durham.  (See next entry for his brother Harry who died February 1917).

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: ST. SEVER CEMETERY EXTENSION, ROUEN, Seine-Maritime, France. 

Grave Reference: Q. II. F. 24.

Location  St. Sever Cemetery and Extension is situated about 3 kilometres south of Rouen Cathedral and a short distance west of the road from Rouen to Elbeuf. Coming from Elbeuf/Caen on the N.138 follow Avenue Des Canadiens right down to the roundabout. Take the fourth exit into Rue Stanislase Jardin and the cemetery lies 150 metres on the left. If coming from station Rive Gauche, Gare St Sever, follow Quai D'Elbeuf, Quai. Jean Moulin, Quai Cavelier De La Salle into Avenue Jean Rondeaux, Av. De La Liberation, Bd. Du 11 Novembre to the roundabout. Take first exit into Rue Stanislas De. Jardin, the cemetery lies 150 metres on the left. St Sever is part of Le Petit Quevilly. The first CWGC signpost is just when you get to the entrance of the cemetery.

During the 1914-1918 War, British camps and hospitals were placed on the Southern outskirts of the city, a Base Supply Depot and the 3rd Echelon of General Headquarters were established at Rouen. The hospitals at Rouen remained there in almost all cases for practically the whole of the 1914-1918 War. They included eight General, five Stationary, one British Red Cross and one Native Labour Hospital and No 2 Convalescent Depot. A number of the dead from these hospitals were buried in other cemeteries, but the great majority were taken to St. Sever; and in September, 1916, it was found necessary to begin using the Extension. The last burial in the Extension took place in April 1920. There are now over 8,500, 1914-18 and 300, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. The cemetery covers an area of 49,885 square metres. The War Stone is on the boundary of the original Cemetery and the Extension, facing the City of Rouen War Memorial. The Cross is raised on a terrace on the further side of the Extension. The Chapel, cruciform is surmounted by a dome and is in the middle of the Extension. The bodies of 316 United States Soldiers and Airmen buried in Block R, Plot I, and Block T, Plot I, were removed by the American Graves Registration Services.

(Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Soldiers Died, 1913 Register of Electors, Wards Directory, Family History).

Page 1 of 1

In Memory of

Harry Cordingley

Private

TR/S/82234

9th Training Reserve

Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

Who died on

Wednesday 14th March 1917. Aged 18.

Original Text

Harry Cordingley joined the 50th Bn; Training Reserves, Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in February 1917, and three weeks later died of Cerebra - Spinal Fever, and is buried in Yarm Cemetery, North Yorkshire.

Additional Information. 

Second son of John and Martha Cordingley of Orchard House, Church Road, Egglescliffe Village, County Durham. 

John Cordingley, Managing Director of W.D. Marks, Hide and Skin Company Ltd.

Mr and Mrs Cordingley had 3 sons who all died within the space of 9 years. 

Harry died 14th March 1917 whilst on active service (Aged 18). Ernest killed in action 4th June 1918 (Aged 22) and John William who died 8th March 1926 (Aged 21). (A family headstone in Yarm Cemetery commemorates all 3 sons).

Original Cemetery Visiting Information

YARM CEMETERY belongs to Yarm Parish Council.

YARM, LIES WITHIN THE THIRSK RURAL DISTRICT and is in the plain country of York.  

Commemorative Information  

Cemetery: YARM CEMETERY, YARM-ON-TEES. (North Yorkshire)

Grave Reference: B 2. G 24

(Sources Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish Records, Soldiers Died, Family History).       

Page 1 of 2

In Memory of

John Metcalfe Crosby

Corporal

7093

2nd Bn., Honourable Artillery Company 

who died on

Tuesday, 24th July 1917. Age 28.

Additional Information

Born 1889, was the son of John William and Elizabeth Crosby of  "Lightwoods", Yarm Road, Egglescliffe, County Durham. (His family being ship owners and importers of Swedish Timber for the mining industry. The family gave a sum of money to the Egglescliffe Parish Church, (now known as the "Crosby Fund" The Crosby family were native of Hartlepool before moving to Egglescliffe.

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: MORY ABBEY MILITARY CEMETERY, MORY, (Pas de Calais, France).

Grave Reference: II. H. 5.

Location: Mory is a village between Arras and Bapaume, and about 2 kilometres east of the village of Ervillers. Mory-Abbey Military Cemetery is 450 metres north of the village on the north side of the road to Ecoust-St Mein opposite a large farm called "L'Abbaye".

Historical Information

Mory village was occupied by British troops in the middle of March, 1917; lost after obstinate defence by the 40th and 34th Division a year later; and recaptured towards the end of the following August, after severe fighting, by the 62nd (West Riding) and Guard Division. 

The 189 German burials in a Plot on the West side of the cemetery were made by German troops in March-August, 1918, or (in thirteen cases) by British troops in September 1918. 

The British Plots were begun at the end of March, 1917, and carried on by fighting units until March, 1918, and again in August and September, 1918, as far as Plot III inclusive. 

The graves (including many of the Guards Division, and chiefly of 1918,) in Plots IV and V were added after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields between St. Leger and Bapaume.

Page 2 of 2

The grave of one United States airman has been removed to another burial ground. There are now over 600, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over 100 are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to one soldier from the United Kingdom known to be buried among them. 

The cemetery covers an area, exclusive of the German Plot, of 2,794 square metres and is enclosed by a rubble wall. The following were the only considerable burial grounds from which British graves were brought to this cemetery: - GRENADIER GUARDS CEMETERY, ST. LEGER, on the road to Vraucourt, which contained the graves of 24 men of the 2nd Grenadier Guards and two other soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell on the 27th August 1918. HALLY COPSE EAST CEMETERY, 

ST. LEGER, between "Hally Copse" and the road to Vraucourt, which contained the graves of 49 soldiers from the United Kingdom (all of the Guards Division except one) who fell in August 1918. MORY FRENCH CEMETERY, 800 metres south-west of the village, in which three soldiers from the United Kingdom were buried in February and March, 1917.

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1891 Census of Hartlepool, Parish Register, Naval & Military Press)

Page 1 of 1

In Memory of

Arthur James Dingle

Captain

6th Bn., East Yorkshire Regiment 

Who died on

Sunday, 22nd August I915. Age 23.

Additional Information

Captain Dingle was the son of the Rev Arthur Trehane Dingle M.A. and Beatrice Dingle, of Egglescliffe Rectory, Co. Durham.

Captain Dingle was born 1892 at Silksworth Rectory, moving to Egglescliffe Rectory in 1904, when his father became Rector of Egglescliffe. September 1914 he joined the 4th BN; East Yorkshire Regiment as a Lieutenant, served in Gallipoli 1915, made Captain in August with the 6th Bn; East Yorkshire Regiment.

Captain Dingle fell in action shortly after the Suvla landings on the 22nd August 1915.

Commemorative Information

Memorial: HELLES MEMORIAL Turkey.

Grave Reference/: Panel 51 to 54  (He has no known grave)

Location   Helles Memorial stands on the tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula. It takes the form of an obelisk over 30 metres high that can be seen by ships passing through the Dardanelles.

Historical Information

The memorial bears over 20,000 names and is both the memorials to the Gallipoli campaign and to men who fell in that campaign and whose graves are unknown or who were lost or buried at sea in Gallipoli waters. (Other than Australian and New Zealanders who are named on other memorials). 

Also inscribed on the memorial are the names of all the ships that took part in the campaign and the titles of the army formations and units, which served on the Peninsula.

See next entry

(Sources Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish Register, 1912 Census, Wards Directory Naval and Military Press).    

Page 1 of 1

In Memory of

Lieutenant Hugh John Dingle

Surgeon

H.M.S. "Petard.", Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 

who died on

Wednesday, 31st May 1916. Age 22.

Additional Information:

Lieutenant Dingle was the Son of the Rev. Arthur Trehane Dingle M A and Beatrice Dingle of Egglescliffe Rectory, County Durham. 

Lieutenant Dingle was the second son of the Rev. A.T. Dingle to be killed in action within 11 months, James aged 23 and John aged 22.

Lieutenant Hugh John Dingle joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a Probationer                             

Surgeon in August 1914 on H.M.S. "DRINA" He was then transferred to H.M.S. "Comet", and later to the "Marmion."  After being sent home for further training he joined H.M.S. "Petard" and was killed on the 31st May 1916 in the destroyer action at the end of the "Jutland Battle".

He is buried in the Naval Cemetery at South Queensferry, Lothian. 

The Headstone Inscription Reads

Surgeon Lt. H.J. Dingle.

R.N.V.R.

H.M.S. Petard

31st May 1916

Aged 22  

This information was kindly obtained by members of the South Queensferry Branch of The Royal British Legion.     

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: DALMENY AND SOUTH QEENSFERRY NAVAL CEMETERY. 

Grave Reference: 1427.

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish Register, Officers Died in the Great War, Naval and Military Press).    

Page 1 of 2

In Memory of

William Anthony Dobson 

Private

1535

3rd Bn, Australian Infantry, A.I.F

who died on

Saturday, 7th August 1915. Age 20.

Additional Information

Son of William John and Jane Walker Dobson, of Ashbrooke, Yarm Road, Egglescliffe, Co. Durham. Native of Newton Bewley, Co. Durham.

Dobson born 1895 at Newton Bewley, joined the Australian Infantry in December 1914, whilst living in Egglescliffe. He served at Anzac in Gallipoli, and fell in action sometime between August 7--12, 1915. 

Commemorative Information

Memorial: LONE PINE MEMORIAL. Turkey

Grave Reference/Panel: 20  (No known Grave)

Location:   The Lone Pine Memorial is at the east end of Lone Pine Cemetery, which stands on the plateau at the top of Victoria Gully, and is located on the road from Gaba Tepe to Chunuk Bair. Both Lone Pine Cemetery and Lone Pine Memorial are named after the solitary pine tree that grew there.

The Memorial stands on the site of the fiercest fighting at Lone Pine and overlooks the whole front line of May 1915. Many of those whose names are recorded on the Memorial were buried on that front, in graves made in haste and obliterated by shellfire later. 

This Memorial records the names of all New Zealand soldiers who fought on the Gallipoli Peninsula and were buried at sea, and of those that fell in the Anzac Area prior to the fighting in August 1915, and have no known graves.

The Memorial is built of limestone from the Ulgar Dere quarries. It is a massive pylon in plain ash, about 45 feet square and 47 feet high. The names of the Australian dead are carved on panels of Hopton Wood Stone let into the screen wall in front of the Memorial, and those of the New Zealand dead appear on similar panels on the Memorial itself.

The purpose of this Memorial is expressed in the inscription carved in the centre of the screen wall before the Memorial.

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN LASTING MEMORIAL OF 3,268 AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT ON GALLIPOLI IN 1915 AND HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVES, AND 456 NEW ZEALAND SOLDIERS WHOSE NAMES ARE NOT RECORDED IN OTHER AREAS OF THE PENINSULA BUT WHO FELL IN THE ANZAC AREA AND HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVES; AND ALSO OF 960 AUSTRAI.IANS AND 252 NEW ZEALANDERS WHO, FIGHTING ON GALLIPOLI IN 1915, INCURRED MORTAL WOUNDS OR SICKNESS AND FOUND BURIAL AT SEA.    

