The family of a British soldier who fell on the battlefields of the Somme have marked the centenary of his death with simultaneous tributes in the UK and France.
Newrick Curry, a Private serving with the 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry (DLI), was killed in action on 3 March 1917 as German troops withdrew to the Hindenburg Line.
100 years later to the day, his nephew, George Shotton, laid a wreath at the DLI Chapel in Durham Cathedral.
Friends in France placed an identical wreath on Private Curry’s grave at the Commonwealth military cemetery in Sailly-au-Bois, a village between Arras and Amiens.
George Shotton said: “It was important to mark this occasion for my family. Not just for myself, and my wife and son who accompany me today, but also for my mother and my grandparents, who lost a brother and a son, and the rest of our family.
“After so much planning, from choosing photos, arranging for the wreath to be sent to France, and travelling across the mountains to Durham from our home in Kendal, it has given me great satisfaction to achieve this.
“I feel that this brings something of Newrick home, it is fitting to leave this memorial in the chapel with his DLI Pals.”
The DLI Chapel was created as a memorial in 1922. The Durham Light Infantry lost 12,600 soldiers in the First World War and 3,000 in 1939-45, leaving an indelible mark on Durham and North East England. Today, visitors can see the Books of Remembrance on display, commemorating those killed in both World Wars. For more information, see Durham Cathedral website.
Source: Durham Cathedral
Images courtesy of Durham Cathedral/Shotton Family
Posted by: CN Editorial Team