Adam Tait, DCM

Forename(s):
Adam

Surname:
Tait, DCM

Initial(s):
A

Service Number:
12801

Rank:
Sergeant

Regiment:
Northumberland Fusiliers, 12th / 13th (Service) Battalion

Died:
26/04/1918

Aged:
34

Buried:
Tyne Cot Memorial (Tyne Cot Cemetery)

Service History:
On 2 June 1902, enlisted into the Regular Army & joined the 2nd Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, Service #8574. He served both at home & abroad, & between 1903 - 1905 he was stationed in South Africa.

In June 1905, after completing 3 years of service he was placed on the Army Reserve List & returned to the UK.

On the outbreak of the First World War, Tait re-enlisted, at Amble, into the Regular Army & joined the 12th (Service) Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, which later amalgamated with its sister 13th Battalion, on 10 August 1917.

The Battalion was in front-line trenches at Ouderdom, Belgium where, in the afternoon of 26 April 1918, Line Ridge Wood was subjected to very heavy shell fire. Total casualties numbered 82 OR including Tait, a Company Sergeant Major, & a Private who had been awarded a Military Medal. At least one officer was wounded.

Awarded the prestigious Distinguished Conduct Medal, posthumously, on 26 June 1918. The award was announced in the 'London Gazette' issue of that date, page 7562, & it's also recorded in the 'St. George's Gazette', Volume XXXVI, page 73 (29 June 1918).

The citation reads:

'For conspicuous gallantry & devotion to duty. Before a raid he did valuable patrol work, and by his keenness & skill assisted greatly in the preparations for the operation. During the raid he took a prominent part in hand to hand fighting, in which all the enemy who offered resistance were put out of action. He showed great courage & skill.'
(Source: Bob Moore; Grandson; July 2017)

(N.B. The UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929 [available via Ancestry,co.uk] suggests the date of death could have been any time between 24-27 April. The Battalion's daily log clearly states 26 April.)

Background:
Born on 31 January 1884, the son of Adam & Isabella Tait of Clive Lodge, Clayport Bank, Alnwick, Northumberland.
Clive Lodge is at the entrance of Clive Villa, which had an expansive garden nursery, where Tait's father was employed as a Gardener.

Baptised at St. Michael's Parish Church, Alnwick, on 24 March 1884.

The Tait family moved to the Forest Hall area of Newcastle, where the family expanded to include four sisters - Annie; Ethel; Jane; & Margaret.

On leaving school Tait took employment as a Colliery Labourer. The 1901 Census has him living with his step-mother Elizabeth (born c. 1855) & sisters Annie (13) & Ethel (12).

Married to Elizabeth Tait, by whom he had two daughters, Margaret & Mary Isabella.
(Source: Bob Moore; Grandson; July 2017)

Local Memorial:
Amble, Bede Street Club Pro Patria Plaque Amble War Memorial Broomhill, Togston Terrace Club Chevington & Broomhill War Memorial, St. John's Churchyard