Page 2 of 2

Historical Information

The Anzac Area, as defined by the Treaty of Lausanne, is an area of about 2 square miles, permanently conceded by the Turkish Government in its entirety on account of the number of cemeteries and unlocated graves that it contains. In a wider sense, it is the midmost of the three areas into which our operations on Gallipoli, and our cemeteries there, are divided. Its occupation was begun at half-past four on the morning of 25th April 1915, when the 3rcl Australian Brigade landed at Ari Burnu. The remainder of the 1st Australian Division and followed that Brigade by the New Zealand and Australian Division. Before the end of April the landing place had become "Anzac Cove," and the code name formed by the initial letters of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps had been given to the semi-circular area, 1,100 yards across, held by the Corps. From April to August a series of desperate attacks and counter attacks took place on the edge of the Anzac Area. The 4th Australian Battalion attacked the position afterwards known as Johnston's Jolly on 26th April, and during the first few days both Australian and New Zealand troops made desperate attacks to gain possession of the Nek. The "Chessboard," further North, was attacked on 2nd May by the 13th, 15th and 16th Australian Battalions, the Otago Infantry Regiment and two battalions of Marines; and on the same day a Turkish Observation Post at Lala Baba was destroyed by New Zealanders. On 4th May the 11th Battalion raided Gaba Tepe. From the 9th to the 15th, and from the 28th to the 5th June, there was fierce fighting round Quinn's Post. From the 19th to the 21st May the Turks, in an engagement known to us as "The Defence of Anzac", assaulted the centre of the position; their casualties were very great and an armistice was arranged for the 24th May in order to bury the dead. On the night of the 29th-30th June they made another unsuccessful attack. On the 6th-10th August Australian, New Zealand and Indian forces, with part of the 13th Division, attempted to carry Chunuk Bair and Hill 971, inland from, and North-East of, the "original Anzac Area"; and New Zealand troops, with others, at one time reached the summit of Chunuk Bait and held it until they were relieved. By the 12th, Bauchop's Hill, Table Top, and a considerable salient covering Argyl Dere had been taken, and at the South end of the line Lone Pine was secured by the 1st Australian Division; but Baby 700, Chunuk Bair and Hill 60 (on the Suvla side) were still in enemy hands, in spite of the desperate bravery and the temporary successes of the main force. This fighting (the Battle of Sari Bair) was the climax of the effort to reach the central hills of the Peninsula. On the 21st-29th August, in conjunction with the forces at Suvla, Australian infantry and Light Horse, New Zealand Mounted Rifles, and some British and Indian infantry captured half of Hill 60. From that time onwards the line remained stationary. After long and anxious consideration, it was decided to withdraw from Gallipoli, and on the 18th-20th December 1915, Anzac was evacuated without the loss of a single man.

The Memorial stands on the site of the fiercest fighting at Lone Pine; it over looks the whole front line of May, 1915. Many of those whose names are recorded on the Memorial were buried on that front, in graves made in haste and obliterated by shellfire later. Many were killed in tunnels and trenches. The proportion of dead whose names are on memorials on Gallipoli, and not on headstones, is very high. The result of close fighting, in a country of ridges and valleys, against a determed enemy, which established in history the name of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The fighting which is summarised above is reflected in the panels of the Lone Pine Memorial. Of the Australian troops, the Light Horse Regiment lost 472 Officers and men whose graves are not known; 161 of those belonged to the 8th Light Horse Regiment, which attacked the Nek and Baby 700 on the 7th August. The Field Artillery 30 men, Field and Signal companies of the Engineers 24 men, The Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train 2 men, The Infantry lost 3,657 men, The Army Service Corps 11 men, Army Medical Corps lost 30 men. This memorial records the names of all New Zealand soldiers who fought on Gallipoli Peninsula and were buried at sea and of those who fell in the Anzac Area prior to the fighting in August 1915. Memorials recording other New Zealand soldiers who fell on the Peninsula and have known graves are erected in Chunuk Bair, Hill 60 and twelve Tree Copse Cemeteries. The four Mounted Regiments have 101 names on the Lone Pine Memorial; the four Infantry Regiments 506 (307 of whom fell on land before 3rd May. The memorial is built of limestone from the Ulgar Dere quarries. It is a massive pylon in plain ash, about 45 ft, square in plan and 47 ft high. Names of the Australian dead are carved on panels of Hopton Wood Stone, let into the screen wall. New Zealand dead appear on similar panels on the Memorial itself.

(Sources: Australian Infantry Records Office Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1912 Census of Newton Bewley. Soldiers Died).   

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In Memory of

David Coatsworth Doughty

Private

1063

4th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment

who died on

Sunday, 24th April 1915. Aged 27.

Original Information

Doughty, born 26th February 1888, was the son of Christopher and Thomasine Doughty, (Bricklayer).  Of 2, Rose Terrace, Egglescliffe Village, County Durham.

A Territorial, he joined the 1V Yorkshire Regiment in August 1914. Went to France in April 1915.

Reported missing and presumed Killed in Action on 24th April 1915, in the 2nd Battle of Ypres.

Additional Information

The family headstone in St, Mary's Churchyard, Egglescliffe Village, records his death as the 25th of April 1915, not the 24th April 1915 recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 

David Coatsworth Doughty and Robert Thomas Doughty worked in the family building business built up by their father Christopher Doughty.

Other members of the family kept the village shop and post office.

Commemorative Information

Memorial: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL, (WEST-VLAANDEREN). Belgium

Panel Number: Panel 33.

Historical Information

Location:  Ypres (now leper) is a town in the Province of West Flanders. 

The Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town on the road to Menin and Courtrai, and bears the names of men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War.

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Soldiers Died, His name is also recorded on the family headstone in St Mary's Churchyard, Egglescliffe Village. (South East part).

Both men appeared in the 1891 Census of Egglescliffe, living in the same household). 

See next entry.

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In Memory of

Robert Thomas Doughty

L/Corporal

200381

9th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment

who died on

Thursday, 20th September 1917. Aged 21.

Additional Information

Robert Thomas Doughty born 1896, was the son of Mary Ann Doughty, Spinster of 2, Rose Terrace, Egglescliffe Village, County Durham. 

A Territorial, joined IV Yorkshire Regiment, August 1914.

Served in France. Wounded 1916, after recovering from his wounds he returned to France 1917. Wounded again, and was reported missing, presumed killed 20th September 1917, near the Menin Road in the 3rd Battle of Ypres.  

Doughty has no known grave so is name is recorded on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Passchendaele, Belgium.

His name is also recorded on the Egglescliffe Parish Memorial and family headstone in St Mary's Churchyard, Egglescliffe Village, alongside that of David Coatsworth Doughty. (Nephew to the previous entry)

Commemorative Information

Memorial: TYNE COT MEMORIAL 

Panel Number: Panel 52 to 54 and 162A

Location:  The Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing forms the north-eastern boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery, which is located 9 kilometres north east of Ieper town centre, on the Tynecotstraat, a road leading from the Zonnebeekseweg (N332).

The names of those from the United Kingdom units are inscribed on Panels arrange by Regiment under their respective Ranks. The names of those from New Zealand units are inscribed on panels within the New Zealand Memorial Apse located at the centre of the Memorial. 

Visiting Information

There are two separate registers for this site - one for the cemetery and one for the memorial. The Memorial register will be found in the left hand rotunda of the memorial as 

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you face the memorial. The Panel numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiments served with. In some instances where a casualty is recorded as detached to another Regiment, his name may alternatively appear within their Regimental Panels. Please refer to the on-site Memorial Register introduction to determine the alternative panel numbers if you do not find the name within the quoted Panels.

Historical Information

The Tyne Cot Memorial is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgium Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient. Broadly speaking, the salient stretched from Langemark in the north to the northern edge in Ploegsteert Wood in the south, but varied in area and shape throughout the war. The salient was formed during the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914, when a small Expeditionary Force succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge. The Second Battle of Ypres began in April 1915 when the Germans released poison gas into the Allied lines north of Ypres. This was the first time gas had been used by either side and the violence of the attack forced an Allied withdrawal and a shortening of the line of defence. There was little more significant activity on this front until1917, when the Third Battle of Ypres began, an offence was mounted by Commonwealth forces to divert German Attention from a weakened French front further south. The initial attempt in June to dislodge the Germans from Messines Ridge was a complete success, but the main assault north-eastward, which began at the end of July, quickly became a dogged struggle against determined opposition and the rapidly deteriorating weather. The campaign finally came to a close in November with the capture of Passchendaele. The German offensive of March 1918 met with some initial success, but was eventually checked and repulsed in a combined effort by the Allies in September. The Battles of the Ypres Salient claimed many lives on both sides and it quickly became clear that the commemoration of members of the Commonwealth forces with no known grave would have to be divided between several different sites.

The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates those of all Commonwealth nations except New Zealand who died in the Salient before 16th August 1917.

Those United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war. Other New Zealand casualties are commemorated on memorials at Buttes New British Cemetery and Messines Ridge British Cemetery. The Tyne Cot memorial now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. Gilbert Dyett unveiled the memorial designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Joseph Armitage and F V Blundstone, in July 1927.

Tyne Cot Cemetery, which was established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box and used as an advanced dressing station. The original battlefield cemetery of 343 graves was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when remains were brought in from the battlefields of Passchendaele and Langemarck, and other small burial grounds. It is now the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world in terms of burials       

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish Register, Soldiers Died, Wylly-Green Howards.  Both Robert and David Doughty are recorded in the 1891 Census of Egglescliffe, living in the same household).

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In Memory of

William Ellis

Private

63481

2nd/4th Bn; Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

who died on

28th September 1918. Aged 22 Years.

Original Text

Private William Ellis was the son of G.C. and Nellie Ellis of Urlay Nook, Yarm-on-Tees.

Additional Information

Ellis joined the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in November 1915.

Served on the Western Front, and fell in action, on the 28th September 1918.

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: VIS-EN-ARTOIS MEMORIAL FRANCE 

Grave Reference/Panel: 8. Place of burial unknown.

Location  Vis-en-Artois and Haucourt are villages on the straight main road from Arras to Cambrai about 10 kilometres southeast of Arras.

Within the grounds of Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery, which is west of Haucourt on the north side of the main road will be found the Vis-en-Artois Memorial.

Historical Information

This Memorial bears the names of over 9,000 men who fell in the period from 8 August 1918 to the date of the Armistice in the Advance to Victory in Picardy and Artois, between the Somme and Loos, and who have no known grave. They belonged to the. forces of Great Britain, Ireland and South Africa. The Canadian, Australian and New Zealand forces being commemorated on other memorials to the missing.

The Memorial consists of a screen wall in three parts. The middle part of the screen wall is concave and carries stone panels on which names are carved. It is 26 feet high flanked by pylons 70 feet high. The Stone of Remembrance stands exactly between the pylons and behind it, in the middle of the screen, is a group in relief representing St George and the Dragon. The flanking parts of the screen wall are also curved and carry stone panels carved with names. Each of them forms the back of a roofed colonnade; and at the far end of each is a small building.

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Visiting Information

The Panel Numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiment served with.

In some instances where a casualty is recorded as attached to another Regiment, his name may alternatively appear within their Regimental Panels.

In all cases please refer to the on-site Memorial Register introduction to determine the alternative panel numbers if you do not find the name within the quoted Panels.   

(Source- Commonwealth. War Graves Commission, Soldiers Died, Parish Records, Kelly's Directory - 1913, Family History). 

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In Memory of

Benjamin James Goldie

Private

260065

5th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment

who died on

Friday, 11th May 1917.

Original Register Text

Original Register Text states Benjamin Goldie died of wounds on the 4th May 1917. 

Later Commonwealth War Graves records state he died of wounds on the 11th May 1917.

Additional Information

Benjamin Goldie was born 1890 at Egglescliffe, son of George and Ruth Goldie, Landlord and wife of the Blue Bell Inn Egglescliffe, Salmon and Fish dealer.  

Private Goldie joined the VII Yorkshire Regiment in 1916, Served in France, wounded and died from his wounds on the 11th May 1917. 

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: ETAPLES MILITARY CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France.

Grave Reference: XVIII. M. 10A.

His name is commemorated on the family headstone in Egglescliffe St. Mary's Churchyard and Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial.

Location:   Etaples is a town about 27 kilometres south of Boulogne. The Military Cemetery is to the north of the town, on the west side of the road to Boulogne. 

Historical Information

During the 1914-18 war, the neighbourhood of the cemetery became the scene of immense concentrations of Commonwealth reinforcement camps and hospitals. It was remote from attack, except from aircraft, and it was accessible by railway from either the northern or the southern battlefields. In 1917, 100,000 troops were camped among the sand dunes, and the hospitals (which included eleven General, one stationary and four Red Cross Hospitals and a Convalescent Depot) could deal with 22,000 wounded or sick.

In September 1919, ten months after the Armistice, three hospitals and the Q.M.A.A.C. Convalescent Depot remained. The earliest burial in the Cemetery dates from May 1915.

The cemetery contains 10,769 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, the earliest dating from May 1915.

