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Remembered Today:

Who was this soldier ?


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I can't see any obvious deaths in SDGW - any leads ?

The youngsters, from Kelvin Grove Primary School, Gateshead, have recorded a song to commemorate the Bensham tram crash of 1916, which killed four people.

They created the song with the help of musicians and local history experts.

The crash happened on February 5, 1916, on the steep Bensham Bank at the corner of Saltwell Road.

At around 7.30pm Gateshead tramcar No 7 was waiting at a passing place on Saltwell Road for another tram coming in the opposite direction. Impatient to continue, 20-year-old motorman Leonard Jane carried on along the line until he could see the lights of the tram he was waiting for. Hearing that a fight on the other tram was the cause of the delay, Jane put on his handbrake and went to help out.

As he left the tram, less than half of its 28 seats were filled. But soon the tram was full, with 35 on board.

The handbrake was too weak for the extra weight on the steep hill and, to Jane’s horror, his tram started rolling the other way, quickly gathering speed back down Bensham Bank.

As it rounded the curve of Saltwell Road, the tram toppled over, leaving 10 passengers injured – three seriously – and killing a soldier and a family-of-three who had been passing by and were trapped beneath it.

Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/06/21/1916-tram-crash-in-bensham-remembered-72703-28913503/#ixzz1PwAJ7QZf

Image here

http://isee.gateshead.gov.uk/detail.php?record=0&v=2&s=tram&type=all&t=objects&f=&d=

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I think your best bet would be local newspapers on the following days. There may have been an inquest, and possibly reports of the funerals. The trial mentioned in the reports would also be reported.

Keith

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Found him - I found his name in the Times

Name: Edward Hutchinson

Birth Place: Shildon, Durham

Residence: New Shildon, Durham

Death Date: 5 Feb 1916

Death Location: Home

Enlistment Location: Bishop Auckland

Rank: Private

Regiment: Durham Light Infantry

Battalion: 26th Battalion

Number: 2497

Type of Casualty: Died

Theatre of War: Home

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You just beat me to it. Used Geoff's and stuck to DLI men, found him buried in Darlington but had nothing else to go on.

John

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Name: HUTCHINSON

Initials: E

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment/Service: Durham Light Infantry

Unit Text: 26th Bn.

Age: 37

Date of Death: 05/02/1916

Service No: 2497

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: P. 7 B. 134.

Cemetery: DARLINGTON WEST CEMETERY

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Although he was 26th Bn he has a MIC which shows overseas service from April 1915 which suggests he was either 5th, 6th or 7th, Bishop Auckland tends towards the 6th Bn but does anyone have any further info on his battalion ?. He was born abt 1879 according to CWGC.

There is a 6495 E Hutchinson from Crook (just down the road from Bishop Auckland) with a 1898 enlistment at age 18. If I'm thinking along the right lines then he would lost the number 6495 in 1908 when the forces were re-arranged and had to re-apply and be given a new number and so it is possible that he's the same man.

EDIT: It cant be 6495 as he died of pneumonia in 1900 whilst serving in S. Africa.

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Well, I found him third then.

:angry2:

Better late than never -:thumbsup:

Does anyone have the medal roll record for him ?

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