258281 Pte. Joseph Ayre British Army 12th Btn. Durham Light Infantry from:Framwellgate Moor, Durham (d.17th July 1916) My grandfather Joseph Ayre was 30 or 32 and was in the Battle of the Somme. He was a stretcher bearer and was attached to the 12h Battalion, DLI. He died on Monday 16th July 1916 in the Battle of the Somme. My family was told his friend went over the top into No Man's Land to save some of the men that had already gone over and my grandad followed to help try to bring some of the wounded back. Apparently bullets and shells were being fired fast and furious and both men were blown up.
My father was 8 years old and he had two other sisters and I remember him saying Joseph Ayre never came back there was no one to bury! They weren't the only family without a father, they had to make do and mend.
My father was young when he went to work down the coal mine to make a wage.
My grand father's name is on Thiepval Memorial in France and also in Durham Cathedsral Book of Remembrance within the DLI Chapel. The pages are turned every day so you may see the war dead names. My family don't have any photos of him at all.
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