John Clough

Forename(s):
John

Surname:
Clough

Initial(s):
J

Service Number:
A/203895

Rank:
Rifleman

Regiment:
King's Royal Rifle Corps, 18th (Service) Battalion (Arts & Crafts)

Died:
28/03/1918

Aged:
25

Buried:
Arras Memorial (Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery)

Service History:
Enlisted at Morpeth, Northumberland.

Formerly 18494, East Yorkshire Regiment; also, 48810, Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment. It is unclear as to which came first.

Clough was on active service sometime after the end of 1915. He may have gone to Italy with the K.R.R.C. in the autumn of 1917. They returned to France at the beginning of March 1918 & were sent to the Arras sector in anticipation of a major German offensive.

On 22 March the 18th Battalion moved forward but was soon forced to withdraw as the enemy assault made rapid progress & threatened to surround the battalion. The battalion was decimated over the next few days as it fell back. By 26 March it was reduced from 900 to only 60 other ranks, so it formed into one Company, & withdrew to Bienvillers. The Battalion was finally relieved on the night of 29-30 March.

Clough was wounded during the action but died of his wounds on 28 March.
(Source: 'Felton War Memorial: The Men behind the names'; Eleanor George [formerly Hall]; 2009; p. 47)

Background:
Born in 1893, at Mousen, Northumberland, the seventh of ten children born to William Clough (in 1911, working as a Cattleman at New Morwick, Acklington), by his wife Ann Clough (née Reid).

Clough, too, was working on the farm in 1911, as a Horseman, but prior to his enlistment he began working at Eshott.
(Source: 'Felton War Memorial: The Men behind the names'; Eleanor George [formerly Hall]; 2009; p. 47)

Local Memorial:
Felton War Memorial incorporating Acton, Eshott, Swarland & Thirston