Person

Submitted by a relative:

Private William Harkness Norton of the 16th Batalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, died on 22nd August 1916 aged just 19 years old. He was one of three brothers to my great-grandma Amelia. All three of these young men were wounded during the First World War, however, William died on the battlefield near the French village of Cambrin, some 18 miles south of Lille. He is buried in the Cambrin Churchyard Extension, Row Q, Grave 23.

Although he would never meet his nephews or nieces, his sister Amelia named her eldest son William in memory of her younger brother. Her son Billy, as he was known, had a strong sense of keeping his family history alive and ensured that from a young age that I knew my own great-great uncles had experienced the horrors of the Somme.

I currently have only one rather bad photocopied image of William. His angular, moustachioed face makes him look older than his 19 years, but what I find striking is just how normal he looks. At the time that the photograph was taken, he surely could not have imagined in his most disturbing nightmares about the horrendous conditions he would endure in the months and years to follow. I find it a rather tragic and haunting photograph that I certainly find myself thinking about from time to time. I have been able to find his grave stone thanks to the War Graves Commission website but I hope to visit Cambrin Churchyard Extension one day soon and put a first name- and face- to the limestone grave marker.

From the Durham at War Team:

The Shields Gazette of Saturday 23 September 1916 carried a notice of a memorial service for William to take place on Sunday at 9am in Saint Jude’s Church. The notice states that William was the dearly beloved youngest son of Fred and Dorothy Norton and ends with the words “Deeply Mourned.”

Civil Parish: South Shields

Birth date: 1897

Death date: 22-Aug-1916

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 288 Alice Street, South Shields (1901 census)
92 Ashley Road, Tyne Dock, South Shields (1911 census and CWGC)

Employment: Draughtsman, High Docks (Smith’s Dock Company, Book of Remembrance)

Family: Mother: Dorothy Norton (1901 and 1911 censuses)
Father: Frederick Norton (CWGC)
Siblings: Annie Norton, Dorothy Norton, Frederick Norton, Amelia Norton, James Norton (1901 and 1911 censuses)

Military service:

Service number: 16/1131
16th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers

Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal
1915 Star

Memorial(s): Cambrin Churchyard Extension, Pas de Calais, France
Smith’s Dock Company, South Shields, Book of Remembrance (at Tyne and Wear Archives and Musuems)
Saint Mary’s Churchyard, South Shields, Memorial Cross (relocated to Tyne Dock, junction of Saint Mary’s Street and South Eldon Street)

Gender: Male

Contributed by joeprestoncarroll, London