Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE JOHN EDWARD NEWTON 10/1249. Born in December 1886, John was the eldest of five children to John and Isabel Newton, at 25 Middleburg Street, Hull. A Clerk by trade he was married to Dorothy Alexandra Newton and the couple lived at 6 Victoria Avenue, and 77 Rustenburg Street, Hull, with John working as a Clerk to pay the bills. His in laws, Mr and Mrs Wallace, lived at 40 New Bridge Road, hull.
When war came he was among the first to enlist, queuing in those long uneven lines to join in the great adventure. His full Military Records are missing, but it is fair to say he trained throughout 1915 before shipping for Egypt in December of that year. He arrived in France in March 1916 and barring wounds and leave will have been a veteran of the Somme, Oppy Wood and the Spring Offensive. It is tragic that he came so close to surviving the war only to fall so close to the end, but he was killed in action on 7th September 1918 as the Pals attacked German positions around Soyer Farm in a bid to drive them back over the River Lys and keep them in retreat. He was buried, like so many men who died that day, at a point “3 miles NNW of Armentieres” in a place which became known as Pont-D’Achelles Military Cemetery; he was 31 years old.
