|
|
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.
If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.
Site Home
Help & FAQs
Features
Submissions
Information
Advertisements
World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Piper. John William Fellows
British Army 20th (Tyneside Scottish) Btn, No.1 Coy. Northumberland Fusiliers
from:29 Weardale Avenue, Walker, Newcastle
(d.1st July 1916)
John Fellows was my great, great uncle. He served with the 20th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers in WW1 and was 21 when he died at the Battle of the Somme on 1st of July 1916.He was a piper in the Battalion band. Family memories of him were that he could pick up any instrument and play it, he was very musical. This is particularly poignant for me as I too am very musical. I have been head of music in a high school for 25 years. He was known as John Willie. John's uncle Tom was also in the same Battalion but he survived the war. He said the last time he saw John he had thrown down his bagpipes and was running towards the Germans drawing his bayonet. The pipers of the 20th Battalion led the troops into battle on the very first day of the Battle of the Somme. John would literally have been right at the front, playing his pipes to stir morale, and probably as a result, one of the first men to die in the battle of the Somme. He was my great grandma's brother.
John's initial training was in Newcastle, then they moved on to the grounds of Alnwick Castle before completing training in 1915 on Salisbury Plain. Once in France his Battalion moved to La Boiselle. He was in France for approx 6 months and died somewhere near La Boiselle, I think near where 2 large craters were created. I feel very proud of him but also deeply moved that he died at such a young age, unable to have a family of his own.
We have a photo of him in his uniform and kilt. I will make sure my own children know all about him. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and I hope to visit one day to pay my respects. Son of William and Martha Fellows of 29, Weardale Avenue, Walker, Newcastle-on-Tyne. I would dearly love to find out more about him.
Tyneside Scottish 20th battalion pipe band, we are not sure but maybe third from the right is John Willie.
Related Content:
Can you help us to add to our records?
The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them
Did your relative live through the Great War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial?
If so please let us know.
Do you know the location of a Great War "Roll of Honour?"We are very keen to track down these often forgotten documents and obtain photographs and transcriptions of the names recorded so that they will be available for all to remember.
Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice.
Celebrate your own Family History
Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Great War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc.
Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.
The free section of The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers.
This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions.
If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.
Hosted by:
The Wartime Memories Project Website
is archived for preservation by the British Library
Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV
- All Rights Reserved -We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.
