Lorna,
The following is the information that I would have sent you if I had your email address:
Morpeth Herald, 13 July 1917
In Memoriam
‘In loving memory of my dear brother, Private George Thomas Herron, N.F., beloved husband of Kate Herron, Hirst, [Hirst was part of Ashington] and son of the late George and Alice Herron, late of Bedlington Station, missing since July 7th, now presumed dead. – Ever remembered by his loving sister Martha and brother in law, Tom’
George Thomas Herron was in the 9th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, service number 14548. He enlisted at Ashington, Northumberland.
A search of army records finds that he was admitted to the 51st Field Ambulance (a mobile front line medical unit) on the 2nd March 1916. His entry shows that he was in ‘D’ Company of the 9th Battalion and he was suffering from FURUNCULOSIS (a deep infection of the skin). On the 5th March he was transferred to number 12 Casualty Clearing Station for treatment. (at this time, 12 CCS was based at HAZEBROUCK in Flanders)
George was presumed dead on the 7th July 1916, he has no known grave and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, France.
The 9th Battalion (known as the Northumberland Hussars) was a new battalion formed on the 22nd September 1914. The 9th were assigned to the 68th Brigade, 23rd Division and were fighting on the Western Front from August 1915.
The 9th Battalion were involved in the heavy fighting of the Battle of the Somme which commenced on the 1st July 1916. The Battalion’s war diaries record that by the 4th July they were in the trenches east of Becourt Chateau (not far from Fricourt). The diaries actually name the trenches that they were from the 6th July – they were QUADRANGLE and HEDGE LINE TRENCHES.
The Battalion’s actions on the 7th July are recorded in over 4 pages of diary entries with the last entry line for the 7th being ‘The casualty lists for the 4 days from 4th – 7th July show that during this period the Battalion lost, in killed, wounded and missing, 14 officers and 299 other ranks’. George was one of the 299 other ranks.