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L/Sgt. Frederick George Wormald
British Army 19th Btn Durham Light Infantry
from:West Hartlepool
(d.18th Jul 1916)
On 16th December 1914, the 'Hartlepools' (i.e. West Hartlepool and Hartlepool) were subjected to the first World War 1 shell attacks on British soil and in those attacks, Private Theophilus Jones was the first soldier to die on British soil. Less than three months later, on 3rd March 1915 at West Hartlepool, my uncle, Frederick George Wormald enlisted in the 19th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry.
Frederick was the middle child of seven children born to John and Frances Elizabeth Wormald of 76 Westmorland Street, West Hartlepool. He was born in 1898 which made him 17 years and 3 months old when he enlisted however, he lied about his age and told the recruiting staff that he was two years older, 19 years and 3 months. He was a small lad, about 5ft 2inches and weighed around 10½ stones. Before enlisting, he had worked as a drapers assistant.
On 11th August 1915 he was promoted to Corporal and later, on 28th October, further promoted to Lance Sergeant.
In July 1916, Frederick was engaged in the fierce fighting in Delville Wood, north east of the town of Longueval, The Somme, France. The fighting in Delville Wood was one of the bloodiest confrontations of the Somme. On 18th July 1916, in an area less than one square mile, 20,000 shells fell. On that day, Frederick was killed in action. He was only 18 years of age.
After the war ended, Frederick's body was buried in Delville Wood Cemetery, France. Frederick's parents were never able to travel to France to see his grave.
