Pte 47186 Norman James Dalton

• Age: 20
• From: Southport, Lancs
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 19th Btn
• K.I.A Saturday 30th March 1918
• Commemorated at: Savy Brit Cem
  Panel Ref: Roupy Rd. Mem. 54

Norman James Dalton was born on 13th June 1897 in Southport, the only son of Thomas Dalton and his wife Sarah Alice (nee Sumner). His parents were both born in Lancashire, his father in Haskayne and his mother in Barton.  They married in 1893 and had two children; a daughter Muriel was born in 1903. Norman was baptised on 18th July in Halsall, his parents’ residence given as 24 Pine Grove, Southport.

In 1901 they are still at 24 Pine Grove, Southport. His father, 31, is a general labourer, his mother is 29, and Norman is 3.   Also in the household are a cousin Ellen Pennington, and a boarder, both 24, laundresses.

His father died in 1909, aged 39.

By 1911 they have moved to No.20 Pine Grove, Southport. His widowed mother, 39, is head of household, Norman is 13 and Muriel 8.  They have a boarder, two lodgers, and a visitor, Edith Marriott, a 23-year old dressmaker.  

Prior to enlisting Norman was employed by the Post Office in Southport and was a member of St. Luke's Church choir.  

He enlisted in Southport initially joining the 11th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 47186. The amount of the War Gratuity suggests that he served for 21 months, enlisting in about June 1916, when he would have turned 19 years old. At some point he was transferred to the 19th Battalion of K.L.R. and was serving with the 19th Battalion when he was killed in action on the 30^th March 1918 aged 20 during the German Spring Offensive. 

As Graham Maddocks points out in his book The Liverpool Pals, the CWGC records 38 men of the 19^th Bn of The King’s Liverpool Regiment as killed in action on 30^th March 1918 when as the Battalion diary below, shown in bold type, records that the men were actually out of the line and safely on the way to St Valery- sur- Somme.

The composite battalion moved off from ROUVREL at 8.30 am at 50 yards interval between companies, arriving at SALEUX at 3.20 pm where they entrained, detraining at ST. VALERY-SUR-SOMME the same night. The night was spent at ST. VALERY-SUR-SOMME.

Apart from those whose bodies were not found and are commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial all but two have burial sites at Savy British Cemetery, which itself is within a couple of miles of Roupy and contains most of the identified men killed on 22^nd March 1918. Therefore, it would appear that the date of death for these men shown as 30^th March 1918 is purely an arbitrary one and that they were in fact killed on 22^nd March.

Norman is commemorated in Savy British Cemetery, where a Special Kipling Memorial reads:

“To the Memory of these 68 British Soldiers who were killed in action in March 1918 and buried at the time in the German Cemetery on the St. Quentin - Roupy Road, whose graves are now lost.” 

The family inscription on Norman's headstone reads:

“DUTY NOBLY DONE” 

Savy was taken by the 32nd Division on the 1st April 1917, after hard fighting, and Savy Wood on the 2nd. On the 21st March 1918 Savy and Roupy were successfully defended by the 30th Division, but the line was withdrawn after nightfall. The village and the wood were retaken on the 17th September 1918 by the 34th French Division, fighting on the right of the British IX Corps.

Savy British Cemetery was made in 1919, and the graves from the battlefields and from the following small cemeteries in the neighbourhood were concentrated into it.

There are now over 850, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, more than half are unidentified. Memorials are erected in the cemetery to 68 soldiers (chiefly of the 19th King's Liverpools and the 17th Manchesters), buried by the Germans in their cemetery on the St. Quentin-Roupy road, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.

The Cemetery covers an area of 2,555 square metres and is enclosed by a low rubble wall. 

Norman was initially declared Missing between 22nd-30th March.

His mother appealed for information in the Liverpool Echo on 6th May 1918:

“Missing since March 22, Private N. J. Dalton, 47186, B Company, 5th Platoon, Liverpools.  Information gladly received by his mother, 20 Pine Grove, Southport.”

She also contacted the International Red Cross seeking information but was notified in a reply dated 20th September that they held no records for Norman.

Miss E. Dingsdale (relationship unknown), of 2 South Hill Street, Oldham, also made enquiries, and received the same response on the same date. His ICRC card shows that Miss Dingsdale also enquired regarding other Pals, Adams, Reynolds, and Rowlands.  She was notified on 24th October 1918 that Adams was a POW at Friedrichsfeld camp, Reynolds at Cassel, and Rowlands at Parchim.

William Adams, Pte. 52189, 19th Bn, from Manchester, was captured on 22/3/1918, held at Friedrichsfeld, and survived the war. Robert H. Reynolds, Pte. 12462, 19th, from Liverpool, was also captured on 22/3/1918, and was held at Cassel as well as Zwickau and Chemnitz. He also survived the war. It is not clear to whom Rowlands refers. There are no deaths of a Rowlands in the 19th Bn. Records for two 19th Bn Pals have been found, but no POW records:   Thomas H. Rowlands, Pte.22824; and John Rowlands, Pte. 13181, from Farnworth, was discharged in March 1919 with 30% disability, GSW right arm and deafness.

Miss Dingsdale made a further enquiry concerning Rowlands but received a negative reply on 7/12/1918.  A note dated 27/2/1919 states, “no further communication with families, prisoners repatriated”.

Norman's documents were received in the pension office from the paymaster on 11/10/1918, perhaps giving an indication of when Norman was officially declared killed in action.  

His mother received a pension of 11/- a week from December 1918.  

Norman’s Army effects and War Gratuity of £9-10 went to his mother and sister.

His sister Muriel married and had a son in 1930 she called Norman.

In 1939 his mother is still living at 20 Pine Grove, with married daughter Muriel, her husband and son.

His mother lived through another world war, and died in 1945, aged 74.

Norman is commemorated on the following memorials-

The Monument, Southport

St. Luke’s Church, Southport

Southport Cemetery

Southport Postal Staff

Holy Trinity Church, Southport.

We currently have no further information on Norman James Dalton. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.