In St. Michael’s Churchyard is a Commonwealth War Grave which reads:

W. Nixon
Able Seaman RN P/SSX 17748
H.M.S. Menestheus
15th February 1941 age 25

The eternal God
is thy refuge
and underneath
are the everlasting arms.

The son of Thomas Nixon and of Eleanor M. Nixon, of Hawthorn.

William was born in 1918 the son of Thomas and Eleanora M. (nee Langthorne) Nixon of Hawthorn. In September 1939 the family were living at Glenesk Hawthorn. However, William is not at home as he was already serving with the Navy. In 1941 he was mentioned in dispatches for courage and skill in dealing with an unexploded bomb. He was serving on HMS Menestheus, a mine layer and was injured and discharged.

The Sunderland Echo 17/07/1943 in an article about the Sir John Priestman Hospital for Disabled being opened at Finchale, Durham mentions William – discharged in 1941 after 5 years’ service unable to find work since then, about to be trained as a welder.

William married Margaret A. Smith in 1943 and died 15th February 1944 (from his wounds?) and is buried with a Commonwealth War Graves Headstone in Hawthorn Church yard.

William Nixon is remembered at Hawthorn on H119.01 and in our List of Ships’ Crews.