210844 Pte. James Henderson British Army 20th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers from:Cowpen, Northumberland, England (d.1st July, 1916) My great grandfather James Henderson, died in the first day of the Battle of the Somme, serving in the 20th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, 102nd Brigade, 34th Division. He left behind six orphaned children ranging in age from 8 to 16. His wife had died 7 years earlier in 1909.
What possessed a man to enlist in the war to end all wars when he had children to whom he was responsible? I can only guess. However the steady income of army pay may have been part of his decision to enlist. That coupled with the fact he may have wanted to serve his country at a time when the war was not going well for Britain.
I can only imagine the absolute horror of those final days on the Somme before his death. From what I have read of the movements of the Northumberland Fusiliers on the 1st July 1916, his death was probably brutal, at the hands of continuous machine gun fire.
I believe the impact of losing their parents at such a young age was something the children carried their entire lives. When a soldier dies in war it's not just the loss of the individual that is so terrible. It's also the echoing impact on the family left behind that magnifies the loss.
Lest we forget.
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