War Memorial Gravestones in Cudworth Cemetery

During both the First and Second World Wars re-repatriation of the bodies of fallen servicemen and women was not usual.  The Unknown Soldier, entombed in Westminster Abbey represents those buried and commemorated overseas who could not come home.  For many families, deprived of a graveside at which to mourn, one solution was to add the name of their lost son (or daughter) to the family gravestone in their local churchyard.  

The Imperial War Museum's War Memorials' Archive defines a War Memorial as "any tangible object which has been erected or dedicated to commemorate those killed as a result of war, conflict or peacekeeping; who served in war or conflict; or who died whilst engaged in military service."  This includes gravestones which commemorate a casualty buried elsewhere.  There must be a clear statement on the memorial (or in a printed document such as a newspaper report from the time) that defines the commemorative purpose of the feature and reports its erection. The full wording of their definition can be found here.

Thus gravestones which include wording such as: died of wounds received in action, killed in action, fell in France, died on active service, reported missing in action, or even killed accidentally while on active service all count as War Memorials.  The wording is a "clear statement" that the purpose of recording that person's name on the gravestone is as a memorial.

Graves which are situated on the site of the burial of a casualty, such as Commonwealth War Graves, are not War Memorials, however the Barnsley War Memorials Project is also collecting their details for inclusion in the Barnsley Roll of Honour.

The Memorial Inscriptions of Cudworth Cemetery are available online from the Barnsley Family History Society.   A search through them has, so far, produced over twenty inscriptions which include the kind of wording described above.  Further information has been provided where the name is coloured blue, click to follow the link.

Gravestone Location Section Row No.	Soldier's Name & Regiment Date of Death	Photograph
ASE 2 12	Frank Bonds KOYLI 5 July 1916 remembered on his brother William's CWGC stone
AS 2 5	Jabez Benjamin Clare KOYLI 5 July 1916
AS 4 9	Orlando Goulding   1st Y&L 21 July 1917
A 2 3	Bernard Jaques Joyner Black Watch 30 July 1916
ASE 1 4	Harold Porter   RAMC 10 October 1917
C 12 8	Richard Wealthall   West Riding Rgt 24 October 1918
B Porch 3 1a	Arthur Ogley MG Sec 14th Y&L 12 April 1918
B 7 24	Albert Hart Lancashire Fusiliers 12 October 1918
B 1 7	William Henry Wright Leicestershire Rgt 30 October 1917
A 1 30	Arthur Lister Goddard Coldstream Guards 19 June 1916
AE 2 10	Herbert Straker 5th West Yorks Rgt 11 November 1918
AE 3 11	Reuben Davies South Staffordshire Rgt 30 May 1918
AS 5 5	William Copley 1st/5th Y&L 6 July 1916
C 1 5	Arnold Blackburn 2nd/4th Y&L 5 May 1917 Hugh Blackburn West Yorkshire Regiment 22 September 1917
H 7 12	Cyril Ernest Hewitt 4th Y&L 1 July 1917
D 2 5	Walter Ward Royal Garrison Artillery 9 August 1918
E 3 5	Clifford Dunhill   6th Y & L Rgt 29 January 1944
F 3 17	Cyril Barraclough RAF 3 November 1943
C 12 26	Herbert Harry Littlewood West Riding Rgt 18 July 1944
C 10 3	Ernest Race Fusilier 27 July 1944
C 7 23	Frank Green Royal Scots Greys 30 July 1944
C 7 6	George E Whiteley 1st Rgt Royal Horse Artillery 14 December 1941
D 7 18	Wilfred Eversedge Royal Engineers 4 May 1944
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Please contact us if you know of any other memorial gravestones in this or any other cemetery in the Barnsley area.