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Hospitals were again stationed at Etaples during the Second World War and the cemetery was used for burials from January 1940 until the evacuation at the end of May 1940. 

After the war, a number of graves were brought into the cemetery from other French burial grounds. Of the 119 Second World War burials, 38 are unidentified.

Etaples Military Cemetery also contains 658 German burials and a few war graves of other nationalities. The cemetery is the largest Commission cemetery in France and covers an area of 59,049 square metres. The graves lie below three terraces, the midmost of which carries the War Stone and two pylons, the highest is dominated by the Cross.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1891 Census, Soldiers Died).

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In Memory of

Robert Thomas Henderson

Formerly a private in the Northumberland Fusiliers. 

who died on

Wednesday, 10th April 1917. Aged 37.

Origin Text 

Robert Thomas Henderson joined the Northumberland Fusiliers, September 1914.

Invalided October 1916. Theatre of War France and Flanders. Discharged January 1917. 

Died February 10th 1917.

Additional Information

Formerly a private in the Northumberland Fusiliers, Robert Henderson was born at Wylam Northumberland on July 12th 1880 at 11.40 p.m. His twin, John was born shortly afterwards. 

Sons of Ralph and Mary Henderson (nee Crooks), his father being a blacksmith by trade.

Robert Thomas Henderson was married in Egglescliffe (St. Mary's) Parish Church on August 20th 1904 to Emily Jane Wilson. Their address being Highfield and Egglescliffe Village respectively. Henderson enlisted with his County Regiment in September 1914 at Stockton-on-Tees. He was by trade a railway porter. After serving in France and Flanders he was invalided out of the Army in October 1916.   

He returned to his home at No 9 Railway Terrace, Eaglescliffe Junction, and was finally discharged in January 1917.

Shortly after being discharged, he died at the above address on the 10th February 1917.

His death certificate records the following cause of death, (1) Carcinoma of the lower jaw (5 months) (2) Exhaustion. This confirms his condition when discharged from the Army. 

It is not clear whether his death was due to war or not, but was contributed to by war service

Henderson was given a civilian burial in Egglescliffe (St. Mary's) Parish Churchyard on 15th February 1917. His death was certified by Alex. H. Smith M.B, who confirms on his death certificate that the cause of death had been present when invalided from the Army 5 months earlier. Present at his death was his wife Mrs E.J. Henderson.

(On researched evidence now at hand, Robert Thomas Henderson died from wounds received whilst serving in Flanders. (No Service Headstone mark's his grave in Egglescliffe St. Mary's Churchyard).

Commemorative Information

EGGLESCLIFFE (ST. MARY'S) CHURCHYARD, North Yorkshire.

(Sources: Birth Certificate, Death Certificate, (Regimental Records, 1991 Census, A Brief Account of Egglescliffe Men Who fought in the Great War1914-1918 booklet).

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In Memory of

Thomas Hutchinson

Corporal

33009

4th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment

who died on

Saturday, 9th November 1918. Aged 24.

Original Text

Thomas Hutchinson Born 1894 at Urlay Nook, County Durham.

Joined the 4th Bn; Yorkshire Regiment, November 1915 aged 21 years.

Made Corporal 1917, Served in France. Died November 9th 1918 at Crash, while still a prisoner of War and is buried there. Corporal Hutchinson was a Prisoner of War for over three years.

Additional Information

Son of Thomas and Janet Hutchinson (a waggoner) of Urlay Nook, Yarm Yorkshire.

His brother-in-law Corporal R.G. Wallinger also served in France and was Killed-in-Action 24th May 1915 near Ypres.  

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: POZNAN OLD GARRISON CEMETERY (POLAND) 

Grave Reference: IV. B. 6.

Location: The city of Poznan is located in the west of Poland, on the main E30/2 road. The cemetery is situated to the north of the town in the district of Winogrady. Follow the E30/2 into the city and over the river. At the crossroads turn right onto the road number 196 (Gdynska) and follow this road to the next crossroads. At this junction turn right onto the road number 5 (Glowna). Follow this road to the roundabout and turn right into S.Wyszynskiego. Follow this road over two rivers to the next crossroads. At this junction turn right into Garbary and follow this road under the Railway Bridge, take the first left hand turning after the bridge called AI Armii Poznan. The cemetery will be found along this road on the right. (N.B. AI Armii Poznan is a one-way street) The Commonwealth Plot is Section H, at the South-East end of the cemetery.

Historical Information

After the First World War, the graves of commonwealth servicemen who had died in Poland as prisoners of war were gathered together in this Cemetery. 

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There are now 174 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery.One of the burials is unidentified. Specials memorials commemorate one casualty known to have been buried in Czersk Prisoner of War Cemetery, 29 prisoners are known to have been buried Szczypiorno Prisoner of War Cemetery and 18 known to have been buried at Pila (formerly Schneidemuhl) Prisoner of War Cemetery, all of whose graves could not be identified. The majority of the 283 Second World War burials in the cemetery are those of airmen, many of whom died in bombing operations on Stettin (now Szeczin) also buried here are those involved in the mass escape from Stalag Luft 3, Sagan, in March 1944, and others who died while prisoners during the German occupation, at Stalag 8c, Kunaukr Sprottau, Stalag 21D at Poznan, Offlag 21B, both at Schubin. There are also19 graves of other nationalities in the cemetery, most of them Polish. The Cemetery also contains the Poznan Memorial commemorating five RNAS armoured car ratings who died near Brezazany in July 1917 and whose graves were never located.        

 (Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1891 Census, Soldiers Died, Family History)

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In Memory of

Robert Stephen Johnson

Private

9644 

2nd Bn., Yorkshire Regiment 

who died on

Sunday, 15th December 1918. Age 28.

Original Information

The son of William and Jane Johnson of Urlay Nook, Yarm-on-Tees Yorkshire.

A prisoner of War in Germany for over three years.

Additional Information

Born 28th May 1890.  A Regular Soldier in the 2nd Bn; Yorkshire Regiment at the outbreak of war 1914.  Robert Johnson served in France and Flanders before being taken prisoner in September 1915.  After 3 years in captivity he was released at the end of the war and died on his way home at Calais and was buried there on December 15th 1918.

Baptised at Egglescliffe Parish Church on 25th May 1890.

Before enlisting Robert Stephen Johnson worked at the Egglescliffe Chemical Company.

His father William also worked for the same company as a Furnaceman.  

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: LES BARAQUES MILITARY CEMETERY, SANGATTE 

Grave Reference: VII. C. 9A.

Location: Les Baraques Military Cemetery will be found on the western side of Calais. It is just off the D940, the road to Sangatte and Commonwealth War Grave Commission signposts are in place directing visitors to the cemetery.

Historical Information

Throughout the war Calais was one of the British bases and a hospital centre. For three years the British dead were buried in Calais Southern Cemetery. In 1917 it became necessary to choose a fresh site, and in September 1917, the first burials took place at Les Baraques.

They continued until the last British troops left France in 1921.

In April 1915. No 6 Base Supply Depot was started at Calais to help relieve the pressure on Boulogne and to provide a base nearer to the front than Havre or Rouen. The base remained open until the last Commonwealth forces left France in March 1921.  The 30th 35th and 38th General Hospitals, No 9 British Red Cross Hospital and No 10 Canadian Stationary Hospital were also stationed in the town providing about 2,500 beds.

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For three years, Commonwealth burials were made in Calais Southern Cemetery, but it later became necessary to start a new site and in September 1917, the first burials took place at Les Baraques.  The cemetery continued in use until 1921. 

The cemetery now contains 1,303 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, together with more than 250 war graves of other nationalities, most of them German.  The cemetery also contains seven Second World War burials and covers an area of 6,354 square metres and is enclosed by a high brick wall.

The War Stone stands on a terrace near the East End, and the shelter building on a corresponding terrace at the West.  The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

(Sources. Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish Register, 1891 Census, Soldiers Died). 

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In Memory of

Walter George Sherwood

Corporal 

9136

10th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment 

who died on

Thursday, 20th July 1916. Age 32.

Original Information

Walter George Sherwood. Joined the 10th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, August 1914. Served in France. Killed in action, 20th July 1916. 

Additional Information

He was the son of George and Mary Sherwood.  Born 12th August 1883 at Pottergate, Helmsley, North Yorkshire.

He is listed in the Commonwealth War Graves Register as the son of Mrs Metcalfe of 1, High Street, Helmsley, North Yorkshire.  Mrs M. Metcalfe was formerly Mrs George Sherwood who had re-married after the death of husband George Sherwood.

Walter George Sherwood at sometime in the 1890's left his hometown of Helmsley to take up residence in Yarm. Whilst living in Yarm he met and married Ada Honeyman in the Church of (St. Mary Magdalene) Yarm, on October 29th 1910.  

His father George is recorded as deceased on the marriage certificate.

They had 3 children, Thomas born 25th November 1911, Walter George born July 17th 1914, Ada born September 15th 1916, shortly after her father's death.

Before enlisting Walter Sherwood was employed by the Egglescliffe Chemical Company, Urlay Nook, residing in Church Road, Egglescliffe Village. His name is recorded on both the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial and the Egglescliffe Chemical Company Memorial, Urlay Nook.        

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: ABBEVILLE COMMUNAL CEMETERY, Somme, France. 

Grave Reference: IV. E. 13.

Location:    The town of Abbeville is on the main road from Paris to Boulogne about 80 kilometres south of Boulogne. The communal Cemetery and the communal cemetery extension are located on the left side of the road when leaving the town in a north-east direction for Drucat. CWGC signs will be found within the cemetery. Enter the Communal Cemetery by the left side gate and follow CWGC signs within the Cemetery.

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Historical Information

For much of the First World War Abbeville, was headquarters of the Commonwealth lines of communications and No 3 BRCS, No 2 and No 5 Stationary Hospitals were stationed there from October 1914 to January 1920. 

The communal cemetery was used for burials from November 1914 to September 1916, the earliest being made being made among the French military graves. The extension was begun in September 1916.

During the early part of the Second World War, Abbeville was a major operational aerodrome, but the town fell to the Germans at the end of May 1940. On the 4 June, an attempt was made by the 51st Division, in conjunction with the French, to break the German bridgehead, but without success suffering heavy losses. Towards the end of 1943, eight large ski shaped buildings appeared near Abbeville. These proved to be storage units for the flying bomb components and were heavily bombed by Commonwealth air forces. Abbeville was retaken on 4th September 1944 by Canadian and Polish units. Abbeville Communal Cemetery contains 774 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 30 from the Second. The Extension contains 1754 First World War burials and 348 from the Second World War, of these, a total of 8 who died between 1939-45 are unidentified.

The Commonwealth sections of both cemetery and extension were designed Sir Reginald Blomfield 

(Sources:  Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Soldiers Died, Marriage Certificate)

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In Memory of

FREDERICK FORSTER SMITH

Second Lieutenant 

Seaplane Station (Cattewater) Royal Air Force

who died on 

Sunday, 1st of September 1918. Aged 21.

Original Register Text

Fred Forster Smith. Joined Lothian and Border Horse Yeomanry, January 1916, Lieutenant.

Served in France, Entered Air Service 1918. Accidentally killed off Plymouth, 

September 1918. Buried in Egglescliffe (St Mary’s Churchyard).

Drowned near Plymouth 1st September 1918. 

Additional Information

Frederick Forster Smith was born May 1897 in the Manor House, Egglescliffe Village.

Son of Frederick Walton and Maude Emily Smith of Manor House Farm, Egglescliffe Village, North Yorkshire.  "North Yorkshire being the postal address for Egglescliffe at that time". 

He was baptised in Egglescliffe (St. Mary's) Parish Church on the 22nd July 1897.

Educated at Loretto School, Edinburgh.

Commissioned Second Lieutenant, when joining the Border and Lothian Yeomanry (1916) with whom he saw a great deal of active service in France. Transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as Second Lieutenant (Pilot) and subsequently to the Royal Air Force on its formation 1st April 1918. 2nd Lt. Smith married Martha Daisy Raddon at Plympton Register Office, Devon, 6th August 1918, when stationed at R.A.F Mountbatten, Plymouth.  On the 1st September 1918, his aircraft - Short 184 - was forced down in heavy seas whilst on patrol over the English Channel some 20 miles off Portland Bill. 2nd Lt. Smith and his observer, Lt. J. Whitehead were both drowned. The body of 2nd Lt. Smith was found lashed to a float of his aircraft. The body of Lt. J. Whitehead was never found. The Court of Enquiry No. C 017402. States, (The cause of the accident was due to the Seaplane coming down in heavy seas - reason unknown). 2nd Lt. Smith and his wife at the time of the accident were living with Captain Revington of 7, Maple Grove, Muttley, Plymouth.

