Person

John Forbes was born in Winlaton on 17 May 1896. He lived with his parents, Thomas and Catherine, both of who came from Winlaton. By the age of 14, John was working as a colliery driver above ground. His father worked below ground as a hewer. According to Thomas and Catherine’s census return in 1911, they had had 11 children, three of whom died in infancy. By 1911, just John and two of his sisters were still living at the family home at 8 Corner House, Winlaton.

John attested on 11 December 1915, aged 19 years. He was put into the Army Reserve and joined up at Newcastle on 19 March 1917. He was initially posted to 5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry (DLI). He was subsequently transferred to 2nd DLI on 27 January 1918. John’s service record then notes that he was sent to the front on 29 January and that he joined his battalion on 5 February. Just six weeks later, on 21 March 1918, he was recorded as missing. This date marked the beginning of the German counter-attack which was known as the Spring Offensive (see link to blog post, below).

Before leaving England, John married Florence May Bennett, also of Winalton, on 14 January 1918. Their marriage certificate survives as part of John’s army service record. It shows that both Florence and John’s father, Thomas, were employed as munitions workers at the time of the wedding. John’s service record also contains a number of pieces of correspondence, asking Florence for her marriage certificates (she remarried on 28 July 1919).

It seems that John was taken prisoner of war during the Spring Offensive. Unfortunately, the International Red Cross records only contain a death record for John so it isn’t possible to trace which camps he was held at and when. However, we can tell that he was taken to Alsace, which at the time was part of Germany and which was ceded back to France after the war. John died at Rothau in Alsace at a Feldlazarett (field hospital) on 10 July 1918. According to German prisoner of war records, he died of typhus and was buried at “Albert Klakett”.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) records seem to show that he was reburied after his death. John was exhumed from La Broque French Military Cemetery and reburied at Plaine on 23 April 1924. Previously he seems to have been buried at Schirmeck, very close to La Broque, and was possibly disinterred in 1920 (CWGC documents aren’t very clear). The CWGC did much of this “concentration” work in the years following the war. Small and scattered burial grounds were dug up and the bodies reburied in larger cemeteries which would be easier for relatives to visit.

International Red Cross, Prisoner of War database:
https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/List/5461886/698/34812/

Durham at War Blog, First Day of the Spring Offensive, 1918:
http://ww1countydurham.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-beginning-of-spring-offensive.html

From John Caldwell:

To put the story in context Plaine French National Cemetery is in the Vosges Mountains roughly mid way between Nancy and Strasbourg. I had always wondered why there were Commonwealth war graves in this area. On our visit in the summer we came across a small museum dedicated to the history of the 1914 – 1918 war, as it impacted on this area, in a place called Pierre Percee. One of the staff had been seconded to the SAS whilst serving in the French army and his English was excellent. He explained that no British or Commonwealth soldiers ever fought in this area which is at the extreme southern end of the Western Front, nearly at the Swiss border. This part of the front was held by French forces and latterly by the Americans.

In the early years of the war Russian prisoners were forced to work on the infrastructure that helped to supply the German forces in the Vosges area. However after the Russian revolution the Russians signed a peace agreement with the Germans and all these prisoners of war were repatriated to Russia. In order for the Germans to keep their roads, railways etc. functioning they transported British and Commonwealth prisoners of war down to the Vosges area from prison camps further north. Hence the reason that all those buried at Plaine are from a variety of different units. As the war progressed conditions for these prisoners grew steadily worse and many, apparently, literally starved to death. Many of the dates on the headstones fall within the months of June and July 1918. John Forbes along with my great uncle, James Caldwell, and forty-two others died and are buried here at Plaine, a particularly picturesque and peaceful part of France.

Civil Parish: Winlaton

Birth date: 17-May-1896

Death date: 10-Jul-1918

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 8 Corner Houses, Winalton (1911 census)
1 Tench’s Building, California, Winlaton (Army service record, 1915)

Religion: Roman Catholic

Employment: Colliery driver, not underground (1911 census)
Iron Work Labourer (Army Service Record)

Family: Parents: Thomas Forbes, Margaret Ellan (Catharine, 1911 census) Forbes
Siblings: Thomas Forbes, Robert Forbes, Ellan Forbes, Annie Forbes, Mary Forbes, Margaret Jane Forbes (Army Service Record)
Wife: Florence May Bennett, married 14 January 1918 at Gateshead Register Office

Military service:

Attested: 11 December 1915
Private
Service number: 205006
Mobilized: 19 March 1917
Posted to 5th DLI: 20 March 1917
Posted to 2nd DLI: 27 January 1918

Memorial(s): Plaine French National Cemetery, France

Gender: Male

Contributed by John Caldwell | Durham County Record Office