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| Pte John Thomas Haworth |
South Lancashire Regiment,
Killed in Action
21st October 1916
Buried Grandcourt Road Cemetery, Grandcourt.
Private John Thomas Haworth 29838 of the 8th Battalion South Lancashire Regiment was killed in action in France on 21 October 1916. Pte.Haworth was the son of Mr and Mrs William Haworth of 319 Grane Road. Only nineteen when he died, he first enlisted at the age of seventeen but his parents, as was their right, brought him home. He, however, enlisted as soon as he was eighteen. On 21 October 1916 the Battalion attacked a German strongpoint near Thiepval on the Somme front. Under cover of an artillery barrage, and in heavy rain, their objective was successfully reached. There was, however, much heavy hand to hand fighting before the Germans were overwhelmed. Over a hundred Germans were killed by bayonet and grenade and two hundred were taken prisoner. The Battalion lost twenty-six men in the attack. Pte.Haworth was one of these. He was reported missing and it was almost a year before his death was confirmed to his parents. (His mother, Kate, died the same week) Pte.Haworth is buried in Grave number D17 in Grandcourt Road Cemetery, Grandcourt. Grandcourt is a village near Beaumont Hamel. The cemetery is a mile (1.6Kms) south of the village on the Courcelette road. It was made in the spring of 1917 when the battlefields were cleared after the Germans withdrew from the area. It would be then that Pte.Haworth’s remains would be found and identified. A total of 390 such bodies were interred in this cemetery.
Newspaper Memorials:
In ever loving memory of our dear Son, John Thomas Haworth, who was killed in action in France, October 21st 1916 in his 20th year.
"No pen can write, no tongue can tell,
Our sad and bitter loss,
But thou, O Lord, has helped us well,
To bear the heavy cross.
But the hardest part has yet to come
When the heroes do return.
And we miss among the cheering crowd,
Our only son we loved so well."
"May his reward be as great as his sacrifice."
From his sorrowing Father and Mother.
"We pictured his safe returning,
And longed to clasp his hand;
But God has postponed our meeting,
Till we meet in the Better lane."
From Grandad, Aunties and Cousin, 335 Grane Road.
"Not gone from memory, not gone from love,
But gone to his Father's home above.
From Aunt Emma, Uncle Fred, and Cousin Tom.