A Plaque and Scroll was presented to Lieutenant Smith's widow on 10th January 1921, the address of his widow at that time being 49A, Knightsbridge, London S.W. 

Commemorative Information

EGGLESCLIFFE (ST. MARY'S) CHURCHYARD, North Yorkshire.

Location: South-East Par)

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, R.A.F Casualty Details, Court of Enquiry, Marriage Certificate, Death Certificate, Loretto Roll of Honour, Many thanks to the staff of Royal Air Force Museum Hendon for their invaluable help).  

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In Memory of

Lieutenant GEORGE THOMPSON

No 2. (Devon) Heavy Battery. Royal Garrison Artillery

who died on

Saturday, 16th January 1915. Aged 34.

Original Register Text

Lieutenant Thompson joined the Royal Garrison Artillery 1914.

Served in France and Flanders. Severely wounded, and died of wounds in hospital at Plymouth on 16th January 1915.

Additional Information

Son of Alfred and Mary Caroline Thompson, of Knottsall Worcester; Husband of Ethel Maud Thompson (nee Sadler) of The Garth, Egglescliffe, County Durham.

Lieutenant George Thompson born 1881, at Knottsall Worcester, married Ethel Maud Sadler of Aislaby Grange, at Egglescliffe Parish Church on December 11th 1911. (The Rev A.T. Dingle M.A conducted the marriage ceremony).

Residence at the time of marriage being Plymouth and Egglescliffe respectively.

The Groom's father is recorded on their marriage certificate as a Solicitor.

The Bride's father James Milliship Sadler is recorded as a Parchment Manufacturer.

The name of Lt George Thompson, does not appear in the booklet written in 1919, (A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF EGGLESCLIFFE MEN WHO FOUGHT IN THE GREAT WAR. 1914-1918.) Nor is his name (for reasons unknown) commemorated on the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial.

Lieutenant George Thompson and Mary Caroline Thompson were residing at The Garth, Egglescliffe, from December 11th 1911 until his death in 1915. 

The Official War Grave of Lieutenant Thompson lies in a plot of land bought by his widow in 1918, hence it does not look like a war grave. It is beautifully kept and very tidy. Sadly the Inscription on the Granite Stone was difficult to decipher by the naked eye, however the inscription reads: -

"In loving memory of

Lieutenant George Thompson"

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: PLYMOUTH (WESTON MILL) CEMETERY, DEVON.

Grave Reference: MIL. CON. C. 3729

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Historical Information

During the two world wars, the United Kingdom became an island fortress used for training troops and launching land, sea and air operations around the globe. There are more than 170,000 Commonwealth war graves in the United Kingdom, many being those of servicemen and women killed on active service, or who later succumbed to wounds. Others died in training accidents, or because of sickness or disease. 

The graves, many of them privately owned and marked by private memorials, will be found in more than 12,000 cemeteries and churchyards. 

During the First World War, Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse contained between them the Royal Dockyard, Royal Naval Barracks (known as H.M.S. Vivid), the Royal Marine Barracks of the Plymouth Division, and naval and military hospitals. For the duration of the war, Devonport was made headquarters of the Auxiliary Patrol Area.

Plymouth was a naval station second only to Portsmouth during the Second World War. Devonport was also an important military station and there was an R.A.F station at Mount Batten, opposite Plymouth.

Plymouth (Weston Mill) Cemetery contains 398 burials of the First World War. Approximately half are in the naval and military war graves plots north-east of the chapel, the rest are scattered. 

The total includes special memorials to two casualties buried in Stoke Damerel Church Cemetery whose graves could no longer be maintained. 

Second World War burials in the cemetery number 556, of these, 111 of the earlier graves filled the existing naval and military plots.

A further plot was then set aside for service graves and 317 of the burials were made there. 

The rest of the war graves are scattered. The cemetery also contains 14 non-war service burials and 36 war graves of other nationalities, 25 of them Polish.

(Many thanks to members of the Plympton & District Branch of the Royal British Legion, for their help in locating and taking photographs of Lt George Thompson's headstone) 

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Officers Died, 1881 Census Egglescliffe, Marriage Certificate, Church Records). 

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In Memory of

Edward William Walker

Private 

58418 

2nd/4th Bn., York and Lancaster Regiment

who died on

Friday, 27th September 1918. Age 21.

Additional Information:

Son of William and Isabel Walker, (Blacksmith) of Layfield House, Darlington Road, Yarm, Yorkshire. Brother of Harold Walker (see next entry). Walker enlisted at Northallerton with the Yorkshire Regiment (No 3395) whilst living at the above address in Egglescliffe, January 1915. Transferred to the York and Lancaster Regiment, and was killed in the 2nd battle of Cambrai 1918.

He name is recorded on both the Egglescliffe Parish and Yarm Methodist Church Memorials.

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: GRAND RAVINE BRITISH CEMETERY, HAVRINCOURT Pas de Calais, France 

Grave Reference: C. I.

Location: Havrincourt is a village in the Department of the Pas de Calais approximately 10 kilometres south west of Cambrai and 3 kilometres south of the Cambrai to Bapaume road (N30). The cemetery is signposted from the centre of the village. Continue along Rue de Ribecourt. Passing the 62nd Division Memorial the single-track road continues into Havrincourt Wood where the cemetery is signposted to the right and is located at the end of an unsurfaced track about 100 metres long.

Historical Information

Havrincourt village was stormed by the 62nd (West Riding) Division on the 20th November 1917. It was lost on the 23rd March 1918; but on the following 12th September it was again taken by the 62nd Division, who held it on the 13th against a counter-attack.

The Divisional Memorial, in granite, is a little South of the village. Grand Ravine British Cemetery consists of three rows of graves, of which Row B was made by the 62nd Division Burial Officer in December 1917, and Rows A and C by the same officer in October 1918. Thirteen German graves have been removed to another cemetery. 

There are now over 100, 1914 -18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over 10 are unidentified. The majority of those buried here belonged to the 62nd (West Riding) Division. The cemetery covers an area of 406 square metres and is enclosed by a low brick wall nearing completion on my last visit in 2000. (As some of the terrain may be rough when visiting many of the Somme Battlefield Cemeteries, it is advisable that all visitors take along strong walking boots or shoes and waterproof clothing). This cemetery cannot be seen from the track leading down to the bottom of the ravine until you come to the end of the plantation behind which it lies. 

The track is rough but can be negotiated by car as we did in 2000. 

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Soldiers Died, D/S Times 26th Oct 1918).

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In Memory of

Harold Walker

Private

3057

lst/5th Bn., Durham Light Infantry

who died on

Saturday, 24th April 1915. Age 20.

Additional Information

Son of William Walker, (Blacksmith,) and Isabel Walker of Layfield House, Darlington Road, Yarm, Yorkshire. Brother of Edward William (see previous entry) He has no known grave, so his name is recorded on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium. Walker was killed in action in the 2nd Battle of Ypres, April 24th 1915. 

He had only landed in France 6 days earlier on the 18th April.

Walker enlisted at Stockton-on-Tees from the above address with the Durham Light Infantry and was employed by Mr. E. Smith of Red Hall Farm, Castlelevington.

(The Egglescliffe Booklet records that Harold Walker died on 24th September 1915.

Regimental Records and War Graves Commission records state he died 5 months earlier on the 24th April 1915).

As with the rest of his family, Walker was a local Methodist and his name is recorded on the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial, Yarm War Memorial and Yarm Methodist Church Memorial. 

See next entry for details of Richard Wallinger who also died in the 2nd Battle of Ypres 24th May 1915 which records Historical Information 

Commemorative Information

Memorial: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL.

Grave Reference/Panel: 36/8  (No known Grave)

Location:

Ypres (now Ieper) is a town in the Province of West Flanders. The Memorial is situated on the Eastside of the town on the road to Menin and Courtrai, and bears the names of men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War.

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Soldiers Died, Regimental Records)

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In Memory of

RICHARD GEORGE WALLINGER

Corporal

996

4th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment

who died on

Monday, 24th May 1915. Age 34.

Original Text

A Territorial Soldier, joined the 4th Bn; Yorkshire Regiment at the outbreak of War.

Served in France from April 1915, killed in action near Ypres on the 24th May 1915.

Additional Information

Corporal Wallinger was the son of Ellen Hansom (formerly Wallinger) of Urlay Nook and the late William Wallinger; husband of Jane Ann Calvert formerly Wallinger) of No1 Newlands Road Egglescliffe, Co Durham. Richard Wallinger married Jane Ann Hutchinson at St. Mary's Church Egglescliffe on the 9th December 1905. A son Richard George was born on the 17th July 1914. Jane Ann Hutchinson was the daughter of Thomas and Janet Hutchinson 

(A Waggoner) also of Urlay Nook 

Richard George Wallinger was one of four brothers, George William, Norman, and Septimus Claud all serving in different regiments in the in the 1914-1918 War.

Commemorative Information

Memorial: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium 

Grave Reference/Panel: 33 (No known Grave)

Location: Ypres (now Ieper) is a town in the Province of West-Vlaanderen. 

The Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town on the road to Menin (Menen) and Courtrai (Kortrijk)

Historical Information:

The Menin Gate is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgium Flanders which covers the area known as the Ypres Salient.

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Broadly speaking, the Salient stretched from Langemarck in the north to the northern edge in Ploegsteert Wood in the south, but it varied in area and shape throughout the war. The Salient was formed during the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914, when a small British Expeditionary Force succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge. The Second Battle of Ypres began in April 1915 when the Germans released poison gas into the Allied lines north of Ypres. This was the first time gas had been used by either side and the violence of the attack forced an Allied withdrawal and a shortening of the line of defence. There was little more significant activity on this front until 1917, when in the Third Battle of Ypres an offensive was mounted by Commonwealth forces to divert German attention from a weakened French front further south. The initial attempt in June to dislodge the Germans from the Messines Ridge was a complete success, but the main assault northeastward, which began at the end of July, quickly became a dogged struggle against determined opposition and the rapidly deteriorating weather.  The campaign finally came to a close in November with the capture of Passchendaele. The German offensive of March 1918 met with some initial success, but was eventually checked and repulsed in a combined effort by the Allies in September.  The battles of the Ypres Salient claimed many lives on both sides and it quickly became clear that the commemoration of members of the Commonwealth forces with no known grave would have to be divided between several different sites. The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates those who died in the Salient before 16 August 1917.  Those who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war.

New Zealand casualties are commemorated at Tyne Cot and on memorials at Buttes New British Cemetery and Messines Ridge British Cemetery. The Ypres (Menin Gate) memorial now bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield with sculpture by Sir William Reid-Dick, was unveiled by Lord Plumer in July 1927.

Visiting Information

The Panel numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiment served with. In some instances where a casualty is recorded as attached to another Regiment, his name may alternatively appear within their Regimental Panels.

Please refer to the on site Memorial Register introduction to determine the alternative panel numbers if you do not find the name within the quoted Panels.

The following information may be of interest to first time visitors.

Each night at 8 pm the traffic is stopped at the Menin Gate while members of the local Fire Brigade sound the Last Post in the roadway under the Memorial's arches in respect of those who lost their lives. The practice was allowed to continue throughout the Second World War without interference by the Germans.   

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Soldiers Died, 1881-1891 Census, Family History, Birth Certificate)      

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In Memory of

LAURENCE WARD

Second Lieutenant 

4th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment 

who died on

Wednesday, 10th April 1918.

Original Text

Ward came home from Canada at the outbreak of war, Joined the 4th Bn Yorkshire Regiment November 1914. Made corporal serving in France 1916.

Received commission as Lieutenant with 13th Bn Yorkshire Regiment 1917. Mentioned in dispatches and was Killed in action near Armentiers on the 10th April 1918. 

