TRIBUTES have been paid to a County Durham man killed when the RMS Lusitania was sunk during the First World War.

William Affleck Anderson drowned when the cruise liner was torpedoed by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915.

Originally from Sedgefield, Mr Anderson was working as an engineer on the ship and residents of the town visited Liverpool to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking last week.

Sedgefield Town councillor Chris Lines organised the trip which saw flowers laid at Mr Anderson’s grave in Kirkdale Cemetery, Liverpool, on behalf of the people of Sedgefield.

He was accompanied by Alison Hodgson, of Sedgefield Local History Society, and Sedgefield Primary School pupils Charlie Lines and Joe Whitehill on Friday (May 8).

Reverend John Williams, who used to be a curate in Sedgefield, but is now vicar of the Church of St Giles, in Aintree, near Liverpool, conducted a service.

Mr Lines said: “Although I have no personal connection with William Anderson or his family, I found the visit to be a very moving experience.

“In Sedgefield, thanks mainly to the work of Sedgefield Local History Society and the Sedgefield Village Veterans, we are honouring each man who fell in First World War.

“As well as a service in Sedgefield, I thought it was appropriate to make the effort and visit Mr Anderson’s final resting place.

“It is important that we also use these commemorations to help younger generations appreciate the significance of what happened 100 years ago.

“I am delighted that Sedgefield Primary School is playing such a proactive role in that.”

The Cunard owned Lusitania was briefly the world’s largest passenger ship.

When it left Liverpool on May 1, 1915 for it's ill-fated voyage, Germany had intensified U-Boat activity off the coast of Britain.

She was torpedoed 11 miles off the southern coast of Ireland and sank within 18 minutes.

The ship was carrying 1,962 crew and passengers and 1,191 were killed. As more than 100 Americans died in the sinking it is widely believed that it helped bring the USA into the conflict.

Mr Anderson, who still has family in the Sedgefield area, was living in Liverpool at the time of the disaster.

The Sedgefield group, found the house on Trevor Road, in Liverpool, where Mr Anderson lived with his wife Lilian Ethel and their two children.

They also visited the recently opened Lusitania exhibition at Liverpool Maritime Museum.