War Memorial Gravestones in Worsbrough St Mary's Burial Ground

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.

Worsbrough St Mary's Burial Ground contains 7 CWGC burials. 

Christopher Armitage
Reuben Edward Burkinshaw
Thomas Hunton Copley
Clifford Simm (WW2)
Samuel Isiah Thomas
Carl Duncan Thorpe
Henry Laister Waller

In the list of War Memorial Gravestones below, where the names is blue click to follow the link to a page with a larger photograph and more information. Links are being added to the Find A Grave site where you will find photographs, transcriptions of the inscriptions and some family information where available.

Gravestone Location Section Row No.	Soldier's Name & Regiment Date of Death	Photograph
*   Find A Grave	Frank Greenwood York & Lancaster Regt 19 June 1915
*	George William Kellett Coldstream Guards 15 September 1916
	Frederick Waller Sherwood Foresters 24 October 1917
*	James Carr Durham Light Infantry 20 July 1917
*	Henry Norman Bird Royal Field Artillery 4 May 1918
*	James Casey York & Lancaster Regt 9 October 1917
*	Sydney James Mayes King's Own Yorkshire L I 27 August 1918
*   Find A Grave	Clifford Batty Machine Gun Corps 27 November 1918
*   Find A Grave	James William Hughes York and Lancaster Regt 18 August 1916
*	Albert Edward Finney Royal Engineers 9 December 1915
*	Arthur Ibberson Royal Welsh Fusiliers 27 May 1917
*	Frank Swift York and Lancaster Regt  11 April 1918 Frederick Swift Lincolnshire Regiment 21 August 1918
*	Albert Francis Royal Navy 16 June 1941

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