Additional Information

Second Lieutenant Ward was the son of Albert Edward and Cicely Ward of Woodlands, Yarm Road, Egglescliffe, County Durham. His father Albert, "A Sea-going Engineer" was a well known Character in the parish and because of his connection with the Sea was known as "Salty Ward". 

Commemorative Information

Memorial: PLOEGSTEERT MEMORIAL, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium Grave Reference/Panel: 4  (No known grave)

Location:  The Ploegsteert Memorial stands in Berks Cemetery Extension, which is located 12.5 kilometres south of Ieper town centre, on the N365 leading from Ieper to Mesen (Messines), Ploegsteert and on to Armentiers.

From Ieper town centre the Rijselsestraat runs from the market square, through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort) and directly over the crossroads with the Ieper ring road. The road name then changes to the Rijselseweg (N336). 3.5 kilometres along the N336 lies a fork junction with the N365. The N365, which forms the right hand fork, leads to the town of Mesen. The Cemetery lies 3 kilometres beyond Mesen on the right hand side of the N365, and opposite Hyde Park Corner Royal Berks Cemetery. The sounding of the Last Post takes place at the Ploegsteert Memorial on the first Friday of every month at 7 p.m. 

Visiting Information

It is essential when visiting this Memorial to refer to the on-site Memorial Register which will give an introduction and determine the alternative panel numbers if you do not find the name within the quoted Panels. 

Page 2 of 2   

Historical Information

The Memorial, serves the area from the line Caestre-Dranoutre-Warneton, in the north to the line Haverskerque-Estaires-Fournes in the south, in which the best-known features are the towns of Hazebrouck, Merville, Bailleul and Armentiers, the forest of Nieppe and Ploegsteert Wood; and it covers the period from arrival of the III corps in this area in 1914 to the date of the Armistice with Germany. 

The Battles of Ypres and Messines fall to the south of these limits, and the offensives of 1915 mainly to the south. The normal state of the area, during the greater part of the war, was one of trench warfare usually carried out in support of the major attacks taking place elsewhere.      

The Ploegsteert Memorial is a covered circular colonnade, 20 metres across and 11 metres high, enclosing an open space, and is entered by an opening between two stone lions. The names of the dead are carved on panels set in the walls of the colonnade. 

They belonged to thirty-six different Divisions and to a hundred Regiments; of these Regiments the Rifle Brigade with 559 names, the Northumberland Fusiliers with 535 and the Durham Light Infantry with 444 claim the largest individual shares of men lost without trace.

H. Chalton Bradshaw designed the cemetery, cemetery extension and memorial, with sculpture by Gilbert Ledward

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Officers Died, Naval and Military Press, Local History).

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In Memory of

Matthias Lyth Welford

Private 

73294

2nd Bn., Durham Light Infantry 

who died on

Thursday, 21st March 1918. Aged 36

Original Text

Private Matthias Lyth Welford, enlisted at Stockton with the Durham Light Infantry August 1917.

Served on the Western Front. Reported missing 2nd battle of the Somme. 

Presumed killed 21st March 1918.

Additional Information

Son of Robert and Ann Welford, born 1882 at the village of Ugglebarnby (Eskdale) about 4 miles S/W of Whitby. His father born 1845 at Crathorne, his mother born 1853 at Whitby. 

Matthias was the third child of a family of five, all born at the Village of Ugglebarnby. His father Robert a shoemaker and Sub-Postmaster in the same village. 

Matthias came to Egglescliffe in 1910, residing in a small cottage on Yarm Bank forming part of the old Vinegar Brewery. They had a butcher's shop in Egglescliffe prior to working at the Egglescliffe Chemical Company, Urlay Nook. 

The Welford family were very much part of the shoemaking industry of Crathorne, Egglescliffe and Yarm dating back to 1700. One uncle of Matthias Welford is recorded as a shoemaker living at 3, Beechwood Road, Preston-on-Tees in 1912.

Commemorative Information

Memorial: ARRAS MEMORIAL Pas de Calais, France.  

Grave Reference: Bay 8   (No known Grave)

Location:  The Arras Memorial is in the Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery, which is in the Boulevard du General de Gaulle in the western part of the town of Arras. The cemetery is near the Citadel, approximately 2 kilometres due west of the railway station.

The design, by Sir Edward Lutyens, consists of a cloister built upon Doric columns and faces west. In the broader part of the site the colonnade returns to form a recessed and open court, terminated by an apse in front of which is the Arras Flying Services Memorial.

Page 2 of 2

Historical Information

The French handed over Arras to Commonwealth forces in the spring of 1916 and the system of tunnels upon which the Town is built were used and developed in preparation for the major offensive planned for April 1917.  The commonwealth section of the FAUBOURG D'AMIENS CEMETERY was begun in March 1916, behind the French military cemetery established earlier.  It continued to be used by field ambulances and fighting units until November 1918.  The cemetery was enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields and from two smaller cemeteries in the vicinity. The cemetery contains 2,651 burials of the First World War. In addition, there are 30 war graves of other nationalities, most of them German. The graves in the French military cemetery were removed after the war to other burial grounds and the land they had occupied was used for the construction of the Arras Memorial and Arras Flying Services Memorial.

The Arras Memorial commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, New Zealand and South African Forces who died between spring 1916 and 7th August 1918, excluding casualties of the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, who have no known grave.

The Arras Flying Services Memorial commemorates more than 1,000 airmen of the Royal Naval Air Service.

The names of the casualties are carved on stone panels that are fixed to the cloister walls.

Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Crathorne Parish Register, 1912 Census, Kelly's Directory 1887-1905, Whitby Register District 9D 931-1909 1st Quarter Ugglebarnby Parish).

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In Memory of

Anthony Charles Wiles

Corporal

22650

9th Bn., Yorkshire Regiment 

who died on

Saturday, 5th October 1918. Age 22.

Original Text

Corporal Wiles joined the 9th Bn.,Yorkshire Regiment in June 1915, Served in Italy and France. Killed in action October 5th 1918.

Additional Information

Corporal Anthony Wiles was the son of the late John and Mary Wiles of 2, Hawthorn Place, Egglescliffe Village. 

Born 1896, he was the elder son of a Railway-Signalman working for the L.N.E.R at Yarm Station.

His brother Norman Alexander Wiles was also serving on the Western Front at the same time and was severely wounded near St Quentin only two weeks before Anthony was killed.

Norman recovered from his wounds after spending many months in hospital and worked as a porter at Yarm Station. Sister Lily will be remembered by many people in the Egglescliffe Parish as caretaker of the old Village Church of England School, Butts Lane.

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: BEAUREVOIR COMMUNAL CEMETERY, BRITISH EXTENSION AISNE,

          (France)

Grave Reference: B. 14.

Location:                               

Beaurevoir is a village in the north-eastern corner of the Department of the Aisne, midway between Cambrai and St Quentin (approximately 19 kilometres north of St. Quentin).

Beaurevoir Communal Cemetery is situated on the D28 in the direction of Montbrehain.

It is first signposted by the square in front of the church and then again at the road fork of the D28 and D716. The British Extension will be found behind the Communal Cemetery.

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Historical Information

The village of Beaurevoir was attacked by the 2nd Australian Division on the 3rd October, 1918, and taken by the 25th Division on the 5th October. The Communal Cemetery British Extension was made by the 25th Division in October 1918.

There are now nearly 100, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site.

Of these, over 10 are unidentified. The British Extension covers an area of 578 square metres and is enclosed on three sides by a low brick wall and on the fourth by the high brick wall of the Communal Cemetery.

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Soldiers Died, Parish Register).

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In Memory of

George Thomas Wilkinson

Private 

19945

2nd Bn., Yorkshire Regiment 

who died on

Wednesday, 4th September 1918. Aged 30.

Original Text 

WILKINSON joined 2nd Bn; Yorkshire Regiment 1914. Discharged December 1915. Rejoined the Yorkshire Regiment in March 1918. Fell in action September 4th 1918. 

Buried at Bois du Sart, near Arras.  (See Commemorative Information)  

Additional Information

George Thomas Wilkinson was born 8th May 1888, son of George and Alice Wilkinson (nee Palmer) a signalman, of Railway Cottages, Preston Junction, County Durham.

His father was born at Preston-on-Tees 1858; his wife Alice was born 1858 at Kempton, Herts.

George and Alice married at Egglescliffe Parish Church on the 21st December 1887. 

They had three sons George Thomas born 1888, Percy Bolton born 1889, and John born 1892.  

Wilkinson was baptised at a private ceremony in Egglescliffe Parish Church on the 8th May 1888.

Address given at the time of enlistment is Church Road Egglescliffe.  

Before enlistment he was employed by the Egglescliffe Chemical Company, Urlay Nook, Yarm Yorkshire.  

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: VIS-EN-ARTOIS BRITISH CEMETERY, HAUCOURT 

Grave Reference: V.G. 18.

Location: Vis-en-Artois and Haucourt are villages in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, on the road from Arras to Cambrai. The Cemetery is at the north side of the main road between the two villages.

Historical Information

Vis-en-Artois and Haucourt were taken by the Canadian Corps on the 27th August 1918, and the cemetery was begun immediately afterwards. It was used by fighting units and Field Ambulances until the middle of October.

Page 2 of 2

It consisted originally of 430 graves (in Plots 1 and 2), of which 297 were Canadian and 55 belonged to the 2nd Duke of Wellingtons Regiment. 

It was increased after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields of April - June 1917, and August and September 1918, and from the smaller cemeteries in the neighbourhood.  There are now nearly 2,500, war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, nearly two-thirds are unidentified and special memorials are erected to seven soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Canada, known or believed to be buried among them.

Other special memorials record the names of four soldiers from the United Kingdom, buried in other cemeteries, whose graves could not be found on concentration.

The cemetery covers an area of 6,577 square metres and is enclosed by a rubble wall. 

The area has a high concentration of burial grounds from which graves were brought into this cemetery:

BOIS-DU-SART BRITISH CEMETERY, PELVES, at the north-western angle of the Bois-du-Sart, contained the graves of 10 soldiers and airmen from the United Kingdom and nine soldiers from Canada who fell in August and September 1918.

DURY GERMAN CEMETERY was on the Southeast side of Dury village, a little South of the road to Saudemont. It contained the graves of 4 British and 49 German soldiers 

LECLUSE GERMAN CEMETERY, on the West side of the village, contained the graves of 476 Geman soldiers, and 11 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in 1917 and 1 Russian prisoner.

MONCHY QUARRY CEMETERY, was in a quarry 800 metres South East of Monchy-le-Preux. It contained the graves of 22 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in July 1917.

PELVES CANADIAN CEMETERY, nearly 1.6 kilometres due South of the village contained the graves of 39 soldiers from Canada who fell in August and September, 1918.

PELVES COMMUNAL CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION contained the graves of 2 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in 1917.

RUMAUCOURT GERMAN CEMETERY, on the Southern edge of village, is now a permanent cemetery which contained the graves of 21 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 6 from Australia.

SAILLY-EN-OSTREVENT COMMUNAL CEMETERY, which was destroyed by shell-fire, contained the graves of 3 soldiers from the United Kingdom (two of which were recovered).

VIS-EN-ARTOIS COMMUNAL CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION, which was badly shelled, contained the graves of 621 German soldiers, 14 from the United Kingdom, 8 French and 5 Russian.      

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Soldiers Died, 1881 Census, Regimental Records, Family History). 

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In Memory of

Trooper RICHARD WILLIS

Private

D/16588

Household Cavalry and Cavalry of the Line (including 

Yeomanry and Imperial Camel). 

3rd Bn; Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales Own). 

who died on

Tuesday, 15th January 1918. Age 25.

Original Information

The booklet, A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF EGGLESCLIFFE MEN, does not record the name of Richard Willis, but his name is commemorated on the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial.

Additional Information

Richard Willis was the son of Thomas and Mary Annas Willis, (A sawyer) of Back Lane,

Skelton-in-Cleveland, North Yorkshire.

Born 31st January 1893. Baptised 8th March 1894 at Skelton-in-Cleveland, North Yorkshire.

Richard Willis enlisted at Darlington from his home in West Hartlepool. 

