To commemorate the centenary of the declaration of War between Great Britain and Germany,like many others we turned out the lights at 10.00 pm last night and paid our respect to the thousands that went to war and never returned. We all have someone in our family that went to war and this is Pte William John Lathlane who answered the call and gave the ultimate sacrifice. On a visit to the PRO at Kew back in 1997 I discovered that his war service papers had survived,one of only a few that did during enemy air action from the 1939-1945 war. They come under the 'Burnt Documents' and from these we were able to learn so much about this brave young man. Between 1910-1914 he had served in the Territorial Army with the Tynemouth Royal Garrison Artillery,a commitment of weekly meetings and a annual camp taken on the Isle of Wight. His 4 year term came to an end on the 5th March 1914.
He signed up for the regular army on the 1st October 1914. After time at the HQ in Newcastle upon Tyne he was posted to join the 8th Battalion,Northumberland Fusiliers who were already at camp in Lincolnshire at Belton Park. He became part of the Infantry machine gun unit and after time in Lincolnshire the battalion was moved to Witley Camp near Goldaming. On the 31st May 1915 the 11th Northern Division to which the 8th Battalion was attached to was inspected by His Majesty the King. 2nd July 1915 the Division set sail for service in the Mediterranean leaving on the SS Aquitania from Liverpool arriving at Mudros Island 28th July 1915. Nine days later the Division was in action for the very first time taking part in the British landings on the shores of Suvla Bay,Gallipoli. Somehow he came through the horror of this campaign,of the 28 Officers and 961 men that left England with the 8th Northumberland Fusiliers,only 3 Officers and 198 men were left after the Gallipoli campaign. After the evacuation the battalion was in Egypt where William became a member of the newly formed Machine Gun Corps. Still attached with the 11th Northern Division so still serving along side his mates. They set sail for Europe on 3rd July 1916 and took part in the last battles of the 'Battle of the Somme' in northern France. He was granted leave back to the UK where on the 6th December 1916 he married his sweetheart Esther Isabel Simpson at Cullercoats,Tynemouth. He returned to join his comrades on the 9th December and sadly during a number of small operations in early 1917 he lost his life on the 11th January,he was 26 years old. His body was never recovered and like many others from the Somme area his war service record tells us "no known grave".
He is commemorated on the memorial to the missing at Thiepval on the Somme,listed are the names of 73,412 men who died on the Somme battlefields and have no known grave. His widow Esther died at Cullercoats 9th August 1931 aged 42.Thank you for taking the time to read about him, we shall never forget him or all those that gave the ultimate sacrifice. Simon Lathlane

Tags:   Northumberland Fusiliers Machine Gun Corps Gallipoli Somme WW1 Great War Cullercoats

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Well who would have thought it Leicester City Premier League Champions. I was at Old Trafford for the game on Sunday with my son James, we are United supporters I've been a red devil from 1977 and James from 1999. A win on Sunday for the Foxes would have clinched the title but it all came together for them after last nights draw between Chelsea and Tottenham. They received a standing ovation after the game from all the United supporters and rightly so after a fantastic season. Congratulations Leicester City a great day for all football lovers from whatever club you follow.

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