War Memorial Gravestones in Worsbrough St Thomas' Churchyard and 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.

St Thomas' Worsborough (written without the second o for the last fifty years) was built in 1859, prior to that the area would have been covered by St Mary's church up the hill in Worsborough Village.  The Commonwealth War Graves Commission record the Churchyard and Cemetery separately.   

There are five CWGC burials in St Thomas' Churchyard and eight CWGC burials in St Thomas' church cemetery in addition to the war memorial gravestones shown below.

Clifford Barber
John Charles Cooke (WW2)
George Rose
William Henry Savage
Thomas Sutton

Thomas Glover (WW2)
William Hardcastle (WW2)
Albert Henry Hilliard (WW2)
Sam Lockwood-Dukes (WW2)
William Henry Nicholson
Horace Smith (see Willie Smith below)
Joseph Speight
Ernest Wesley (WW2)

In the list below, where the name is blue click to follow the link to a page with a larger photograph and more information.

Gravestone Location Section Row No.	Soldier's Name & Regiment Date of Death	Photograph
Churchyard	Maurice Paul Ellis York and Lancaster Regt 2nd/5th Battalion  4 May 1917
Churchyard	Arthur Heathcote York and Lancaster Regt 1st/5th Battalion 22 October 1917
Churchyard	William Henry George Raley Yorkshire Regt 3rd Battalion  15 June 1915 Walter Hugh Raley  York and Lancaster Regt 5th Battalion 14 May 1915
Churchyard	Charles Edward Savage York and Lancaster Regt 10th Battalion 16 November 1916
Churchyard	Stanley Spencer  York and Lancaster Regt 2nd/5th Battalion 3 May 1917
Churchyard	Laurence Taylor Durham Light Infantry 27 March 1918
Churchyard	William Pickering Canadian Infantry 30 Jun 1916
Churchyard	Oliver Roebuck Kings Own Yorkshire LI 3 May 1917
Churchyard	William Baker York & Lancaster Regt 24 October 1918
Church Cemetery	Herbert Petty York and Lancaster Regt 1/5th Battalion 7 September 1916 Charles Graham Petty Black Watch 1st/6th Battalion 17 September 1916
Church Cemetery Row 1, above walk, 26	Willie Smith Kings Own Yorkshire LI 1st/4th Battalion 13 April 1918

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