Killed in action on the 15th January 1918, Theatre of War France & Flanders. 

Mr George Hansom of "The Hollies", Church Road, Egglescliffe Village, was the grandfather of Richard Willis. After his parent's death, Mr Hansom became next of kin for Richard who had lived with him whilst in the army. Consequently Richard's name was added to the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial. Fortunately when researching his name a relative from Yarm found an entry in the family Bible confirming our findings and so ended a very long search for Richard Willis.

Trooper R Willis is not commemorated on either the Hartlepool memorial or the Skelton-in-Cleveland memorial. 

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: TINCOURT NEW BRITISH CEMETERY, Somme, France.

Grave Reference: IV. E. 31.

Location:  Tincourt is a village about 7 kilometres east of Peronne. Tincourt New British Cemetery is on the west side of the village, just off the D199.

Historical Information:

The villages were occupied by British troops in March 1917, during the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line. From the following May until March 1918, Tincourt became a centre for Casualty Clearing Stations. On the 23rd March 1918, the villages were evacuated. They were recovered in a ruined condition in the early part of September. From that month to December 1918, Casualty Clearing Stations were again posted on the site of Tincourt. 

Page 2 of 2

Historical Information

The cemetery was begun in June 1917 and used until September 1919. The few German burials, during their occupation of the village, are in Plot VI, Row A. After the Armistice it was used for the reburial of soldiers found on the battlefield or buried in small French or German cemeteries. The graves of 136 American soldiers were buried here in the autumn of 1918 and one who died in December 1917. Two Italian soldiers were also removed to other cemeteries. There are now nearly 2,000, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over 250 are unidentified and special memorials are erected to seven soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Australia, known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of 21 soldiers from the United Kingdom, 2 from Canada, 1 from Australia and one from South Africa, buried in other cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell-fire. The cemetery covers an area of 6,149 square meters. The following were among the graveyards from which British graves were concentrated to Tincourt New British Cemetery:- 

BARLEUX FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY No. 2, between Badeux and Belloy-en-Santerre, containing the graves of 2 soldiers of the 1st Loyal North Lancs who fell in February 1917.

BERNES CHURCHYARD (near Roisel, in the Somme), which contained the graves of 18 soldiers from the United Kingdom, one Canadian, and 38 German.

HOWITZER WOOD CEMETERY, CLERY-SUR-SOMME, a French cemetery in the Bois des Outages, containing the graves of 3 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 1 from Australia.

JEANCOURT INDIAN CEMETERY (close to Jeancourt Communal Cemetery), in which 15 Indian cavalrymen were buried in 1917 and to which 541 German graves were concentrated after the Armistice.

LE MESNIL CHURCHYARD GERMAN EXTENSION (at LE MESNIL- BRUNTEL) contained the graves of 10 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 150 German soldiers.

LE VERGUIER GERMAN CEMETERY, near the church, containing 292 German graves and those of 5 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in April 1918.

LONGAVESNES BRITISH CEMETERY, on the west side of the village containing the graves of 19 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 3 American soldiers who fell in September and October 1918.

MAGNY-LA-FOSSE CHURCHYARD EXTENSION, made by an Advanced Dressing Station in October 1918 containing the graves of 7 soldiers from the United Kingdom, 1 from Australia, and 3 men from the Chinese Labour Corps.

MANANCOURT CHURCHYARD, which was closed to civil burials in 1865 but was used by both sides in the war. It contained the graves of 10 soldiers from the United Kingdom and 1 from South Africa.

MARQUAIX GERMAN CEMETERY, on the north side of the village, containing the graves of 10 soldiers from the United Kingdom, 1 French and 338 German.

PERONNE COMMUNAL CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION, containing the graves of 25 British and 824 German soldiers. 

RAMICOURT COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, made by the Germans and taken over in October 1918 by the British, contained the graves of 10 soldiers from Australia and 1 from the United Kingdom.

SUZANNA FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY No 1 near the Chateau of Suzanne, contained the graves of 1 soldier from the United Kingdom, 1 from Australia, 225 French, and 1 German.

TINCOURT GERMAN CEMETERY, near the German hospitals to the south-west of the village was used in the summer of 1918 and contained the graves of 13 soldiers from the United Kingdom, 3 from Canada, and 1 from Australia.

VRAIGNES CHURCHYARD, contained 3 soldiers from the United Kingdom buried by the enemy in March and April 1918.

VRAIGNES CEMETERY GERMAN EXTENSION, in which one British and 117 German soldiers were buried.

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Soldiers Died, Naval & Military Press, Marriage- Birth Certificate, Skelton-in-Cleveland Paris Register, family History, Entry in Family Bible). 

Page 1 of 2

In Memory of

Second Lieutenant EDWARD WILSON

7th Bn., Durham Light Infantry

who died on

Tuesday, 26th March 1918. Aged 23.

Second Lieutenant Edward Wilson's name is not included in the booklet A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF EGGLESCLIFFE MEN who fought in the Great War, 1914-1918. 

His name is commemorated on the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial and the Pozieres Memorial (CWMR) Somme, France. At the time of enlistment Wilson was residing at 35 Adolphus Street, Seaham Harbour. His brother 684 Pte John Wilson (aged 27 in 1918) served with the 1/9th Bn DLI. His sister was Mrs Elizabeth Burin (aged 29 in 1918) of "St. Ives", Knaresboro Road, Murton Colliery. At the time of his death Lt Wilson was residing in Egglescliffe. Exact place unknown.  (All records concerning Lt. Wilson were destroyed by enemy air-action in 1940 at Kew).

Additional Information

Edward Wilson was born 21st May 1895 at Sunderland, son of John William and Ruth Ann Wilson (nee Bragg) publicans of the Sun Inn, Gainers Terrace, Wallsend.

Educated at Murton Colliery Council School. 

Wilson was employed as a commercial traveller when he enlisted as 32003 Private E Wilson in the 63rd (Northumberland) Divisional Cyclist Company on the 20th May 1915.

Transferred to 7th Battalion Durham Light Infantry 2nd August 1915; promoted L/Cpl 8th January 1916; promoted Cpl 14th July 1916; promoted paid Lance-Sergeant 26th August 1916 transferred to 5th (Reserve Bn) DLI 1st September 1916. Transferring to Infantry Base Depot Etaples as L/Cpl 11th February 1917; posted to 8th Bn DLI as L/ Cpl same day; returned to TF Depot 1st May 1917. Wilson was then attached from the 2nd May 1917 to the No 1 Officer Cadet Bn; Newton Ferrers until the 5th July 1917. Wilson then commanded as a temp 2nd Lieutenant DLI (attached) until 31st October 1917. Home Service (in ranks) 20th May 1915 to the 10th February 1917 and the 1st May 1917 to the 30th October 1917. Served Overseas, France and Belgium with the 8th Bn DLI from the 11th February 1917 to 30th April 1917; and as an Officer with the 7th Bn DLI 1917 until he was killed in action on the 26th March 1918. Lieutenant Wilson (no known grave) is commemorated on the Pozieres (Commonwealth War Memorial R27).

Memorial: POZIERES MEMORIAL, Somme, France.

Grave/Panel Number: 68 to 72

Location:

Pozieres is a village some 6 kilometres north-east of the town of Albert. The Memorial encloses Pozieres British Cemetery which is a little south-west of the village on the north side of the main road, D929, from Albert to Pozieres. On the road frontage is an open arcade terminated by small buildings and broken in the middle by the entrance and gates. Along the sides and the back, stone tablets are fixed in the stone rubble walls bearing the names of the dead grouped under their Regiments. (It should be added that, although the memorial stands in a cemetery of largely Australian graves, it does not bear any Australian names. The Australian soldiers who fell in France and whose graves are not known are commemorated on the National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux).

Page 2 of 2

Historical Information:

The Memorial relates to the period of crisis in March and April 1918 when the Fifth Army was driven back by overwhelming numbers across the former Somme battlefields, and to the succeeding period of four months during which there was built up, behind the new front of the army, which on the 8 August 1918 began the Advance to Victory. 

The Memorial commemorates over 14,000 casualties of the United Kingdom and 300 of the South African Forces who have no known grave and who fell in France during the Fifth Army area retreat on the Somme from 21 March to 7 August 1918.

The Corps and Regiments most largely represented are The Rifle Brigade with over 600 names, The Durham Light Infantry with approximately 600 names, Machine Gun Corps with over 500, Manchester Regiment with approximately 500 and The Royal Horse and Royal Field Artillery with over 400 names.

(The 5th Bn; DLI was a Stockton Regiment throughout both World Wars)

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Officers Died, Regimental Records, Durham Light Infantry Museum, Many thanks to Mr Malcolm McGregor, Regimental Biographer, and Mr Stephen D Shannon, Durham Light Infantry Museum Assistant, Aykley Heads). 

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In Memory of

GEOFFREY HUTTON WILSON

Lieutenant 

Royal Engineers

who died on

Monday, 23rd December 1918. Age 34.

Additional Information

Had Lt G. H. Wilson survived W.W.I he would most probably have succeeded his father as head of the family firm The Egglescliffe Chemical Company Limited. For that reason alone we have included his name in the Roll of Honour Book.

Son of Robert Hutton Wilson and Adeline Cecilia Hutton Wilson, of Buttsfield House, Egglescliffe, County Durham, husband of Barbara Hutton Wilson, of Westholme, Prestwich Park.

Lieutenant Wilson joined the Royal Engineers Signal Section in December 1915.  

Served in East Africa from May 1916. Died at sea on the way home December 23rd 1918.

Robert Wilson his grandfather founded the Egglescliffe Chemical Company at Urlay Nook.

Commemorative Information

Memorial: HOLLYBROOK MEMORIAL

Location: The Hollybrook Memoriam is situated in Southampton (Hollybrook) Cemetery, which is on high ground in Chilworth Road, Shirley, next to Southampton General Hospital.

Commemorated on the memorial are officers and men of the forces of the Empire who fell in the Great War and whose graves are not known, especially those who went down in transports or other vessels torpedoed or mined in home waters.

It includes the names of others who died at home, or in distant areas, and whose bodies could not be recovered.

The memorial takes the form of a screen wall on which the names of the dead are carved. It is situated on a terrace at the back of the War Graves Plot immediately within the entrance to Southampton (Hollybrook) Cemetery. 

The dedicatory inscription on the memorial reads as follows:

1914 - 1918 TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF 1855 OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE FORCES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR AND HAVE NO OTHER GRAVE BUT THE SEA OR TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH. 

Page 2 of 2

Historical Information

The Memorial in Hollybrook Cemetery, Southampton, is one of those erected by the Imperial War Graves Commission to record the names of those officers and men of the forces of the Empire who fell in the Great War and whose graves are not known. It is especially the memorial of those who went down in transports or other vessels torpedoed or mined in home waters, but it includes the names of others who died at home, or in distant areas, and whose bodies could not be recovered. (2) Four names are due to the loss of H. M. Ship "Hampshire" and H. M. Trawler "Commandant". (3) The names of 737 are those of officers and men who were killed or drowned in H. M. Transports "Donegal", "Mendi", "Warilda" and "Wayfarer". Of these, "Donegal" (an ambulance transport) was torpedoed and sunk on the 17th April 1917, between Le Havre and Southampton. 109 patients and seven of the crew were killed or drowned;

and "Wayfarer" was torpedoed (but not sunk) on the 11th April 1915, sixty miles Northwest of the Scillies. (4) Two hundred and seven names are those of officers and men who perished in the Hospital

Ships "Anglia", "Asturias", "Glenart Castle", "Lanfranc" and "Llandovery Castle". Of these names, 129 belong to "Anglia", sunk by a mine off Dover on the 17th November, 1915; 57 to "Glenart castle",

Torpedoed and sunk off Lundy Island on the 26th February 1918; and 15 to "Lanfranc", torpedoed and sunk on the 17th April 1917, between Le Havre and Southampton. Twenty German patients lost their lives in the sinking of "Lanfranc". (5) The loses in fourteen steam ships number 270, and three of these deserve particular mention. The Italian transport "Citta di Palermo" (57 names), carrying (among others) 150 British Soldiers, was sunk by a mine on the 8th January 1916, ten miles from Brindisi; and in rescuing the survivors two of the British Otranto drifters were themselves mined and blown up. 

