Maurice PEDDELTY 1937 – 1945 – EVENWOOD RAMSHAW & DISTRICT HISTORY SOCIETY

Summary

14826818 Private M.M. Peddelty, Durham Light Infantry drowned as a result of a training accident 17 January 1945 at Guyzance, Northumberland, aged 18.[1] He is buried in Evenwood Cemetery and commemorated on Evenwood War Memorial, the Book of Remembrance in the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Felton, and the 2 Guyzance Memorials, Northumberland.[2]

Family Details

Maurice Masterman Peddelty was born 1937, the son of George Peddelty and Jane Ann (nee Masterman). There were 9 children in the family – John George, Annie, Joseph, Herbert, Hannah, Ronald, Emma who died in infancy, Maurice and Jean. The family lived at Copeland Row and George worked as a coal miner [hewer]. Joseph and Herbert were general labourers.[3]

Above: Left to right: Alan Richmond; Maurice Peddelty; Russell Brown; “Ammy” Carrick

Service Details

The service records of Private Maurice Peddelty have not been researched. The following details are from a variety of sources.

14826818 Private M.M. Peddelty was stationed at Felton, Northumberland. During the Second World War, Brancepeth was the home of No.4 ITC (Infantry Training Centre) which, at that time, was the basic training centre for The Durham Light Infantry and The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. After basic training at Brancepeth, recruits would go to do 6 weeks battle training at Felton in Northumberland. This was a gruelling course, which was intended to prepare them for what they might expect in action. On the 17th January 1945, during an exercise in which a number of men were crossing the river Coquet, one of the assault boats was swept down-stream in floodwaters. Sadly, ten of the young soldiers, who were weighed down with equipment, were drowned when the boat was swept over a weir. Eight of the casualties were from the DLI and the other two were from “The Dukes”.[4]

Sergeant Leslie Murray of Hull led the rescue but the efforts of his team were in vain. The casualties were:

Durham Light Infantry

14817616 Pte. Percy Gibson Clements, 18 of West Hartlepool
14828249 Pte. Edwin King, 18 of Todmorden
14828252 Pte. Kenneth Lee, 18 of Bradford
14826807 Pte Alexander Leighton, 18 of Annfield Plain
14826818 Private Maurice Masterton Peddelty, 18 of Evenwood
14825982 Pte John William Wilson, 18 of Newcastle
14768404 Pte Ronald Herbert Winteringham, 18 of York
14826930 Pte. Alfred Yates, 18 of Dean Bank, Ferryhill

Duke of Wellington’s Regiment

14444809 Lance Corporal Mark Friedleb, 18 of Sheffield
14828171 Pte. Norman Ashton, 18 of Castleford

Burial: Evenwood Cemetery

Private M.M. Peddelty is buried in Evenwood Cemetery.

The inscription reads:

Ever remembered

By father and mother

Brothers and sisters

At rest

Guyzance Memorials

11 September 1995: A memorial to these ten young soldiers was erected adjacent to the weir by a number of people from Felton. The dedication ceremony was attended by a party from the DLI Association which had been organised by Bernard Seyburn of the Darlington and Newton Aycliffe Branch, who himself had completed the same course shortly before this unfortunate incident.

That memorial, an oak plaque, had been carved by Charles Dick, a local man, himself a former member of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He has now carved a panel bearing the names of the soldiers which is intended to unveil on Wednesday 11 September at 11.00 hrs.[5]

15 January 1995: the Rev. A.A. Clements held a service at the church of St. Michael and All Angels in memory of those men who died and their names were entered into the Book of Remembrance. It may be at this time, the timber memorial was erected and dedicated.

Above: The original wooden memorial with the River Coquet and the weir behind

7 June 2004: Colonel Kit Bartram, President of the Darlington and Aycliffe Branch of the DLI Association unveiled a memorial on the banks of the river Coquet. Branch secretary, Bernard Seyburn with the assistance of ASDA, Stockton organised the construction and transportation of the memorial stone. Bugler Lance Corporal Angie Sowerby sounded the “Last Post” at the ceremony.

The Memorial Stone, Guyzance

REDEDICATION OF THE MEMORIAL AT GUYZANCE by John Heron [6]

On 7th June members of the Darlington & Newton Aycliffe branch as well as others of the DLI Association met at Guyzance near Felton, Northumberland to dedicate a new memorial to the young soldiers who lost their lives on the River Coquet at Guyzance in January 1945, training for river crossings in the final stages of World War 2, when their boat was swept over the weir and they, weighed down with full equipment, were drowned.

Bernard Seyburn has kept this issue alive over the years since the people of the area under the leadership of Vera Veggs, with the help of the DLI Association initially raised a monument to those drowned on that day, eight of whom were from the DLI and two from the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment.

At the time Bernard himself was a young soldier based at the nearby Felton Camp and though not involved in that particular incident has helped to keep the flame of remembrance bright over the years.

The new memorial in sandstone and black marble provided with the support of ASDA replaces an earlier wooden memorial made by Charlie Dick, a poet and craftsman of Northumberland, which had deteriorated over the years. This will better stand up to the rigours of time and the elements, though the link with Charlie Dick has been preserved by including one of his poems on the memorial.

The unveiling was performed by Colonel Kit Bartram, President of the Darlington & Newton Aycliffe branch accompanied by a bugler and branch standards of the association. Bernard laid the wreath himself.

The ceremony was followed by an excellent buffet lunch at the Northumberland Arms in Felton and a visit to the water gardens at Alnwick Castle.

“It was a lovely ceremony” said Bernard, who feels he can now rest easy as this new memorial will be a permanent reminder both of the incident and the support of the local people over the years.

THE GUYZANCE MEMORIAL [7]

Issue No.5 of the Durham Bugle carried the story of the Guyzance Memorial. The original memorial had been dedicated in 1995 to the memory of 10 young soldiers drowned on 17th January 1945 in the River Coquet while training for river crossings towards the end of WW2. Eight of these young soldiers were Durhams and two were from the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment.

The memory of this incident had been kept alive over the years by Vera Vaggs who was a young girl in the nearby village and later a councillor and Bernard Seyburn a DLI soldier who was stationed at the time at nearby Felton Camp.

In 2002 repairs and additions were made to the wooden memorial which had suffered the ravages of time and vandalism but on 7 June 2004, a new permanent stone memorial, financed with the help of ASDA, was dedicated.

It is now two years since the dedication of the new memorial and Bernard Seyburn, ever keeping the flame of memory alight has sent the Bugle a new photograph of the maturing memorial taken in Spring sunlight beside the river and weir where the tragedy occurred.

17 January 2024

A Memorial Service was held at the site. Representatives from the DLI Association attended and members of the Peddelty family from Evenwood, Patricia Hamilton, Ann Peddelty, Paul and Faye Townsend.