The weir which was the scene of the Guyzance Tragedy

Image: © Les Hull Taken: 8 Feb 2007

The date on this memorial is different from the plaque nearby (see http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/334298 ). This memorial has 15th January and the plaque has 17th January. The information below was supplied by David Lauckner The dates are different because the chap who carved the plaque incorrectly assumed that the date of a memorial service (held in Felton on the Sunday nearest to the anniversary) was the date of the tragedy - actually Jan 17th. Changing the 5 to a 7 was apparently not possible and the error was accepted by the regiments concerned. Last night I was at a talk given by Mrs Vera Vaggs about the tragedy and she mentioned the date discrepancy. Mrs Vaggs was a prime mover in gaining recognition for the 10 soldiers lost in the tragedy. The carving was done by a Felton man, the late Charlie Dick. The initial plaque (at the top) only commemorated the incident. He later added the second carving with the names. The stone with the engraved plate was added to the site in 2004 by the Darlington and Aycliffe Branch of the DLI Association. Just looking at the picture of the memorial stone and was reminded that the poem was also written by Charlie Dick. Look at other photo for information relating to the tragedy.

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