"Galway Castle" (27 names) was torpedoed and sunk on the 12th September 1918, 160 miles out in the Atlantic. The Irish mail boat "Leinster" (144 names) was torpedoed and sunk in the Irish Sea on the 10th October 1918, with the loss of 176 lives in all. Thirteen names are those of officers and men lost in a trawler and two airships. (6) Lastly, the memorial records the names of 258 sailors, soldiers and airmen, and one V.D.A. from the United Kingdom; 142 Australian soldiers and airmen; 106 South African soldiers and labourers: 58 men of the British West Indies Regiment: 37 officers and men of Indian units; The majority of these were buried at sea. (7) The total number of officers and men named on this memorial is 1853 and the units in which they served may be classified as follows:- 

United Kingdom Military units-782

South African units--716.

Australian units--160.

Canadian units--64. 

British West Indies Regiments--58.

Indian Regiments--37. 

Royal Navy--16.

Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service--9.

Rhodesian units--3.

Royal West African Frontier Force--2. 

Voluntary Aid Detachments--2.

Royal Marines-1       

Territorial Force Nursing Service--1.

Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps--1.

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Officers Died, Military and Naval Press). 

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SECOND WORLD WAR

1939-1946

BELL Cyril James   Aged 22   

Rifleman                                 Died 19th Jan 1945

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

BRIDEL Thomas Stanley   Aged 22        

Aircraftman 2nd Class                    Died 26th July 1945

Royal Air Force (Volunteer Reserve)

DANBY William Calvert   Aged 36

Sergeant                                 Died 31st May 1940

Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment)

GUTHRIE Alan   Aged 22

Flying Officer (Pilot)                   Died 24th Sep 1943

Royal Air Force (Volunteer Reserve)

TERRY Robert   Aged 35

Sergeant Air Gunner                      Died 10th Aug 1943

    Royal Air Force (Volunteer Reserve) 

WRIGHT Harold   Aged 22  

Private                                  Died 23rd Dec 1941

Durham Light Infantry

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In Memory of

Rifleman James Cyril Bell

Rifleman

14718764

6th Bn; Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)

Who died on

Friday, 19th January 1945. Aged 22.

Additional Information

Eldest son of James Alfred and Hilda May Bell (Nee Peacock) of 6, Rose Terrace, Egglescliffe Village, Co Durham. 

Rifleman Bell, born 8th August 1922. Baptised in Egglescliffe (St. Mary's) Parish Church September 1922. Educated at Egglescliffe C of E School Butts Lane, where he proved to be an outstanding pupil. His first employment on leaving school was a 6 pm start with Mr LA Binch, Nurseryman in the village. There he worked loading produce onto the horse drawn cart destined for sale at Stockton Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

In 1939 he went to work for Mr John Duell, of Glebe Farm, Egglescliffe, as Tractor Man working land on the 6 farms that formed the greater part of the parish. Though exempt from active service he decided to join his many friends serving in the forces. He volunteered for service with the Durham Light Infantry on 17th February 1944, transferring to the 6th Bn; Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) with whom he saw a great deal of active service fighting their way through Belgium, Holland and on to the German Border. He was severely wounded in a German mortar attack at Sittard on the 19th January 1945 and died in the field hospital on the outskirts of the town. Sittard War Cemetery is built on the site of the field hospital, now surrounded by a small housing estate and is immaculately kept. 

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: SITTARD WAR CEMETERY, Limburg, Netherlands.

Grave Reference: Row G. Grave 1.

Location:  Sittard lies on the main road from Maastricht to Roermound, 19 kilometres North East of Maastricht and 29 kilometres South West of Roermond.

From Maastricht the E25 leads North East towards Lindelheuvel.

From Lindelheuvel lies the right hand turning towards Sittard (5 kilometres.) The cemetery is located approximately 1.5 kilometres from the town on a road called Kromstraat, a road leading from the Rijksweg Zuid. The cemetery can also be reached from a road leading from the N276 at the junction of the road running between Sittard and Geleen. At this junction follow the direction towards Sittard itself. Alternatively, approaching from the centre of Sittard follow the road towards Geleen. The cemetery is signposted there after.

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Historical Information

Sittard is a commune and a small town in the province of Limburg, close to the German and Belgium frontiers, in the district known as the Maastricht Appendix. It lies on the main road from Maastricht to Roermond about 19 kilometres south west of Roermond. Aachen in Germany is situated 26 kilometres to the southeast.

The War Cemetery is to the west of the town in the suburb of Ophoven. It stands on the Haagweg, which is the road between Sittard and the town of Heerleen. The cemetery is signposted from the Maarstricht-Roermond road. The burials in the cemetery, apart from a few dating from November1944, are almost all from the months of January and February 1945.

The men buried here belong mostly to the Scottish Regiments of the 52nd (Lowland) Division engaged in the battle in this vicinity from 18th to 24th January 1945, which had its object the clearing of a salient west of the River Roer which was still held by the Germans.

The total of burials in this cemetery is 239.

The cemetery is beautifully kept and enjoys a very peaceful setting and is now surrounded by newly built Bungalows.   

(Sources:  Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish Register, D/S Times, Family History, Egglescliffe Parish Magazine No 3 March 1945, Soldiers Diary). 

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In Memory of

Thomas Stanley Bridle

Aircraftman 2nd Class

2077590

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

who died on

Thursday, 26th July 1945. Age 23,

Original Information 

Son of James K and Lilian Bridle of, St. Margarets Lodge, Butts Lane, Egglescliffe, County Durham. 

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: DJAKARTA WAR CEMETERY.

Grave Reference: 4.  E13.

Additional Information

BRIDLE, was the eldest son of James K and Lilian Bridle, born April 14th 1922 at 14, Church Road, Egglescliffe Village.

Educated at Egglescliffe C of E School, Butts Lane, On leaving School in 1936 he spent the next few years assisting his uncle on his farm near Ripon, North Yorkshire.

In 1940 he volunteered for service with the R.A.F. After initial training at Padgate and Blackpoll he completed his training as a wireless operator at Cranwell where he witnessed the very first ever flight of the Frank Whittle invention - Gloster experimental jet aircraft - in May 1941.

A truly memorable occasion he told his brother Geoffrey, to have seen an aircraft flying without propellers. After Cranwell, he served at Turnhouse (Edinburgh) and airfields in Ayr, flying in the Westland Lysander, before embarking for the Far- East in December 194I. Disembarking at Palembang, Sumatra in mid - January 1942 he was engaged in the fighting which took place on that island until he was evacuated in mid - February to the neighbouring island of Java where fighting continued.

He was taken prisoner at the end of March 1942. His first prison camp was the native goal of Boei Glodok at Jakarta, better known as (Batavia) in 1942 where he spent the next 12 months. In December he was moved to a new camp at Pankalan Bati at Palembang, where he spent the next 15 months. Due to the inhuman conditions and treatment he fell very ill and in May 1945 was transferred to the Hospital Camp at Palembang, where he died on July 26th 1945.

Location Jakarta, (Djakarta) lies on the north-east coast of the island of Java.

Djakarta War Cemetery is in the suburb of Menteng Poeloe, 11 kilometers from the city centre and is adjacent to the Netherlands Field of Honour.

Djakarta Selatam (South Djakarta). It can be reached by two main roads - Jalan Dr Saharto and Jalan Casablanca. The Cemetery is entered on the northern side by a short flight of steps leading into the Memorial building. It contains the graves of men who died in the defence of Java, Sumatra and many others who died as prisoners of war.

The entrance faces the old civilian cemetery where hawkers from the local market often spill out, partly blocking access to the cemetery. The local name for the cemetery is Makam Perang Jakarta.

Page 2 of 2

Historical Information

Jakarta, the capital of the Republic of Indonesia, lies on the north-west coast of the island of Java. It was the administrative capital of the former Netherlands East Indies and was known as Batavia, the name used in the records of the 1939-1945 War. Batavia was the port by which thousands of British and Commonwealth servicemen entered Java in February 1942 from Singapore and Sumatra, shortly before the Japanese invasion of the island. It was defended by Nos. 232 and 605 (Fighter) Squadrons from Tjililitan airfield, a few miles distant. Although greatly outnumbered and dwindling in strength, the fighters remained in action in defence of the capital from 17th-27th February. The 77th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment was also employed in Batavia's defence. On 25th February H.M.S. Exeter, Electra, Encounter and Jupiter and H.M.A.S Perth sailed from Batavia to join the Eastern Striking Force at Sourabaya before meeting the Japanese in the Battle of the Java Sea. On 1st March the Japanese landed near Batavia, by the 4th the Dutch had ordered its evacuation, and on the 5th the Japanese occupied the town. Most of the Allied prisoners of war captured in Java were later concentrated in a number of prison camps around Batavia, one of the largest being "Bicycle Camp", so named because it had been the barracks of a Dutch cycle battalion. The camp held among its first prisoners 300 survivors of H.M.A.S. Perth, and 250 soldiers of the 2/15th Punjab Regiment who had fought in Borneo. In 1961 at the request of the Indonesian Government, the Commonwealth dead from the Netherlands Field of Honour at Sourabaya, and from those at Palembang, Medan and Muntok in Sumatra, were brought into the cemetery, which already contained 474 Commonwealth war graves. Additional land was acquired to accommodate all the graves, and the total number of burials was increased to over 1,000. Jakarta War Cemetery therefore contains the graves of many who died in defence of Java and Sumatra during the swift Japanese advance in 1942 and many others who perished afterwards as prisoners of war. Among the dead were sailors who fought in the Battle of the Java Sea, soldiers of "Blackforce" including a number of Australians whose graves lie together in plot 6, and airmen who died in flying battle and airfield defence. The cemetery is entered on its northern side by a short flight of steps leading into a memorial building. Two main grass avenues cross the site, one running north-south and one east-west, and the Cross of Sacrifice stands at their intersection. The graves of members of the forces of undivided India lie on a terrace in the southern part of the cemetery. Here an Indian Forces monument has been set up; it is a stone pillar crowned by a sculptured wreath and bearing wreaths on two sides, with "INDIA" inscribed below one and "PAKISTAN" below the other. The graves are marked by bronze plaques set in concrete pedestals. The cemetery is covered with turf and planted with many colourful sub-tropical trees and shrubs.

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish and Church Register, Family History, Local Parish History).   

Page 1 of 1

In Memory of

William Calvert Danby

Sergeant

53786

5th Bn., Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment).

Who died on

Friday 31st May 1940. Aged 36.

Additional Information

Sergeant Danby was the son of William and Agnes Danby of The Towers, Yarm Road, Egglescliffe. Danby was educated at Egglescliffe C of E School, Butts Lane. On leaving School he worked with his father in the family garage business (Preston Garage). 

The business was renowned for his father's involvement with Sir Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird, when breaking the World Land Speed Record in 1927.

Commemorative Information

SPECIAL MEMORIAL. (C).

Cemetery: ADINKERKE MILITARY CEMETERY, De Panne, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Grave Reference: Sp. Mem. "C" FF. 5.

Location:  Adinkerke Military Cemetery is located 6 KM west of Veurne, 3 KM inland from the coastal town of Koksijde and 20 KM east of Dunkirk, from Veurne the N39 Duinkerkestreate leads for 6 KM to the village of Adinkerke.

On reaching the village of Adinkerke the cemetery is located on the first left hand turning onto the Kromfortstraat, on the left hand side of the road.

Visitors please note a 50 metre grassed access path to the site which is not suitable for vehicles.      

Historical Information

From June to November, 1917 the British XV Corps held the front from the sea to St. Georges; the 24th and 39th Casualty Clearing Stations were posted at Oosthoek (between Adinkerke and Furness) from July to November, and the 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station at Adinkerke for a short time in June. During the Second World War, the British Expeditionary Force was involved in the later stages of the defence Belgium following the German invasion in May 1940, and suffered many casualties in covering the withdrawal to Dunkirk.

Commonwealth forces did not return until September 1944, but in the intervening years, many airmen were shot down or crashed in raids on strategic objectives in Belgium, or while returning home from missions over Germany.  

