The story of John Willcox: First man from the Alnwick area

to be killed in the First World War

By Joyce Brison

John Willcox’s war only lasted 20 days. He died on 24th August 1914 from injuries sustained during the retreat from Mons.

My brother-in-law, John Thompson, regularly spoke about his Great Uncle John Willcox who he knew had been killed at Mons in the early days of the First World War.

I was at Bailiffgate Museum one day looking through some old Northumberland Gazettes when I noticed a photograph of John Willcox, & was struck by the family resemblance, so I decided to investigate further & discovered during my research that he was, in fact, the first local man to be killed during the conflict.

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