In the archives of the Worcester News building on Hylton Road sits a copy of the front page of the Berrows Worcester Journal's Pictorial Supplement of October 25, 1914.

Under the heading Roll of Honour is a picture entitled Lt Northey (Killed in Action) Worcestershire Regt.

War had only been declared a few weeks' earlier, on August 4.

From then on the Berrows Journal was to repeat its Roll of Honour week after week after week as the Worcestershire death toll mounted in the First World War.

But what do we know of this man, one of the first of thousands of men from the Worcestershire Regiment to die in the war?

If our research is correct he was, ironically, not from Worcestershire.

The records suggest he was Alfred Northey, the son of Alice Northey and the late Rev A E Northey, of 'Lisworney', Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

The Commonwealth Graves Commission records tell us he was 28 years old, a Lieutenant in the 3rd Battallion, The Worcestershire Regiment, and he died on October 12 - just 39 days after war's outbreak.

He is buried at Brown's Road Military Cemetery in Festubert, near Bethune in the Pas de Calais in France.

It became famous for a major battle in 1915, but Lt Northey would have died shortly after British and Commonweath troops were moved there as the armies manoeuvred to try to turn back the German invasion of Belgium and France.

We don't know how he died, but we do know that he was mentioned in despatches.

We know one other thing about Lt Northey. We know the words his mother Alice chose for his gravestone in Festubert, the words that remain there to this day:

And white robes were given unto every one of them.

Throughout the next four years we aim to create a lasting memorial to the Fallen of Worcestershire in World War One and would like your help to bring this time in our history back to life.

We hope to print basic details of all those killed or died of wounds from the war, and hope readers will be able to add to that with more information about them, pictures and reminiscences which can be sent to us in writing, via e-mail, or on our special website section http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/ww1.

Contact us via e-mail at pj@worcesternews.co.uk or mike.pryce@midlands.newsquest.co.uk

We are working with the local world war heritage team who are looking for letters, stories, memorabilia for public exhibitions and displays throughout the next for years marking the 100th anniversary of the war.