Adinkerke Military Cemetery contains 168 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, and 55 from the Second World War commemorated in this site, 5 of which are unidentified. 2 British soldiers are commemorated by special memorials bearing the inscription "Buried near this spot". Sergeat Danby is one of these soldiers. There are also 142 Foreign Nationals buried in this site. The Cemetery covers an area of 1,144 square metres and is enclosed by a low rubble wall     

Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish Register, Birth Certificate, Family History). 

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In Memory of

Alan Guthrie

Flying Officer

122495

(Pilot)

12 Sqdn; Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

who died on

Friday, 24 September 1943. Aged 22.

Original Text

GUTHRIE, flying Officer. (Pilot) ALAN. 122495. R.A.F. 12 Sqdn.

September 24th 1943. Aged 22. Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Guthrie, husband of 

G. Anne Guthrie, of Kirby Knowle, Yorkshire. Coll. Grave 22. A. 15 - 18.

Additional Information

Guthrie was the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Guthrie, Sanitary Engineers of "Kinross" South View, Egglescliffe. Husband of G. Anne. Furness (Formally Guthrie), and father of Peter.

At the time of his death Pilot Officer Guthrie was living at St. Anns Cottage, Egglescliffe Village. At a later date his wife and son Peter moved to Kirby Knowle, North Yorkshire. 

Guthrie had been educated at Yarm Grammar School so his name is commemorated on the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial and the former Yarm Grammar School memorial plaque, now held by Conyers School as successor to the Grammar School.  

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: REICHSWALD FOREST WAR CEMETERY GERMANY.

Grave Reference: Collective Grave 22 A. 15-18.

Cemetery Location Information

The cemetery is 5 Kilometers south west of Kieve. From Kieve take the Hoffmannallee from the town center, which becomes the Materbornerallee. 

This road enters the Reichswald Forest and becomes the Grunewaldstrasse.

Follow the directions for Gennep, and on entering the Reichswald Forest the cemetery is situated 500 metres on the left. 

Page 2 of 2

Historical Information

Reichswald Forest War Cemetery was created after the Second World War when burials were brought in from all over Western Germany and is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the Country.

Some of those members of the land forces buried there died in the advance through Reichswald Forest in February 1945. Others died crossing the Rhine, among them members of the airborne forces whose bodies were brought from Hemminkein where landings were made by the 6th Airborne Division from bases in England.

Some of the airmen buried in the cemetery lost their lives in supporting the advance into Germany, but most died earlier in the war in the intensive air attracts over Germany. Their graves were brought in from cemeteries and isolated sites in the surrounding area. There are now 7,416 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery.

161 of the burials are unidentified. There are also 79 war graves of other nationalities, most of them Polish.

From the records of Bomber Command Losses

23rd - 24th September 1943. 

12 Sqn        Lancaster III   DV225  PH-H                            OP:  Mannheim           

Took Off from Wickenby Airfield  at 1915pm  on Friday, September 24 1943.   

A Guthrie     Flying Officer (Pilot)      Aged 22.     

K Runciman    Sgt (flight Engineer)       Aged 19.     

E C Cook      Flying Officer (Navigator)  Age unknown. 

T Jolly       Sgt   (Air Bomber)          Age Unknown. 

A E Woodacre  Sgt   (Wireless Operator)   Age unknown.        

L J Ellis     Sgt   (Air gunner)          Age unknown.  

A J Williams  Sgt   (Air gunner)          Aged 19.        

The Lancaster encountered heavy flack over Mannheim and came down killing all 7 crewmembers onboard. 

The crew are buried in Communal Grave 22A. 15-18, in the REICHSWALD FOREST WAR CEMETERY GERMANY, as stated above. 

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish Magazine October 1943, Family History, Local History, Royal Air Force Hendon, Bomber Command Losses Volume 4 1943.

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In Memory of

Robert Terry

Sergeant

1126976

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Who died on

Tuesday; 10th August 1943. Age 35.

Original Text

Son of John and Hannah Terry of Darlington, County Durham, husband of Mable Terry.

He also left two young children, of 3, Rose Terrace, Egglescliffe Village, County Durham.

Additional Information

Robert Terry, (Air Gunner) died on the 10th of August 1943 whilst on a bombing raid over Germany. Before joining the Royal Air Force, Terry had worked for the Robson Family, Solicitors, as a Gardner at Lane End, Butts Lane, Egglescliffe.   

Commemorative Information

Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

Grave Reference: Panel 166.

Location:  This Memorial overlooks the River Thames on Cooper's Hill at Englefield Green, between Windsor and Egham on the A308, 4 miles from Windsor.

He is also commemorated on both the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial and family Head Stone in Yarm Cemetery.

Historical Information 

The Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede commemorates by name over 20,000 airmen who were lost in the Second World War during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North and West Europe, and who have no known graves. They served in Bomber, Fighter, Coastal, Transport, Flying Training and Maintenance Commands, and came from all parts of the Commonwealth. Some were from countries in continental Europe which had been overrun but whose airmen continued to fight in the ranks of the Royal Air Force.  The memorial was designed by Sir Edward Maufe with sculpture by Vernon Hill. The engraved glass and painted ceilings were designed by John Hutton and the poem engraved on the gallery window was written by Paul H Scott.    

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Parish Register, D/S Times, Royal Air Force Records Office Hendon, Village History)

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In Memory of

HAROLD WRIGHT

Private 4458120 

1st Bn., Durham Light Infantry

who died on

Tuesday 23 December 1941. Age 22.

Original Information

The Evening Gazette on the 2.2.1942 records his death under the following heading.

"Egglescliffe Private Presumed Drowned"

Private Harold Wright, of the Durham Light Infantry, aged 22, son of Mr. & Mrs. Albert Wright of Egglescliffe Farm, Egglescliffe Village, who is missing believed drowned, in the Middle East. He worked on Mr. Bosomworth's farm, Worsall, before enlisting in November 1939. 

Additional Information: 

Harold Wright, born 18th April 1919 at Cleasby, Croft Rural District. 

His father's occupation at the time "Cowman". He was the son of Albert Edward and Eveline Elizabeth Wright (nee Dawson) of Old Hall, Manor Farm, Egglescliffe Village, County Durham.

Albert Wright moved to Egglescliffe Village along with his wife and family in 1936, to work for Mr. A. F. Smith of Manor Farm. 

His mother's name on the Birth Certificate is mis-spelt "Evelyn" by the Registrar. 

Private Harold Wright is not recorded on the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial though he enlisted from his home (Old Hall, Egglescliffe Village) in November 1939 with the Durham Light Infantry.

Mr. & Mrs. Wright, left Old Hall, Manor Farm, in the latter part of 1943 to take-up other employment at Newton Aycliffe, consequently their son's name was never put forward to be recorded on the Egglescliffe Parish War Memorial at the end of the Second World War. 

Fortunately his employer Mr. Bosomworth of Mourie Farm, Worsall, put his name forward to be recorded on the Worsall War Memorial. (His name is now virtually unreadable)

Further details regarding Private Harold Wright, will not be released by the Ministry of Defence until 2012.

Commemorative Information

Cemetery: BROOKWOOD MEMORIAL Surrey, United Kingdom

Grave or Reference: Panel 14. Column 1.

Page 2 of 3

The Brookwood Memorial stands within Brookwood Military Cemetery.

Brookwood is 30 miles from London (M3 to Bagshot and then A322).

The Memorial commemorates over 3,000 men and women of the land forces who, during the Second World War, died at sea, in the campaign in Norway in 1940, as members of raiding parties that set out from the United Kingdom, or as special agents or workers with Allied underground movements, and who have no known grave. The Memorial is made of Portland stone and the names of those commemorated are carved on panels of green slate. A separate panel commemorates the loss at sea of 639 members of the African Pioneer Corps, whose names are recorded individually on memorials in their home countries of Lesotho and Botswana. The general inscription on the Brookwood Memorial reads: 1939-1945 THIS MEMORIAL BEARS THE NAMES OF THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED MEN AND WOMEN OF THE FORCES OF THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH AND EMPIRE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY AND IN MANY FOREIGN LANDS IN HOME AND DISTANT WATERS IN THE CAMPAIGN OF 1940 IN NORWAY AND IN LATER RAIDS ON THE COAST OF EUROPE AND TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED A KNOWN AND HONOURED GRAVE. Above the general inscription on the inside of the parapet are carved the words: THE ETERNAL GOD IS THY REFUGE AND UNDERNEATH ARE THE EVERLASTING ARMS.

This is one of those classic stories of how a family moved away from the area after their son was killed; consequently his name was not put forward for inclusion on his parish memorial. 

Had it not been for Mr. Bosomworth, the name of Private Harold Wright may never have been recorded on any war memorial and would have become one of those 15,000 servicemen who are missing from war memorials throughout the world. 

Many thanks to Private Harold Wright's nice, Miss M. Wright who brought this omission to our attention. 

After reading the Debt of Honour Register a request was made to the regimental historian, Mr. G. Fraser, at the Durham Light Infantry Museum.

This was to confirm where the 1st Battalion was located in December 1941. From researching information gathered from the diary of The Durham Light Infantry At War, we can disclose the following information leading up to the recorded death of Private Harold Wright on the 23rd of December 1941. 

This information is unconfirmed by the M.O.D.

On the 23rd of December 1941 the S.S. SHUNTIEN, carrying 800-1000 prisoners of war and wounded commonwealth soldiers from Tobruk to Alexandria was torpedoed at 1908 and sunk.

The corvette SALVIA remained to pick-up survivors while other destroyers continued with the convoy. Nothing more was heard of the SALVIA until H.M.S. Peony reported oil and wreckage 90 miles east of the sinking of the SHUNTIEN, it was concluded that the SALVIA, had been torpedoed and capsized in this 

Page 3 of 3

position while returning overloaded with survivors. It is almost certain that Private Harold Wright was one of the forty soldiers from (B) Company on board the SHUNTIEN who drowned in this calamity.

Further evidence supporting our findings are recorded in the Lloyds Shipping Register covering December 1941 and German U-boat records covering the month of December 1941.

EXTRACT: LlOYDS SHIPPING REGISTER DECEMBER 1941

"The British steamship SHUNTIEN, on a voyage from Tobruk to Alexandria with 800-1000 prisoners of war on board, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine on 23rd December 1941. The captain, four officers and the chief steward were killed on board. Many of the prisoners were picked-up by a naval ship which was herself torpedoed shortly afterwards"

EXTRACT: GERMAN U-BOAT RECORDS DECEMBER 1941

U559 under the Command of Hans Heidtmann, attacked and sank the S.S. SHUNTIEN on the 23rd December1941.

U568 under the Command of Joachim Preuss, attacked and sank the corvette SALVIA on the 24th December 1941. (Time of attack is not recorded)

(Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Birth Certificate, Durham Light Infantry Museum, D.L.I. Register, History of The Durham Light Infantry At War, Parish History, Evening Gazette 2nd February 1942, Family History, Worsall War Memorial, Darlington Archives, Naval & Military Press, Lloyds Register of Shipping 1939-1946, German U-boat Register 1945-1946, Regimental Head Quarters Office Durham, D.L.I Book of Remembrance, Durham Cathedral D L I Chapel Durham, Lloyds Shipping Register December 1941, German U-boat records December 1941.

Many thanks to Mr. G. Fraser, regimental historian D.L.I, for information supplied on our behalf).

Within the Egglescliffe Parish Roll of Honour covering the World Wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945, information was gleaned from the following sources: -

Regimental Associations and Museums:

Richmond - The Green Howards  

York - The East Yorkshire Regiment

Sheffield - The West Yorkshire Regiment 

Pontefract - The Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

Durham City - The Durham Light Infantry

Royal Air Force - Hendon

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Canadian Army Archives

Ministry of Defence

Officers Died in the Great War

Soldiers Died in the Great War

Naval & Military Press Ltd

Reference Libraries 

City of London Guildhall Library 

Stockton-on-Tees

Cleveland 

Northallerton

County Archive - Durham

Family History (Relatives) 

For which thanks are due for their patience and invaluable help.

Mr. D. Bell.                           Mr. D.N. Revell.

8 Millfield Close                      142 Darlington Lane

Egglescliffe                           Stockton-on-Tees       

Stockton-on-Tees