Pettty Officer ( Joiner ) John William Guthrie, Royal Navy. He was lost aboard H.M.S. “Neptune” in the Mediterranean on 19th December 1941 aged 24. He was the son of William John and Mary Jane Guthrie of Norham and is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial. “Neptune” was a Leander class light Cruiser of 7,270 tons and her Battle Honours included the Bismarck action and the Mediterranean convoys. She was part of “Force K” and was sailing to intercept an Italian convoy when it strayed into a newly laid and uncharted minefield. “Neptune” hit three mines and was left dead in the water when she struck a fourth mine and quickly capsized. Out of a crew of 767 only one crew member survived. Before the war he had been employed as a Foreman joiner with the Berwick Building Company and was Treasurer of Norham Football Club. His younger brother had been a Prisoner of War in Germany since 1940.
