John Lavery was born in Pomeroy, County Tyrone about 1889. The family moved to England. John was a labourer. At the outbreak of the war John was living in Blaydon-on-Tyne and enlisted on 27 August 1914 in Newcastle-on-Tyne. Private John Lavery was serving with the 15th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry when he was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on Saturday 1st July 1916.
The Thiepval Memorial will be found on the D73, next to the village of Thiepval, off the main Bapaume to Albert road (D929). Each year a major ceremony is held at the memorial on 1 July.
