by Chris Lloyd | Darlington, In Your Town, Latest, People
OF all the terrible consequences of war in the way of personal disfigurement and incapacitation, none can compare with the distress of total blindness, ” began an article in The Northern Echo on March 7, 1916. “Unfortunately, that affliction has affected....
by Chris Lloyd | Ferryhill, In Your Town, Latest, People
HAVING been badly injured twice down Mainsforth Colliery, Joseph Weston decided to join up in 1917. Then, instead of being injured by the enemy, he found himself subjected to the torture of Field Punishment Number One by his own side. “I used to ask him questions and...
by Chris Lloyd | In Your Town, People, Yorkshire Dales
Norman was the younger son of William Atkinson Procter and Rebecca Procter of the Manor House, Rylstone. They owned much land in the area as part of the Cracoe Estate and were local benefactors. Norman was educated at Gresham’s School, Holt, in Norfolk, and joined the...
by Chris Lloyd | In Your Town, People, Yorkshire Dales
In 1891, John Scott, or Jack as he was known, was a two year old, living with his family at the hamlet of Whaw, in Arkengarthdale. His father, James, was a miner in the nearby Arkengarthdale lead mines and had married a local girl, Hannah Caygill. By 1901 the family...
by Chris Lloyd | Diary of Gunner George James, Durham, In Your Town, Latest, People, War Stories
Over six months, The Northern Echo serialised a First World War diary which was kindly lent to us by John Tyson, of Eaglescliffe. The diary was written by Gunner George James, who hailed from Littletown, a mining village a few miles to the east of Durham City, near...
by Chris Lloyd | In Your Town, Kirk Merrington, Latest, People
Looking back from the centrally-heated 21st Century at lives lived more than 100 years ago, they appear very tough and rather cruel. Memories 155 began to tell the story of Rifleman Edward Roberts, who lies beneath the only First World War headstone in Kirk Merrington...
by Chris Lloyd | Darlington, In Your Town, Latest, People
At the start of the Great War, Joseph Pease, great-grandson of South Durham’s first MP, was spoiling for a fight. By the end, he felt ‘soldiering is a waste of life’. ON October 11, 1914, Joseph Pease wrote to his father: “What the –––– is the matter with the War...
by Chris Lloyd | Darlington, In Your Town, Latest, People
Dora is enveloped in a huge army greatcoat. It is buttoned up to her neck, its enormous collars flapping around her ears, the epaulettes sloping off her slender shoulders, and the long sleeves scrunched up around her elbows so that her hands are free. SHE peers out...
by Chris Lloyd | Ferryhill, In Your Town, Latest, People
Ferryhill History Society has raided its archives once again to produce a calendar for the new year. One of its May pin-ups is Lance Corporal Arthur Dixon, who is pictured on a makeshift dais in the Market Place in 1916 being presented with a bravery medal. LANCE...
by Chris Lloyd | Bishop Auckland, Latest, People
A book by a former Aycliffe headteacher tells the story of the Fighting Bradfords, four brothers who fought for their country in the First World War. The “Fighting Bradfords” were truly extraordinary: four brothers who between them during the First World War won two...
by Chris Lloyd | People, VC Recipients
THE story of Stockton’s only Victoria Cross winner who inadvertently sparked the protest against the “damnable banquet” is worth re-telling. Edward Cooper was born in Portrack in 1896, left school at 14 and worked as a fruit cart salesman for the...
by Chris Lloyd | People
Cumberland Street is a very ordinary North-East street. It is a series of two-up two-down terraces built in mid-Victorian times to house industrial workers. It is in the north end of Darlington, and many of its male residents worked in the North Road Shops building...
by Chris Lloyd | People, VC Recipients
“I must confess that it was the biggest fluke alive and I did nothing, ” Second Lieutenant Donald Bell of the Green Howards wrote home on July 7, 1916. “I only chucked one bomb, but it did the trick. The C.C. says I saved the situation for this gun...
by Chris Lloyd | Darlington, People
With the help of Stephen Erskine, Echo Memories traces the life and death of a Hurworth schoolteacher. LIEUTENANT John Gill Appleby “Died Splendidly!”, according to the headline in The Northern Echo on August 9, 1916. But the death, on the Somme, of this...
by Chris Lloyd | Bishop Auckland, People, VC Recipients
To commemorate St George’s Day, Chris Lloyd tells of a George who was born on that day and who fell on that day, giving his life for his country. EARLY in 1918, the Royal Navy requested volunteers from within its ranks for an extremely dangerous mission....
by Chris Lloyd | Darlington, People
EDWARD and James Lyall grew up in Darlington. Their family home was in Vane Terrace; their father’s office was in Northgate; they attended the local grammar school. After these ordinary beginnings, both brothers sought foreign adventure in South America. One was...
by Chris Lloyd | Darlington, People
Two Darlington 19-year-olds took to the air to fight for the country in the Great War. Memories recalls their parallel lives and valiant deaths. John Worstenholm and Harold Easby were born nearly a year apart in Darlington at the end of the 19th Century. In their...
