NEWTON, Samuel Thomas

Thomas Newton was the son of Samuel and Mercy Newton of Dennis, Brierley Hill. He was educated at a preparatory school at Lytham and at Brighton College, where his athletic and sporting ability enabled him to win both championships and medals. Two months after leaving school he volunteered in 1915 for the South Staffords Territorials and was commissioned to the 1/5th Battalion. He was attached to the Machine Gun Corps and went to Egypt and then to the Western Front. On the 10th August 1916 during the Battle of the Somme he was seriously injured by severe gun-shot wounds to his chest and back. His life-threatening injuries included paralysis of the spine. His parents were able to visit him in a military hospital and in September he was sent to England for specialised treatment in London hospitals. A County Express article commented on his ‘bright and cheery disposition’ even after nearly three years of being an invalid. In January 1917 he was brought home to Dennis where he was treated carefully by two local doctors. A special carriage was constructed for him and he was able to visit Birmingham on the 12th December 1919. The next day he died quietly. Lieutenant Samuel Thomas Newton was 23 years of age and after a full military funeral was buried in a family grave in Stourbridge Cemetery (K27). He is commemorated on the Brierley Hill and Amblecote Memorials.