223822 Pte. James Auld MM.British Army 11th Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers from:Guide Post, Choppington (d.27th Oct 1918) James Auld lived with his widowed mother at Rutherford Street, Guide Post before enlisting at Morpeth. He was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry and devotion to duty. His name is on the Giavera Memorial in Italy. The Memorial commemorates more than 150 members of the Commonwealth Forces who died in Italy between November 1917 and November 1918 and whose places of burial are unknown. He was killed in action on 27 October 1918 age 22.
He was probably killed during the battle of Veneto-Vittorio which started on 24th of October 1918 and saw the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire when Italy and her Commonwealth Allies succeeded in defeating the enemy. All hostilities on this front ended on 4th of November 1918 so James was only days away from surviving the War.
The 11th Battalion had served in France since August 1915 until they were deployed to Italy in November 1917, so James could have been awarded his medal when he was in France.
Nevertheless, he was awarded the Military Medal and the following was reported in a local newspaper on 9 November 1917: "For gallantry and devotion to duty as company runner during operations. When the other runners of his company had become casualties he proved himself invaluable, and in spite of additional work he displayed remarkable cheerfulness even under the heaviest fire, setting a fine example to his comradesâ€.
As a volunteer at a local museum undertaking a World War I project, I was asked to choose a name off a local war memorial and research it, I chose James Auld partly because of MM, as I didn't know what this meant and partly because Auld is part of my family history and I thought he might be related in some way, though as yet I haven't found a connection. Having also researched two other local soldiers (brothers) who didn't make it home, I've learned a lot of facts about the war, but most importantly have come to realise just what these young lads endured and sacrificed for their country.
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