Grandad Thomas Birtle was brought up by his maternal grandparents Thomas and Mary Ann Merrington. The 1911 census finds them living at 67 Beaconsfield Street, Norton on Tees. They lived there for quite a few years.

The first picture shows a very young granddad pictured in his Durham Light Infantry uniform in I think 1915. He joined up in September at the age of 16. The young child at his feet we believe to be a cousin but are not certain exactly which one. The Merringtons were born in the late 1850s in north Yorkshire.

At some stage granddad was transferred from the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) to the Highland Light Infantry (HLI) and by 1918 he was a sergeant. He always said that his being transferred was because he was a useful footballer and the HLI people welcomed him as an addition to their battalion football team. One of his new team mates played for Aberdeen FC in the 1920s and was capped by Scotland.

Having been in France for some time Grandad’s luck was bound to run out and he was shot through his left elbow in august 1918 near the French town of St Quentin. The second picture can be dated to between the time of his wounding and April 1919 when he was discharged from the army. Facing the camera he is on the left of the picture and you can clearly see his left arm has been wounded. You can also see, that as a proud Englishman, he is wearing his bonnet.

Photographs and details courtesy of Martin Birtle.