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War Memorials, - Elsewhere Hutton Magna (Co. Durham), The Church of St. Mary |
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The War Memorial inside the Lych Gate of St. Mary's Church, Hutton Magna
Photo : Edward Nicholl
Inside the Lych Gate of St. Mary's Church, Hutton Magna is the
Memorial to those who lost their lives in the First World War, as well as
one for the men killed in the Second World War. The names for the First World
War include 3 Hind brothers, one of whom is buried in the churchyard, and
two soldiers of the Yorkshire Regiment.
Hutton Magna used to be in the North Riding of Yorkshire, but boundary changes
in the 1970s nowplace Hutton Magna in County Durham.
The Hutton Magna Memorial is inscribed as follows;-
"THIS LYCH GATE IS ERECTED TO COMMEMORATE THE MEN OF
THIS PARISH WHO AT THE CALL OF KING AND COUNTRY LEFT ALL THAT WAS DEAR TO
THEM, ENDURED HARDNESS, FACED DANGER, AND FINALLY PASSED OUT OF THE SIGHT
OF MEN BY THE PATH OF DUTY AND SELF-SACRIFICE GIVING UP THEIR OWN LIVES THAT
OTHERS MIGHT LIVE IN FREEDOM.
1914 - 1918
LIEUT R W M CLOSE YORKS REGT
CPL J R HIND R F A
L/CPL G BARRY E YORKS REGT
GNR C BUTLER R F A
PTE L CLARKE GRENDR GDS
PTE B HIND LANCS REGT
PTE G N HIND NORTHD FUS
PTE J JACKSON YORKS REGT
PTE W JACKSON DEVONS. REGT
GNR C PATRICK R G A
DRV J W STOCKDALE R F A
PTE T THOMPSON R A S C
Lieutenant Robert William Mills Close. 4th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment.
Killed 27 May 1918.
Commemorated on the SOISSONS MEMORIAL.
The following biographical information is taken from Roberts Coulson's Biographies
of Officers of the Yorkshire Regiment;
"Robert Close was a university man entering Selwyn College, Cambridge,
in 1907.
He joined the 4th Battalion at Elverdinghe in October of 1917 where the battalion
spent the winter in and out of the line in the Ypres Salient.
When the German Spring Offensive opened in March of 1918 the battalion were
rushed into the line at Hancourt and fought on the retreat for almost ten
days.
They were then involved in the Lys battles after which they were sent to a
“quiet sector” on the Chemin des Dames ridge.
Lt Close and his men came under an “unexpectedly heavy German attack”
on May 27th 1918 about Craonelle on the eastern end of the ridge. The toll
of the missing after the attack was so heavy that “the battalion almost
ceased to exist.”
Robert Close was listed among the missing after this action and his body never
found."
Private James Jackson,
2975. 5th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Thomas and Ellen Jackson, of
Melsonby, Darlington. Killed 4 May 1915. Aged
18.
Enlisted Darlington, Resided Greta Bridge.
Buried BOULOGNE EASTERN CEMETERY.
The Church of St. Mary, Hutton Magna
Photo : Edward Nicholl
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