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During the process of investigating the stories of our parishioners, we relied upon the memories of relatives, photos they provided and archived records.
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“We had a rough time in the trenches, had a few casualties but I got out safe, had a few narrow escapes but was lucky. Going in and out was almost as bad as being in. The party that relieved us had nine knocked out on the road, they had to pass a building that was on fire: they warned us but when we got to that spot we made a dash past. It is called Hell Fire Corner and is shelled from two sides. We heard yesterday that a lot of them have been gassed also since. We move up to the same place tonight and we are in for it this time. We have to go over the top at 7.30 in the morning”
THEIR STORIES
Joseph Rowan
Joseph Rowan, killed in action on 14th July 1916 and later buried near to where he fell by his comrades, left a widow and [...]
John Edward Whittaker
Great–grandfather of our parishioner Catherine Wallwork (nee Ives), John Edward Whittaker was one of over a million men from Britain and Ireland who enlisted [...]
Benjamin Pooley
In September 1999, after many years of searching by family members and before First World War military records became accessible via the internet, our [...]
How news of the outbreak of war was reported in East Lancashire
On August 4th 1914 the declaration of war between Great Britain and Germany was announced in a short statement by the Foreign Office at11 [...]
Armistice in Rossendale
Armistice means the ending of hostilities before peace negotiations start. At the end of the First World War several armistices were signed by different countries [...]
A Soldier’s Life in the Trenches of The Western Front of World War 1
World War 1 was fought in different parts of Europe, and in other parts of the world such as The Middle East and on [...]