​A hundred years ago a soldier sat down in a French village to write one of the most difficult letters of his life. The words he penned below marked the first death of hundreds which would devastate the families of the Durham Pals. Rachel Conner reports.

Mr and Mrs J Armstrong
23 High Grey Street
Crook
Durham
England
30th April

Dear Mr and Mrs Armstrong

I received your kind letter whilst in the trenches for the second time. It was Easter Week End (we went in on Thursday night & came out on Monday) and the trenches were waist deep in water. For other four days we stayed close to the trenches and worked in them most of the time. Now we are billeted in a village farther behind having an easier time.

The village, Betrancourt, is where poor Arthur lies buried and I have been able at last to see his grave. Three of us went down last night (W Dodd of Ryhope and B Wilkinson of S Shields) and turfed over the grave and worked the DLI badge on it in white stone. There is a cross at the head erected by the army & a very nice one at the foot made by this lad Wilkinson, a pioneer in our Batt. I was very pleased and relieved to do this little work for my dear friend & may say that the grave now looks very nice indeed. The little cemetery stands in the middle of a very big field & Arthur’s grave is nearest to a solitary hawthorn tree – it is only five minutes walk into the village.

I will certainly do all in my power to relieve Mr Armstrong’s & your own feelings by telling any particulars of Arthur’s death; but I am sorry to say it is very little I can tell you. Arthur was killed instantaneously about 8.30 in the morning & was laid until buried in the little village church near to which the bomb dropped. Our band played at the final service & our band major played the Last Post over the grave. This band major, Major Allen, has since told me that he wrote to you giving what particulars he could he is a very nice fellow. I myself was not present at the funeral being of course in the trenches.

Thanks for Jack’s address I shall write to him now that I have a little time of my own. I don’t think they can be anywhere near to me.

Many thanks for the good wishes for the Crook boys & myself. We all again offer our deepest sympathies to you in your loss.

Trusting you are well in health and with fond regards to Maggie.

I remain your sincere friend.

Stephen


THE death of Private Arthur Armstrong in March 1916 was the first casualty from the 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry – better known as the Durham Pals - in France.

After arriving in France in March 1916, by March 29 the battalion had reached the village of Beaussart, just behind the front line.

At around 8.30am on their first day near the front line trenches, a German aeroplane came over the lines to attack the village, aiming its bombs at the British artillery position.

Private Armstrong was killed instantly by shrapnel from one of the bombs it dropped.

A few weeks later his parents John and Mary, his younger brother John and sister Maggie would have received the letter from his comrade, known only as Stephen.

One can only imagine his words may have provided some comfort to the grieving family, hundreds of miles away in Crook, County Durham.

Private Armstrong had enlisted in Spennymoor in late 1914 or early 1915 and before signing up worked as a a draper's assistant at Doggarts, which was based in Bishop Auckland and had a branch in Crook.

Born in 1890, he was the eldest child of John Armstrong, a clerk at the Co-op, and Mary Thompson.

It is thought he was born in Grey Street, Crook, and by 1901 the family had moved to nearby Arthur Street. In 1911 they were living at 23 High Grey Street – where Stephen addressed his letter in 1916.

Following his death, letters addressed to his father were published in St Catherine’s Parish Magazine.

One from his Platoon Commander described him as a “thoroughly good fellow, and a keen and conscientious worker.”

The other, from the 18th battalion’s Church of England chaplain CR Chappell, said: “You must not grieve over much, for he could not die a nobler death – laying down his life for his friends.”

A few months later 300 of Private Armstrong’s comrades would be killed or injured on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Durham County Council, The Northern Echo, the Trustees of the DLI and Durham University, with support from Durham Cathedral, are raising money for a lasting monument to the Durham Pals.

Vince Fenton, vicar of St Catherine’s Church in Crook, where Private Armstrong appears on a memorial, said: “I think it really is important that these people are remembered.

“We take our freedom so much for granted and we tend to have a really cynical view of the world around us.

“We live in a peaceful part of the world and we need to be thankful for that and part of that is thinking about what people have done in the past and those that put their lives down for the freedom we have today.”

Crook councillor Eddie Tomlinson, who is also Durham County Council’s cabinet member for assets, strategic housing and rural issues, said: “The sacrifices of the Durham Pals are something that deserves to be known far and wide.

“These were ordinary men, Durham men, friends, colleagues, fathers, brothers and sons, who set out to do something extraordinary in the service of their country.

“Sadly, from the five men killed when the German’s bombarded Hartlepool in December 1915, to Private Arthur Armstrong on his way to the front lines, and the many who died during the Battle of the Somme and across the Western Front, doing their duty cost them their lives.

“That the Pals don’t currently have a fitting memorial in France to mark their important role in what was such a brutal conflict is a great shame, but something the people of County Durham can now help rectify.

“By working together we can ensure that they are properly remembered.”

Campaign to create a battlefield memorial in honour of Durham Pals

A HUNDRED years after they paid the ultimate sacrifice, The Northern Echo is campaigning to create a battlefield memorial to honour the extraordinary bravery of the ordinary County Durham soldiers who gave their lives at the Somme.

A century ago, 300 volunteers from the 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry – better known as the Durham Pals –were killed or wounded amid the slaughter of the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Now Durham County Council, The Northern Echo, the Trustees of the DLI and Durham University, with support from Durham Cathedral, have joined forces to raise money for a lasting monument to their bravery.

The Durham Pals were formed in September 1914, in the first few days of the war, as friends from across County Durham’s farms and pit villages, steel towns and market towns came forward to do their duty for king, country and county.

Durham Remembers will mark the anniversary year by raising £20,016 to pay for a battlefield memorial to the Durham Pals to be installed in time for the Armistice Day commemorations in November.

Anyone wishing to support the appeal should make cheques payable to Former Charities Of The Durham Light Infantry and send them to: The Rifles Durham Office, Elvet Waterside, Durham DH1 3BW.