Hartlepool author publishes book about town First World War casualties

Dennis Lendrem, who attended Brinkburn Comprehensive School from 1968 to 1975, tells the stories of 45 former pupils who lost their lives serving their country during the 1914-18 conflict in his new book Brinkburn’s First War.

Most of Hartlepool’s Old Boys, aged 17 to 31, died in the trenches on the Western Front with four losing their lives by sea and by air.

Dennis, who is now retired and lives in Northumberland, recalls how every November the headmaster would recite the names of each boy who had died during the war in remembrance.

He said: “The centenary remembrance is not that long ago but already their memory is fading. I wanted to make sure they were not forgotten. Through the book I hope to make contact with descendants who can fill in the gaps.”

Dennis, who was raised in Wensleydale Street, Hartlepool, was first drawn to the subject as a contributor to the Durham At War Project in 2014 and has since written two books, his second titled Brinkburn Goes To War: 1939-1945.

He said: “I have always been interested in history but when I was growing up in Hartlepool, it was a shortcut to the dole queue, so I went into science instead.”

Since his retirement however, Dennis has pursued his passion for history and written about his own childhood school’s past.

He said: “I have always been a writer. Even as an academic, I was always writing papers and books but now, I get to write on something I am really interested in.”

He added: “The stories are incomplete but by doing the books, I hope that a lot of people will get in contact with us to continue their stories.”

The names of all 45 Old Boys who died in the First World War are remembered on an oak plaque in what is now Hartlepool’s Sixth Form College, in Blakelock Road.

If anyone has any information or would like to get in touch, you can do so via the West Hartlepool Grammar School Old Boys Association website or Facebook pages at https://www.whgsoba.org or https://www.facebook.com/hartlepoolgrammar.