THE Guyzance Tragedy took place on January 17, 1945 and all ten men were stationed in Felton, Northumberland for training.

At the time it was reported that all ten, all aged 18, were serving in the Duke of Wellington's West Yorkshire regiment but in fact many were serving in the DLI.

The men were heavily weighed down with their equipment in what is thought to be have been a low-lying 'freeboard' assault boat on what was a fast moving river in flood.

The boat was swept by strong currents half a mile down river and tipped over a weir at Guyzance and each of the young soldiers on board perished.

Local historian Vera Vaggs, who was a 14-year-old girl at the time, remembers a lot of talk about the tragedy, despite it being under a class D classification, which meant information was limited.

However there was a short report in The Northern Echo which detailed the heroics of Sergeant Instructor Leslie Murray, of Hull, who had previously crossed the river in another boat. A rope was tied around him and he dived in the river to try and save the men, only to be swept back by the current and dashed against a tree when he was stunned.

Six men from the North-East and North Yorkshire died. They were Pte Alexander Leighton, of Annfield Plain, Pte Percy Gibson Clements, of West Hartlepool, Pte Maurice Master Peddelty, of Evenwood, Pte John William Wilson, of Newcastle, Pte Ronald Herbert Winteringham of York and Pte Alfred Yates of Ferryhill. The other four men were from West Yorkshire.