A remarkable place, Tweedmouth Cemetery. At least to my eyes. Although there are only three First World War CWGC headstones to be found here, a close inspection of as many as possible of the other headstones revealed no less than thirty eight other inscriptions to husbands, sons, brothers & nephews killed in action in France, Flanders or further afield. On none of my other trips around the country have I come across anything like that number, although I suspect there are clear social and economic reasons why this so sadly turned out to be the case, and I have no doubt there are many other places that can boast similar numbers.
So take a trip with me around Tweedmouth Cemetery, where so many local young men are remembered for laying down their lives for King and Country in a foreign field. Some of the inscriptions are difficult to read, as you might expect, but I have now (2018) annotated most of them. The bodies of quite a number, as you will see, are buried in cemeteries, or their names appear on memorials, that we have visited on this site over the last seven years.
Above & below: Corporal Thomas Hope Fell, Northumberland Fusiliers, who died on active service on 25th April 1915 aged 28, and is buried in Seaforth Cemetery, Cheddar Villa.
Above & below: Private David Flannigan, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, who was killed in action in France on 23rd July 1918 aged 27, and is buried in Buzancy Military Cemetery on the Aisne.
Above & below: Private James Menin, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), was killed in action at Avesnes, France, on 9th November 1918, just two days before the Armistice, aged only 19. He is buried in Maubege-Centre Cemetery.
Three brothers, all dead within two and a half years of each other. Lance Corporal Alexander Noble, Northumberland Fusiliers, died on 26th April 1915 and his name appears on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, Serjeant Charles Norman Noble, also Northumberland Fusiliers, aged 24, died on 10th June 1917 and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, and a third brother, George, died in Australia in November 1917.
Above & below: Private Robert Fish Hills, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, killed near Arras on 9th March 1916, aged 30. He is buried in Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez.
Above & below: Private Richard Hogg, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, killed in action in France on 23rd January 1918, aged 36, and buried in Fins New British Cemetery, Sorel-le-Grand.
Above & below: Joseph Henry Boston, Royal Scots, killed in action at Gentelles, France, on 31st March 1918, aged 21. His body was never recovered, as with many of the men in this cemetery, and his name can be found on the Pozières Memorial.
Private James Gosser, 10th Bn. Canadian Infantry, killed in action at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on 9th April 1917, aged 24. Another man whose body was never found, his name is on the Vimy Memorial.
Private Thomas Hartley, Northumberland Fusiliers, killed at St. Julien, 26th April 1915, aged 25. His name is among the nearly 55,000 on the Menin Gate.
Private Thomas Weatherburn Dumble, Northumberland Fusiliers, died of wounds received in France, 6th October 1918, aged 22.
Above & below: Chief Artificier Engineer James Anderson, Royal Navy, who lost his life during the sinking of H.M.S. Viking on 29th January 1916, aged 49. His name can be found on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Trooper John Rea Jackson, Imperial Yeomanry, killed in action at Kaalkraal in the South African War, 31st May 1902, aged 25.
Above & below: Rifleman John Straffen, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, killed in action in France, 15th September 1916, aged 36. His name is on the Thiepval Memorial.
Private Osvald Skeen, Northumberland Fusiliers, died of wounds received in action in France, 20th June 1917, aged 35, and now buried in Etaples Military Cemetery.
Second Lieutenant Robert Cooper Clements, Northumberland Fusiliers, killed in action in France, 8th August 1918, aged 35. He is buried in Outtersteene Communal Cemetery Extension, Bailleul.
Above & below: The name on this headstone appears to be that of Private Thomas Bickerton, killed in action at Arras, France, aged 24, but I can find no casualty of that name on the CWGC database.
Private William Grieve, Northumberland Fusiliers, killed in action at St. Ledger, France on 21st March 1918 aged 23, although the CWGC database says 20th March. His name is on the Arras Memorial.
Private William Skelly, Northumberland Fusiliers, killed in action in France on 25th March 1918 aged 29. His name too can be found on the Arras Memorial.
Private Thomas Neilson, Royal Scots, died of wounds received in action in France, 30th April 1917, aged 26. He is buried in Duisans British Cemetery, Etrun.
Lieutenant John Marshall, Royal Army Medical Corps, lost at sea on 15th15th April 1917 aged 29. His name is on the Mikra Memorial, Thessalonika, Greece.
W. Grant served as Stoker 1st Class W. Hope, Royal Navy, and died on 5th December 1920, aged 40. H.M.S. Pembroke was, at the time, the name for the Royal Naval Barracks at Chatham in Kent.
