John Coulthard
Date of birth: 10.2.1898
Date of death: 8.11.1918
Area: Normanton
Regiment: Machine Gun Corps
Family information: Son of William and Catherine Coulthard
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service number: 102885
War Service
John was 16 years old when, at the outbreak of war, he enlisted at Beverley. The reason why and when he enlisted at Beverley remains unknown.
Young recruits frequently gave a false age: officially, men had to be 19 years old before they could fight abroad. The proof of age of a recruit was often waived because of the need to replace the heavy losses being sustained by fighting men abroad. Lane Corporal John Coulthard was sent to France to serve with the 41st Battalion Machine Gun Corps (Infantry).
Whilst serving in France with his battalion Lance Corporal John Coulthard died of influenza on 8 November 1918.
The influenza pandemic, “Spanish flu”, claimed the lives of millions of people during 1918. No one knows the actual figure, estimated to be up to 200 million, of people around the world who could have died from this particular viral strain of influenza. In an effort to maintain morale the governments of Britain, France, Germany and the United States of America censored newspapers on the premise that reporting the deaths attributed to influenza “might lower morale” of the troops.
We can only imagine how John’s family would have felt, the elation of the whole world celebrating the coming end of the so called “Great War” on the 11 November 1918 and the sorrow when receiving the tragic news of John’s death on or very near to the 11 November. John is buried in Arneke British Cemetery, Northern France. Arneke Cemetery was begun by the 13th Casualty Clearing Station and then joined by the 10th and 44th Clearing Stations in April 1918.
The cemetery was used by these hospitals until the end of May and used again from July to September 1918 by the 62nd (1 / 2nd London) Clearing Station. The cemetery contains 435 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and five from the Second World War.
Family Life
John was born in Altofts on 10th February 1898. John’s father, William, his mother Catherine and his two older sisters, Annie and Jane, were all born in County Durham.
By 1891 the family had moved from County Durham to live at 5, Lockes Row, Altofts where John’s older sister Ellen and two younger sisters, Alice and Mary, were born.
Sometime after 1911 the family moved from Lockes Row to live at 23, High Green Road, Altofts.
