Bainbridge's employees killed in Great War remembered in new book
Nov 13 2010 by Ruth Lawson, The Journal
FALLEN heroes from a historic Newcastle department store have been honoured in a new book.
John Lewis employee Ian Johnson traced the history of former workers of the store, formerly known as Bainbridge’s, who fought in World War One.
The 50-year-old, who has worked as a selling assistant at the store for 33 years, was intrigued by the Bainbridge & Co World War One memorial that stands in the management corridor at the store.
And two years ago he delved into the archives to try and discover more about the 27 men listed on the memorial.
Mr Johnson, from Crawcrook, Gateshead, said: “I started researching just after Armistice Day in 2008 because it got me thinking about the memorial and all the men, and I only finished about two or three months ago.” He added: “When you start researching these kind of things it just seems to unravel lots of things.
“There’s some heartbreaking stories that I’ve heard about men and their families.
“Some of the men were only married a few months then they went off to war.”
Mr Johnson, who is married to Pauline, discovered that the Bainbridge employees fought in most of the major battles of World War One including Ypres, Somme, Arras, Passchendaele and the ferocious German Spring Offensive of 1918. Only one lived long enough to see final victory.
The book, titled Bainbridge, Our Fallen Heroes 1914-1919, reveals moving stories and pictures of the 27 men, who all worked at Bainbridge’s before going to the battle fields serving in the first Pals Battalion raised on Tyneside.
The ranks of this battalion were formed from carpenters, clothiers, clerks, boot makers, warehouse men, drapers, clerks and office workers from thriving businesses on Newcastle’s Quayside. Mr Johnson was so dedicated to tracing his former colleagues that he even visited 22 of the World War One cemeteries in Europe so he could find the resting places of all the men.
The father-of-two said: “When I went to France I took a cross of sacrifice and physically placed it next to the war memorial and it was very moving.
“To see 10,000 grave stones in a cemetery you can’t imagine it. It’s a very moving and humbling experience. I’m very proud to have traced our Bainbridge colleagues who went to war.”
The ages of the men ranged from 18-year-old Thomas Purvis, of Raby Street, Byker, to 44-year-old Frederick Taylor, of Chillingham Road, Heaton. The Bainbridge family themselves also lost two sons in the war, Lindsay and Wilfred.
All the money raised from the book will go towards the North East War Memorial Project. The book is available to buy now from John Lewis and costs £14.
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