Herbert Britton FAWELL
Private 301021, 8
th
Durham Light Infantry.
Died 17
th
October 1918.
Herbert Fawell enlisted on the 22
nd
June 1915, registering for service with the 8
th
Durham Light Infantry. He had married Mary Dunn in
1912, but it seems as if he and his wife had separated, and he had to pay 2s 6d a week to a Mary Jane Nicholson for an illegitimate child.
On the 4
th
February 1916 he also signed over 4 pence a week from his army pay for the child before he was sent overseas with the British
Expeditionary Force in France. It appears that at this time he was not living with either his wife or the child's mother.
While on active service, on an unconfirmed date, Herbert received a gunshot wound to his ear and it is not clear when, where or how this
happened or whether this was the cause of his death.
However, Herbert Fawell died on the 17
th
October 1918 and he is commemorated on the Cologne Memorial. His name is also on the
Howden-le-Wear War Memorial, but is on the bottom plinth and was added after the initial names were inscribed.
Remembering Our
Fallen
Howden-le-Wear History Society