Private John McEwan

Private John McEwan  1st/7th ( Territorial ) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers. He was killed in France on 3rd September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. He had been born in Wooler, enlisted in Alnwick and is buried in Connaught Cemetery, Thiepval, Somme, France. ( The Battalion War Diary records that at this time they were in reserve at Hedencourt for training). The photographs show British troops on the Somme.  The photograph shows the impressive Memorial raised to commemorate the 50th ( Northumbrian ) Division of which the Battalion was part until February 1918. It was erected near the village of Weiltje in the Ypres Salient where nearby the Division had fought its first action of the War on 26th April 1915 during the Battle of St. Julien only days after landing on the Continent.