Far from the Western Front

A blog post by Steve Shannon

Not every Durham soldier fought on the Western Front during the First World War. One such soldier was Norman Lobb. Though born in Byker in 1891, Norman grew up in Hartlepool, where his father, Thomas, was a labourer in a local shipyard. When he was about 18 years old, Norman left home to join the Army and in August 1914, when the First World War began, he was serving in India with the 1st Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. There he had gained a reputation as one of the battalion’s finest athletes.

D/DLI 2/1/275(14) 1st Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, on parade in India, about 1911

Although 1 DLI remained in India throughout the war, specially trained soldiers were sent to join other units and so in September 1914 Private Lobb, as a qualified signaller, sailed for East Africa. There he joined a force of Indian and British troops preparing to invade German East Africa (modern Tanzania). The invasion in November 1914, however, failed. In heavy fighting at Tanga, Norman Lobb, serving with the 31st Signal Company Royal Engineers, won the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his bravery under enemy fire. 

Unfortunately Norman Lobb’s service record has not survived, so it is not known if he remained in East Africa or returned to India after 1914. His name, however, next appears in 1916 as one of the casualties of the disastrous British invasion of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) to defend oil fields, considered vital for the Royal Navy, from the Turkish Army. In late 1914, Basra had quickly fallen to an Indian and British invasion force, but then the over-confident invaders moved inland towards Baghdad. Halted by the Turks south of the city, the invasion force, badly led, ill-equipped and weakened by malaria, cholera, and dysentery, retreated to Kut al Amara to wait for help from Basra. But that help never arrived and on 29 April 1916, after almost 150 days of siege, the 13,000 starving and diseased soldiers trapped in Kut surrendered to the Turkish Army. A few days earlier on 18 April, Norman Lobb, serving with the 12th Divisional Signal Company, had died of disease: just one of 31,000 British and Indian soldiers, who died in Mesopotamia in battle or from disease during the First World War and who today are almost completely forgotten.

D/DLI 7/63/2(215) Sketch map of Mesopotamia, showing Kut and the British and Turkish positions in 1916, made by Revered JAG Birch

Just over a year after Norman died, on Sunday 17 June 1917, over 60,000 people packed in to St James’ Park in Newcastle to watch a presentation of medals by King George V. Near the end of the ceremony, the King presented medals to a small group of relatives of soldiers who had died. One of these relatives was Thomas Lobb. After Thomas received his son’s Distinguished Conduct Medal both the King and Queen Mary spoke to him about Norman. Sadly what was said was not reported the next day in the Newcastle Journal.