Saturday, April 11, 2015

The Durham Light Infantry-- Part 1: James Cockburn's Unit in WWI

From Wikipedia.

The previous two entries were about graffiti left in the famous Naours Cave in France during World War I.  On of the nearly 2,000 sightseeing soldiers who inscribed his name on the chalk wall was one James Cockburn, 8th Durham L.I. and he signed it for the date April 1, 1917, now 98 years ago.

I decided to see if I could find out any more information on him.  I couldn't, so I don't know if he survived the war or not.

I did find out some information about his unit.

DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

British Army Infantry Regiment 1881-1968 formed from the 68th Durham Regt. of Foot (Light Infantry) and 106th Regt. of Foot (Brumby Light Infantry) along with militia and rifle volunteers from County Durham.  They served in the Boer War, both World Wars and the Korean War.

During World War I, they were expanded to 42 battalions.  Mr. Cockburn probably belonged to the 8th Battalion.

More to Come.  --Cooter

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