by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Diary of Gunner George James, Durham, In Your Town, Latest, War Stories
THIS is the latest excerpt of Gunner George James’ Diary, written exactly 98 years ago on the Western Front, by a Durham miner. George had grown up in the small pit village of Littletown, a couple of miles east of Durham City. He left school at 13, and after six years...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Crook, In Your Town, Latest
A SCHOOL whose oak trees were the first memorial to the First World War have planted a new sapling to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the conflict. In March 1918, Wolsingham Grammar School, now called Wolsingham School and Community College, in County...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Stanley
A STEAM railway will transport visitors back in time during a weekend of events to commemorate its role during the First World War. Tanfield Railway, near Stanley, County Durham, has teamed up with military re-enactors Durham Pals to bring back the sights, smells and...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Darlington, In Your Town, Latest
HEAD of Steam museum staff are to visit St Mark’s Church, Darlington, next month (April) to talk about their new project and recruit volunteers. Staff will be at the North Road church on April 9 to discuss the North East Railways in World War One project which focuses...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Darlington, In Your Town, Latest
PRIMARY school pupils helped to sow the seeds of Remembrance in Darlington, where free poppy seeds are being handed out to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. Youngsters at Corporation Road Primary School were the first in the town to sow the free seeds,...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Newcastle
DRAWINGS, poetry and details of more than 120 injured servicemen collected by a nurse tending to them during the First World War will be the highlight of a North-East auctioneer’s next sale. The fascinating snapshot has been captured in a “commonplace...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Newcastle
A FALLEN soldier from the North-East is among ten to be positively identified almost 100 years after were killed during the early months of the First World War. An appeal has also been issued to trace the descendants of two other soldiers from the region yet to be...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Newton Aycliffe
A MILITARY artist will commemorate the centenary of the First World War with his biggest and most important painting to date. Ex-serviceman John Palliser, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, will unveil the finished oil painting on Armed Forces Day (Saturday, June 28),...
by Chris Lloyd | In Your Town, Latest, Stockton, War Stories
ON the cover of Memories 168, there was a postcard showing First World War soldiers who had had bits of their bodies blown away. They, though, were surprisingly happy, raising their crutches and walking sticks for the camera, and saluting with their false limbs....
by Chris Lloyd | Diary of Gunner George James, Durham, In Your Town, Latest, War Stories
Since Christmas, Memories has been serialising the First World War diary of Gunner George James, a miner from the Durham pit village of Littletown. We are following his war on the Western Front as it unfolded exactly 98 years ago. IN our excerpts so far, we’ve told...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Hartlepool, In Your Town, Latest, War Stories
Touching, handwritten messages and drawings from First World War soldiers, many of whom were killed, have been discovered in Hartlepool. Chris Webber reports. DEEP in the pages of a fragile, 100-year-old book compiled by Private William Tucker, are two pressed...
by Chris Lloyd | Hartlepool, In Your Town, Latest, War Stories
Early morning on December 16, 1914, Mary Stainthorpe, 13, was among an excited hubbub of children boarding their usual train taking them from their colliery homes in Durham to their grammar school at the coast. ONLY that morning the train didn’t take them to school in...
by Chris Lloyd | Bishop Auckland, Centenary, Crook, In Your Town, Latest
HISTORIANS have launched a two year project to research all their fellow villagers who died during the First World War. Howden-le-Wear History Society has received £8,000 from the National Lottery to create a book about the 30 men named on the village’s war memorial....
by Chris Lloyd | Bishop Auckland, Centenary, Harrogate, In Your Town, Latest, Newcastle
AS the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War looms, the extraordinary courage of a true hero of the conflict has been immortalised in bronze. Former professional footballer Donald Bell was awarded the Victoria Cross for his exploits at the Battle of the...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Stockton
THE horrors of the First World War were brought to life when the Thornaby Needs You exhibition went on display. People were able to learn all about war in a day packed full of drama performances, readings and activities. Throughout today (Monday, March 3) the...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Hartlepool, In Your Town, Latest
A MYSTERY object from the First World War has come to light. What appears to be a grave marker relating to the so-called Old Contemptibles who were regular soldiers involved in early battles in the war, has been handed in to the Heugh Battery Museum in Hartlepool. The...
by Chris Lloyd | In Your Town, Latest, People, Stockton
At 2am on August 4, 1916, Private William Bailey, right, rose up out of his trench and launched himself over the top. Suddenly, he felt a terrible stinging sensation in his right leg which caused him to topple into the mud of the Somme. A machine gun bullet had...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, York
IT’S a sight not seen for almost a century – and sure to quicken the heart of any aviation enthusiast. The tiny Eastchurch Kitten was an experimental First World War fighter, an interceptor designed to tackle the threat posed by Zeppelins. The prototype first flew in...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Darlington, Hartlepool, In Your Town, Latest
THE sights and sounds of the First World War were brought back to life at the weekend. A living history group evoked the misery of life in the trenches for Darlington residents when they visited the town on Saturday. The Time Bandits, a historical interpretation...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Crook, In Your Town, Latest
A VILLAGE’S memorial clock has been repaired in time to mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War after a fundraising effort by residents. The clock has been restored and reinstated at Westgate Village Hall after villagers raised £15,700, nearly £5,000...
