I can trace part of my ancestry back to my grandmother’s family in Tyneside. She was born Margery Besford in Hebburn, now South Tyneside, but a book I inherited through her from her father suggested he had once lived in Cramlington, Northumberland. There in May 2021 I found this headstone relating to an even earlier generation of Besfords.

The gravestone tells of the unfortunate fate of John Besford. He was run over by a train on Stannington viaduct. How devastating that must have been for the family. His young wee daughter followed him just a year later. Annie was obviously a bad luck name for the Besfords as the Annie in the following generation, my granny’s older sister, also died very young, of Scarlet Fever I think.

Private H Dobson, The East Surrey Regiment, 1/6/1940, aged 21:-

Sapper J McCarty, Royal Engineers, 8/11/1942, aged 20:-

Private R Binnie, Royal Defence Corps, 10/2/1918, aged 46:-

Private J Lacey, Royal Army Medical Corps, 12/3/1918, aged 25:-

Sapper J T Marshall, Royal Engineers, 23/4/1916, aged 34:-

2nd Corporal J Trodden, Royal Engineers, 21/2/1921, aged 23:-

Private H Herries, Durham Light Infantry, 14/3/1917, aged 23:-

Sapper W E Milne, Royal Engineers, 16/11/1945, aged 28 ; Private W Shone, The Seaforth Highlanders, 29/3/1946, aged 17; Gunner J Stubbings, Royal Artillery, 1/5/1947:-

Private W J Jackson, Durham Light Infantry, 25/12/1942; Private I Richardson, The Border Regiment, 9/11/1943, aged 24; Corporal J J Taylor, RAF, 24/11/1944, aged 44:-

Sergeant W Watson, Wireless Operator/Rear Gunner, RAF, 14/11/1941, aged 21; WO B 11 (BSM) T W Picken, Royal Artillery, 1/8/1942, aged 34; J Weatherstone, Observer, RAF, 9/8/1947, aged 23:-

Private W Hall, The Buffs, 5/5/1941, aged 18; W T H Oliver, Military Provost Staff Corps, 11/5/1941, aged 48; Guardsman C Hope, Grenadier Guards, 10-11/5/1941:-

P Moran, Air Mechanic First Class, Royal Navy, HMS Heron, 18/4/1943, aged 29:-

Corporal J McDonnack, RAF, Auxiliary Air Force, 1/5/1941:-

Gunner A Keegan, Royal Artillery, 11/12/1939, aged 30:-

Private J Lydon, Durham Light Infantry, 2/12/1915:-

Private T McKeown, Northumberland Fusiliers, 1/11/1918, aged 34:-

Sergeant J G Forrest, Flight Engineer, RAF, 14/1/1945, aged 19:-

Bruno Joseph Turcotte, Petty Officer Royal Canadian Navy, HMCS Provider, 16/6/1964, aged 36:-

As I mentioned before Hebburn Cemetery contains 41 War Graves, from both World Wars.

Sapper T C Brown, Royal Engineers, 7/4/1916:-

Serjeant W W Norrie, Corps of Military Police, 27/2/1945, aged 42:-

Lance Corporal W G Nicholson, Royal Engineers, 4/3/1941, aged 30:-

Private J Adair, Durham Light Infantry, 29/9/1942, aged 32:-

Able Seaman A Cottrell, Royal Navy, HMS “President III”, 14/5/1942:-

Private O Ward, The Border Rgiment, 2/12/1940, aged 25:-

J Wilson, Stoker, Petty Officer, Royal Navy, HMS Zephyr, 31/12/1944, aged 27:-

Hebburn, in Tyne and Wear, is a kind of ancestral home for me. My maternal grandmother was brought up there before her parents moved to Glasgow where she met my grandfather.

It’s a fairly typical north of England post-industrial town. I didn’t spot any Art Deco there, though.

We did pass a cemetery with the Commonwealth War Graves sign. This was Hebburn Cemetery. At the centre of the cemetery is a chapel in front of which lies a war memorial:-

The war memorial is a Cross of Sacrifice on an octagonal plinth. Inscribed round the base of the upper plinth, “Their name liveth for evermore.”

To the left of the memorial as you approach it up the drive is a sculpture named “Poppies in steel,” with a sign saying, “You have done your duty, to honour you is ours” – Friends of Hebburn Cemetery, September 2019.

A war memorial bench is nearby:-

I gather Hebburn’s main War Memorial is elsewhere. Looking at the aerial view in the link I see it’s actually close to the cemetery. Maybe next time we’re down there.