The 7 Newcastle United players who fought in World War 2 as VE Day remembers fallen

The country will come together to remember the fallen on Thursday as this year’s VE Day marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

Many footballers engaged in essential wartime work away from the frontline and others were called up to duty across the armed forces throughout the conflict - sadly, some were never to return. Newcastle United were just one of a number of the clubs across the country that mourned the loss of a current player at the time and several former Magpies also lost their lives in battle.

A total of 21 players that lost their lives during the First World War are listed on a plaque by the Alder-Sweeney memorial garden at St James Park that was unveiled by club legend Bob Moncur in November 2018. Their names are joined by the seven former Magpies players that died during the Second World War between 1939 and 1945.

But who were the former Magpies who lost their lives during the latter of those conflicts?

Newcastle United players who died during World War Two

Flying-officer Colin Matthew Seymour

Seymour was the son of Magpies legend Stan Seymour, who was a league champion with United in 1927, managed the club to their 1951 and 1952 FA Cup wins and was both chairman and president at St James Park. Seymour Junior was the only current Magpie to be killed in action during World War 2 and represented the club in wartime football. He passed away when his Wellington aircraft suffered an engine failure and hit the ground during a forced landing near Kirkby Fleetham in North Yorkshire.

Air-craftman Stanley Holbrook Docking

The former Magpies inside-left made 20 appearances for the club between 1934 and 1938. He moved on to Tranmere Rovers before returning to the North East with Hartlepool United. Docking served with the Royal Air Force but died in Newcastle’s RVI of disinfectant poisoning in May 1940.

Pilot officer Edward Ernest Hall

Centre half Hall joined Newcastle from West Wylam Colliery in 1935 and made just two senior appearances before moving to Brighton and Hove Albion and Stoke City. Serving as a pilot officer, Hall lost his life at the age of just 27 when his Vickers Wellington bomber was shot down near St Polten in Austria during the summer of 1944.

William Noble Imrie

After joining Newcastle from Blackburn Rovers in 1933, the twice-capped Scotland international went on to make over 125 appearances during a five-year stay on Tyneside. He rounded off his playing career with Swansea Town and Swindon Town and joined the Royal Air Force, rising to the rank of corporal during the Second World War. Sadly, Imrie developed cancer during his time on duty and passed away in a Fife hospital on Boxing Day, 1944.

William James Isaac

Inside forward Isaac started his career with the Magpies but failed to make a senior appearance before joining Brighton and Hove Albion just before the hostilities began. Serving as a bombardier in the Royal Artillery, Isaac took part in the Battle of France, also known as the Western Campaign, in 1940 before being evacuated from Dunkirk. He then died of meningitis in April of the following year and is buried in Seghill’s Holy Trinity Churchyard.

James Quar McPherson

Growing up in Jesmond, McPherson never progressed beyond United’s seconds (reserves) team. Serving as an Observer in the Royal Air Force Voluntary Reserve, he lost his life at the age of just 24 when his Blenheim bomber crashed a mile short of the runway at Pembrokeshire’s Carew Cheriton airbase after acting as a convoy escort. The reason for the crash is still not known to this day.

Private Ralph Shields

Shields saw his hopes of representing Newcastle at first-team level ended by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. After serving as a bombardier throughout the conflict, the forward resumed his playing career with Huddersfield Town, Exeter City, Brentford and Sittingbourne before returning to the North East with Blyth Spartans. After allegedly lying about his age to serve in World War 2, Shields was taken as a prisoner of war whilst Australian Army Service Corps in Malaya. He is said to have died of malnutrition in Borneo in November 1944.

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