Military

Joan Matthews was born in Haltwhistle, Northumberland. She married David Besford four years after the start of the Second World War.

George Besford was born in Amble, Northumberland. He lost his leg in the Battle of the Somme, and later worked in the lamp cabin at Woodhorn Colliery, Ashington.

Henry Charles Deamster Hornsby was a wireless engineer and amateur radio enthusiast, who served with the Royal Air Force in the Middle East.

David Besford was injured fighting in the First World War. He and his family emigrated from the UK to Australia in 1925, where he worked as a mines inspector.

George Bestford was born at Bensham, Gateshead. He served in the First World War, and later moved to Pretoria where he joined the South African Police.

Matthew Wilkinson Bestford was wounded serving in the First World War. He and his family lived in Australia for six years.

Charles Herbert Besford was working as a butcher’s boy in Heaton when the First World War broke out. He joined the Royal Navy and remained a reservist following his return to civilian life.

William Bestford was born near Blaydon in 1862. He served in India with the Northumberland Fusiliers, then worked as a coal miner around Winlaton, and died in Newcastle in 1922.

Thomas Bestford served with the Union Army during the American Civil War.

William Besford was taken prisoner in the Second World War in 1942. He was repatriated at the end of the war.