Prayer book that stopped German bayonet being thrust into Somme hero’s chest is donated to DLI collection

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 …

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.

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 …

In a quiet, shady spot overlooking the gently rolling French countryside, a wrong going back 100 years was finally righted yesterday.

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.

EXACTLY 100 years ago today was the Durham Light Infantry’s bloodiest day on the Somme.

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.

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.

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.

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 family of a soldier killed in the Battle of the Somme have attended a special football match played in his honour.

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.

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.

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.

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.

THE centenary of the Battle of the Somme is being commemorated at a North-East museum with a weekend of activities.

THE country will fall silent on Friday to honour those who gave their lives in the bloodiest battle in British military history.

AN old photograph kept in a biscuit tin has reunited a family.

YOUNGSTERS from the region will be among a national schools delegation travelling to France next month to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

THE village of Evenwood was on tenterhooks 100 years ago. The whole country had been waiting for nearly two years for the Royal Navy – the pride of the nation – to join the war, and on May 31, 1916, …

A DURHAM University student has taken the first steps in a poignant 950-mile journey on foot to the battlefields of the Somme.

ONE hundred years ago this weekend, 16 men were secretly spirited out of the dungeons of Richmond castle and sent by train to the killing fields of northern France where their own government hoped they would be shot at dawn …

HISTORIANS from Germany and Britain have collaborated on what’s believed to be a unique bilingual book about the German bombardment of the East coast in 1914.

GRAFFITI which reveals an often-forgotten chapter of the First World War is to be saved from crumbling away to dust.