A STRIKING display of almost 20,000 hand-crafted poppies will be unveiled in West Cornforth in honour of boys and men who paid the ultimate sacrifice during the First World War.

ONE hundred years ago, the telegram boys in the North-East were beginning one of their busiest periods of the First World War, delivering dreadful news to the families of young men out fighting in Flanders fields.

A RARE First World War wireless station is among five historically significant places listed today to mark 70 years of protecting England’s significant buildings.

THE deaths of seven North-East sailors 100 years ago today in one of the most heinous crimes of the First World War will be marked during a poignant ceremony.

A WAR memorial dedicated to a soldier tragically killed as he waited to be transferred back to England carrying his comrades’ letters from the front has been given protected status.

THE homecoming of a miner who won a Victoria Cross while serving as a Western Front stretcher bearer is set to be re-enacted in a pit town.

This summer will mark the centenary of one of World War One’s most infamous battles – Passchendaele. Ahead of the anniversary, David Young journeys to Belgium to explore a still scarred landscape where 100 years ago his grandfather was wounded …

A VILLAGE intent on marking the exact time of death of each of its villagers killed fighting during the First World War has just held its 27th memorial service.

THE centenary of a North-East miner’s gallantry on a First World War battlefield was marked with the unveiling of a commemorative stone heralding the act of valour.

A £50,000 project is being launched to explore the story of the only two brothers to be awarded the Victoria Cross in the First World War and the village in which they live.

A VICTORIA CROSS winner is to be permanently commemorated as part of a day of events in the County Durham village of Witton Park, where he was born.

THE Remembrance Sunday special edition of The Northern Echo provided an enormous shock for Arnold Stewart.

WHAT time are you reading this? At 9.10am this very day 100 years ago, hundreds of Durham men slithered up out of their rain-lashed trenches on the Somme and tried to wade through waist-deep sticky mud to attack a heavily …

ON the day the nation remembers our brave fallen, it has emerged two North-East towns suffered greater losses than most.

MORE than 50 memorials commemorating fallen soldiers across the region have been listed to mark the centenary of the First World War.

Romantic, caring, both brave and afraid… the wartime experiences of a County Durham soldier are revealed through a series of treasured postcards – many sent home from the Somme. Chris Lloyd tells Private Abraham Stewart’s story.

THOUGH the year of Durham Remembers events is coming to an end, the opportunities to discover the story of the Durham Light Infantry and the county’s brave servicemen is far from over.

THIS month sees the end of this year’s series of events and activities across the country marking the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

THE family of a soldier awarded the Victoria Cross for leading a counter-attack, against greatly superior numbers, during a key part of the Battle of the Somme have spoken of their pride after a memorial to honour him was unveiled …

The battalions of the Durham Light Infantry paid heavily for its infamous assault on the Butte de Warlencourt, an ugly mound of land dubbed ‘that miniature Gibraltar’. Chris Lloyd counts the cost.