George SELL Private 33676, Durham Light Infantry. 53 rd Howitzer Brigade, ‘A’ Battery. Died 24 th July 1916. George Sell was born at Ulrome, near Hornsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in 1896, the oldest of seven children. By 1911, now aged 15, George was no longer living at home but was working as a servant to Anthony Burdon, a farmer at Bradbury, near Ferryhill, in County Durham. He later went on to be employed as a platelayer on the North Eastern Railway Company on the Bishop Auckland - Crook line. There is no link to his being resident in Howden-le-Wear, but it could be that, as a railway worker, he was living in lodgings in the village. George enlisted in the Durham Light Infantry in September 1914, but later transferred to be a gunner with the Royal Field Artillery and served with the 53 rd Howitzer Brigade, ‘A’ Battery. George was killed on the Somme on the 24 th July 1916 and was buried in Quarry Cemetery, Montauban. He is also remembered on the Howden-le-Wear War Memorial and on the North East Railway Roll of Honour in York where it states: ‘Gunner George Sell, Royal Field Artillery, was killed in action abroad on July 24 th . 1916. Mr Sell, who was 21 years old, joined the NER service as platelayer at Beechburn on May 18 th 1914 and enlisted in September 1914.’

RememberingOur Fallen

Howden-le-Wear History Society

A poppy wreath placed on the North Eastern Railway Memorial in York. Image courtesy of Howden-le-Wear History Society