225223 2nd Lt. Lionel Percy Tate British Army 8th Btn. North Staffordshire Regiment from:111 Spencer Street, Heaton, Newcastle-on-Tyne (d.4th Nov 1918) Lionel Tate was known by his middle name, Percy. He was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, on 17th April 1892, the eldest child of Robert William Tate and his wife Emma (nee Stainsby).
He attended Chillingham Road school and Skerry’s college in Newcastle and was working as an accounts clerk when he enlisted in the 1st/1st Northumberland Hussars (Territorial Army) on 17th February 1913. His was the first territorial regiment to be sent overseas, they arrived at Zeebrugge on 5th October 1914.
Percy spent almost the whole war in France, with only a handful of days on leave in England each year. He survived many terrible battles in France, including Ypres and the Somme and rose to the rank of corporal before returning to England to cadet school in December 1917.
He was appointed to a commission in the North Staffordshire Regiment in May 1918 and returned to serve with them in France.
He was killed in action on 4th November 1918 and is buried in the churchyard of Wargnies Le Grand. After surviving so much, serving throughout the war, it is so sad that he died within only a few days of the armistice. This was also a tragedy for his fiancée, Cissy Dryden, who always kept a photo of Percy and never married. Later, she worked in a sweet shop.
Percy’s brother Lance Corporal Norman Tate, 2nd Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers, was killed in action on 6th October 1918, commemorated at Vis-En-Artois memorial, Pas de Calais, France.
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