by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Durham, In Your Town, Latest
A SOLDIER’S prayer book, which saved his life when he was bayoneted in the chest, has been donated to a North-East military collection. First World War Durham Light Infantryman Tommy Crawford was just a teenager when he charged into a German trench, only to see his...
by Chris Lloyd | Durham, In Your Town, Latest
I HAVE travelled from the Somme to the Wear this week looking at riverbank benches. They have been installed, partly through the generosity of readers of The Northern Echo, to commemorate the sacrifices made by the Durham Pals in the First World War. The...
by Chris Lloyd | In Your Town, Latest, People, Stockton
THE family of a village’s only soldier killed in action during the First World War have come forward with the last letter he sent home before his death. Relatives of Private Henry Johnson attended a centenary remembrance service and parade for him in the village of...
by Chris Lloyd | Durham, In Your Town, Latest
BESIDE the bandstand on the banks of the River Wear, on September 24, 1914, the young men of Durham – all friends together – gathered on the grassy expanse of the Racecourse and took the first steps on a journey that would lead them, within two years, to the slaughter...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Durham, In Your Town, Latest
In a quiet, shady spot overlooking the gently rolling French countryside, a wrong going back 100 years was finally righted yesterday. A bench commemorating the ultimate sacrifice of hundreds of Durham Pals was unveiled on the Somme, following a fund-raising campaign...
by Chris Lloyd | Harrogate, In Your Town, Latest, Ripon
A MEMORIAL honouring the actions of a teacher-turned-soldier who is among an elite group of people to have received both the Victoria and Military Cross will be unveiled at a ceremony attended by several members of his family. The commemorative service to Archie...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Durham, In Your Town, Latest
EXACTLY 100 years ago today was the Durham Light Infantry’s bloodiest day on the Somme. In one 24 hour period, 405 men were killed. Most of them perished in the Battle of Flers Courcelette, which was the first engagement in which the British deployed their new-fangled...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Stockton
A MAN’s efforts to achieve recognition for a farmer’s son who was killed in the Battle of the Somme during the First World War are to result in a remembrance service on the centenary of his death. Joe Kenny was struck by the fact that Private Henry Johnson was the...
by Chris Lloyd | Barnard Castle, Centenary, In Your Town, Latest
A SOLDIER dubbed the real-life Saving Private Ryan after he was brought home from the First World War when his five brothers were killed will be commemorated during a special service next week. Wilfred Smith, of Barnard Castle, County Durham, was the only surviving...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Thirsk, York
A COURAGEOUS earl who died while standing up to rally his troops in the “unadulterated hell” of the Somme battlefield is to be honoured with a commemoration service. The Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu will join the Feversham family and parishioners at All Saint’s...
by Chris Lloyd | Bishop Auckland, Centenary, Darlington, In Your Town, Latest
WE are unlikely to ever see again the dedication to duty and bravery of the North-East brothers nicknamed The Fighting Bradfords, says playwright Carina Rodney about putting the story of the four First World War heroes on stage. The production about the medal-winning...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Shildon
THE family of a soldier killed in the Battle of the Somme have attended a special football match played in his honour. Next month marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Sidney Wheelhouse, who turned out for his home town team of Bishop Auckland at the age of just...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Middlesbrough
A UNIQUE display of knitted poppies is being created to mark a special tribute to a community’s fallen in conflicts from around the world. A carpet of hand-knitted poppies will be installed in front of the war memorial and train station at Nunthorpe, near...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Middlesbrough, People, York
EXACTLY 100 years ago this weekend, two brave local soldiers – one a VC, the other a MC – were killed in the same trench on the Somme. The first to die was Lt George Butterworth of the 8th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, who was the most promising composer of...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Darlington, Durham, In Your Town, Latest, Middlesbrough
A RELATIVE has revealed the fate of two soldiers captured in a rare photograph as they made their way to the Somme – where both would be casualties on the first day of that momentous battle. Jim Whitton of Darlington immediately recognised the image of his great uncle...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Durham, In Your Town, Latest
HISTORIANS are looking for help tracing the identity of First World War soldiers captured on photographs as they waited to go over the top 100 years ago. As the Battle of the Somme raged in 1916, men from the Durham Light Infantry queued to have their pictures taken...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Stanley
THE centenary of the Battle of the Somme is being commemorated at a North-East museum with a weekend of activities. Beamish Museum, near Stanley, County Durham, will remember the soldiers and communities affected by the devastating First World War campaign from...
by Chris Lloyd | Durham, In Your Town, Latest
THE country will fall silent on Friday to honour those who gave their lives in the bloodiest battle in British military history. In cities and villages across the region, the sacrifice of thousands of ordinary soldiers killed or injured during the Battle of the Somme...
by Chris Lloyd | DLI Somme Diary, Durham, In Your Town, War Stories
In the final part of his series tracing the battalion’s march to the Battle of the Somme, Tony Kearney finds the Durham Pals on the eve of slaughter. EXACTLY 100 years ago today, a former railway fitter lazed in the sun in a French farmyard, his back against a barn...
by Chris Lloyd | Bishop Auckland, Centenary, In Your Town, Latest
AN old photograph kept in a biscuit tin has reunited a family. Margaret Eason took the old snapshot of her great uncle Arthur Corner to an open day at Durham County Record Office, which was collecting material for its Lottery-funded Durham At War project. All she knew...
