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Gunner John Thomas Smith died on the 21st June 1887 aged 28 in an accident at Redcar Battery. The date is significant as he died preparing the royal salute for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.

The gravestone was erected by the First North Riding of Yorkshire Volunteer Artilliary, but over the years the cannon balls on the grave were either lost or stolen. They have recently been replaced by the Friends of Redcar Cemetery with cannon balls retrieved from the sea bed locally.