Private William Heslop, Royal Scots, killed in action in France on 15th March 1917 aged 23 and buried in Faubourg D’Amiens Cemetery, Arras, and Regimental Serjeant Major Thomas Heslop, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), who died in France on 6th November 1918 aged 28, and is buried in Busigny Communal Cemetery Extension.
Above & below: Private Adam Makins, Grenadier Guards,, who died from wounds received in action on 22nd October 1918 aged 19, and is buried in Carnieres Communal Cemetery Extension.
Private James Thompson, Royal Scots, who died on 10th August 1918 aged 22, and is buried here in Tweedmouth Cemetery.
Private John James Todd, 3rd Bn. Central Ontario Regiment, who died of wounds in France on 6th September 1916 aged 24. He is buried in Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension No. 1 on the Somme.
Peter Lamb, aged 29, was a Leading Signalman aboard H.M.S. Victory, based in Portsmouth, who died on 2nd June 1916.
Seaman George Robertson, Royal Naval Reserve, died on 17th June 1915 aged 35, and is buried in Gillingham (Woodlands) Cemetery, Kent.
Private Stafford Wilson, Otago Regiment, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, killed in action in France 15th September 1916 aged 30, and buried in Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval, on the Somme.
Second Corporal Joseph Elliott, Australian Tunnelling Corps, who was killed in action on 13th June 1917, aged 27, and is buried in Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm).
Lance Corporal Norman Elliott, Royal Scots, who fell in action in France on 12th October 1918 aged 19, and is buried in Philosophe British Cemetery, Mazingarbe.
Father & son: Private Henry Demee, Seaforth Highlanders, killed in action at the Battle of Loos, France on 25th September 1915 aged 29 (his name is on the Loos Memorial), & Richard Wood Demee, Royal Artillery, killed in action in Italy, on 23rd November 1943 aged 28, and now buried in Minturno War Cemetery.
Private Thomas Dryden, Northumberland Fusiliers, who died at Brussels as a prisoner-of-war on 4th November 1918 aged 41, and is buried in Tournai Communal Cemetery Allied Extension.
Above & below: Private William Frederick Scott, Northumberland Fusliers, who fell in action at Arras on 9th April 1917 aged 21. He is buried in Bailleul Road East Cemetery, St. Laurent-Blangy.
Private Thomas Laing Robson, Northumberland Fusiliers, who died of wounds in France on 11th April 1917 aged 22, and is buried in Savy British Cemetery on the Aisne.
Corporal D. Sykes, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, who died on 7th February 1917.
Private John Brison, Northumberland Fusiliers, killed in action in France on 30th April 1917 aged 18 and buried in Duisans British Cemetery, Etrun.
Private Richard King, Royal Scots, killed in Belgium on 25th April 1918 aged 26, and buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, near Poperinghe.
Above & below: Private Walter Armstrong, Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), died of wounds received in action on 25th January 1918 aged 19. He is buried in Port Said War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt.
Private William McIntosh Trotter, 3rd Bn. Canadian Infantry, killed in action at Ypres on 21st April 1915 aged 35. The CWGC database gives his date of death as 3rd June 1915. His name can be found on the Vimy Memorial.
Rifleman Robert Adam Watson Robison, killed in action on 15th July 1916 aged 22. His name is on the Thiepval Memorial.
Above & below: Second Lieutenant Nichol Elliot, Northamptonshire Regiment, attached 2nd Trench Mortar Battery, formerly London Regiment (Artists’ Rifles), killed in Belgium on 10th July 1917 aged 45. His name can be found on the Nieuport Memorial.
Private Robert Faed Bell, Northumberland Fusiliers, who fell in action in France on 16th April 1918 aged 21. This is a good example of how people at home referred to Belgium & France as simple ‘France’, as his name can be found on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
Lance Corporal William Hunter, Northumberland Fusiliers killed in action in France on 1st October 1915 aged 21. He is buried in Houplines Communal Cemetery Extension.
So many. And what I haven’t yet mentioned is that there are a considerable number of World War II burials and commemorations here as well. As you will see if you click here.
Just to let you know I visited this blog on Northumberland graves. You certainly travel afar. Barb and I had a day trip out of Edinburgh 5 years ago to the region.
Cool. Tweedmouth Cemetery in particular was an eye-opener – so many names, and yet, if you think about it, what did you do in the North East for a job in the early 20th Century? Agriculture, industry (mining), fishing, and the army, I guess. Yes, I do travel afar when opportunity presents itself – have just come back from Cornwall, and although I have visited many of the war memorials etc in the county, there are still plenty still to do. Just a couple on this trip though.