SECOND LIEUTENANT, 9th BATTALION DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY
Situated in the Consecrated/West Section of Jesmond Old Cemetery
John was born in Tynemouth, the youngest of four children born to John Tinline Steel and Alice Maria Bates on the 3rd April 1897. We can find them on the 1901 census living at 24, Beverley Terrace, Tynemouth with his elder brother Robert Kingsley and his two sisters, Lillian and Nora. His father was a coal merchant and a shipbroker. In 1911 however, where Alice, Nora and John can be found at the same address in Tynemouth, John senior can be found with his other daughter, Lilian, in Cranford, Stocksfield on Tyne.
From De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour (a fantastic resource, by the way):
John Gordon Steel, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th (Territorial) Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry….educated at Stramongate, Kendal and Mill Hill School, London. On leaving school, John joined the Tyneside Scottish Battalion (to train soldiers) 27 December 1914; obtained commission as second Lieutenant, 9th battalion the Durham Light Infantry 5th March 1915; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from the 31st of May 1916 and died at the Northumberland War Hospital, Newcastle on Tyne 24th of May 1917, from wounds received in action during the operation on the Somme, 16th of September 1916. Buried in Jesmond Cemetery, Newcastle upon Tyne.
While he was in hospital, the late Lieutenant Col. (afterwards Brigadier) Bradford. V.C. D.S.O.,M.C, wrote to him, “ You did not deserve to be hit, but it is the fact that the very best fellows are hit first; I wish to thank you for the loyal and able way in which you’ve always supported me. You behaved like a hero on the 15th. and your steadying influence during that night enabled us to consolidate a good position before dawn. The NCO’s and men of your company are full of your praise.”
He was mentioned in dispatches [ London Gazette, 4th of January, 1917] by F.M. Sir Douglas Haigh G.C.B. for gallant and distinguished service in the field.
In his short life, after leaving school in December 1914, John being a lance-corporal of his school O.T.C., he immediately undertook the training of recruits, after which he joined the Durham Light Infantry, obtaining his commission in March 1915, before he was 18. After taking a special course, he was appointed a musketry instructor and obtained his Lieutenancy before he was 19. He was seriously wounded in the abdomen in the Battle of the Somme, September 1916,and was kept at a casualty clearing station for 9- 10 days before being admitted to hospital in Gosforth, where he died on the 24th May 1917. His death certificate gives the cause of death as i) Gunshot wound of pelvis 9 months ii) Faecal Fistula 7 months, Sapremia 6 months.
John’s funeral was held at Jesmond Old Cemetery on Saturday 26th May 1917, with the cortege leaving the Northumberland War Hospital, Gosforth at 14.15. John’s funeral was reported in the Newcastle Daily Journal, dated Monday 28th May 1917 thus: “full military honours were accorded at the funeral of Second – Lieutenant John Gordon Steel, D.L.I., who died from wounds received in action. The remains were conveyed from the Northumberland War Hospital on a gun carriage, and six non – commissioned officers acted as underbearers. The burial service was conducted by the Rev. H.A. Askey, C.F. and the Rev. W.L. Jameson, C.F. Three volleys were fired over the grave, and the Last Post was sounded.
The chief mourners were:- Mr. J.T. Steel of Stocksfield (father of the deceased officer), Misses Lilian and Nora Steel (sisters), Miss Steel and Miss Agnes Steel (aunts); Mr. W. Scott, Ryton; Mr. L.G.W. Scott of Gateshead; Mr. R. Huntley of Whitley Bay and Mr. Thomas Bates of Whitley Bay (uncles); Mr. Bertie Bates (cousin), Newcastle; Mr. Alfred Bates of Heaton (uncle); Mr. Arthur Huntley of Whitley Bay (cousin), maids and gardeners from Stocksfield; Alex Sharp (late Lieutenant Steel’s orderly); Captain Barclay, R.A.M.C.; Mrs. and Master Brown: Mr. John Barclay, Whitley Bay.
There were also present:- The Sheriff of Newcastle (Councillor A.M. Sutherland), Colonel Sir Thomas Oliver, M.D., Mr. Herbert Shaw (secretary of the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce), Lieut.-Colonel Andrew Henderson, C.M.G., Captain J.T. Porteous, Major Crouch, Captain Tom Lambert, Captain Alwyn Scott, M.C., R.A.M.C., Second-Lieut. H. Strachan, all representing the D.L.I., and also a large number of wounded officers from local hospitals.
There was a large number of floral tokens. Messrs. Bainbridge and Co. had the funeral arrangements, under the direction of Mr. W. Brittain.
John left £1137 10s 2d to his father John Tinline Steel, described then as a ‘Shipowner’.
Tragically, John died on the anniversary of his brother’s death two years earlier. Robert Kingsley Steel died in the 2nd Battle of Ypres whilst trying to rescue one of his wounded men. He earned the praise of the Colonel of the Irish Fusiliers, “for the cool manner in which he led the attack on St. Julien.” His Sergeant wrote, “he had not a white feather in his wing, and could laugh and joke in the face of death.” Robert is also commemorated on the family grave.
Two very brave men and a sad loss for the family.