Wednesday 26 October 2016

Change of Administration of this Website

As of 26th October 2016 this site will undergo a change of administration.  Please direct any queries to bwmp2015@gmail.com.

We also have a Twitter account @bnslywarmems
and a Facebook page  Barnsley War Memorials Project 

Thank you for your continued support. 

Friday 23 September 2016

Meeting in October - Topics for Discussion

We usually hold a General meeting in October. We have the offer of a room in Barnsley Town Hall (thanks to Barnsley Archives) on a Tuesday morning from 11am to 12 noon.  

This meeting has now been confirmed for 25th of October in Room 10 of Barnsley Town Hall at 11am for one hour. All welcome.  Reports from local Barnsley groups researching their memorials and men would be welcomed.

Last year we were visited by Councillor Joe Hayward who spoke about Barnsley Council's Somme100 commemoration plans. Can anyone suggest a speaker or visitor for this year?


We now have several topics for discussion at the proposed meeting in October:


Coloured clip art headed AGENDA with 4 bullet points and lines
Should the BWMP join the Barnsley Museums & Heritage Trust, as a group? This would entitle us to attend events at Experience Barnsley and network with Councillors and Heritage organisations.

How are we going to produce and fund our Roll of Honour? Loose leaf folder or try for some funding for a proper book or books?

Could we work with similar groups in other towns, eg Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham, Wakefield and so on? Would we be interested in getting involved in such a project with large scale Lottery funding if one was set up?

We were offered free training by Civic Voice in surveying the condition of our war memorials and submitting reports to the War Memorials Trust.  
http://www.civicvoice.org.uk/campaigns/war-memorials-/
Shall we take up this offer?

Keep the suggestions coming!

Friday 19 August 2016

Barnsley, Silkstone to Somme plaque, Cooper Memorial Gardens

Photo taken on 11 August 2016
Links:

War Memorials Archive listing

War Memorials Online listing

Photograph shared on Twitter by Councillor Joe Hayward

Inscription:
[York and Lancaster Regiment Badge]

13th & 14th Battalions / York and Lancaster Regiment / Barnsley Pals / From Silkstone to the Somme //


BWMP #BAR71

Saturday 13 August 2016

War Memorial Gravestones in St George's Churchyard, Barnsley

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' Register 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 George's Churchyard, Barnsley contains 3 WW1 memorial gravestones

In the list below, where the names 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
Plot 113 George Donald Gray

York & Lancaster Regiment

5 May 1917

Plot 2
Percival Reynolds

West Yorkshire Regiment

19 September 1918 
Plot 11Alfred Jaques

West Riding Regiment

10 April 1918


BWMP #BAR60

Saturday 16 July 2016

Brierley Cemetery Ronald Howson

Ronald Howson remembered on his family's gravestone
Links:

War Memorials Archive listing

War Memorials Online listing

Second World War - Barnsley War Memorials
Researched by MAC

Photograph by BarnsleyHistorian

Grave Location and Inscription:
C 209

In Loving Memory of / Our dear son / Ronald Howson / Died whilst a Prisoner of War / In Japanese Hands, Oct. 2nd 1942, / aged 23 years. / Also our daughter Gladys Howson, who died in infancy. / Also Mary Eliza Howson, / who died Sep. 30th 1980, / aged 88 years. / Also her dear husband William Howson / who died March 29th 1986, aged 98 Years / Re-United. //

Ronald is also remembered on the Grimethorpe War Memorial, St Luke's Church, Grimethorpe
 

Ronald was a Leading Sick Berth Attendant on the H.M.S Tamar and he is remembered at the Plymouth Naval Memorial and commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.  

BWMP #BRY02/01

Brierley Cemetery Robert Evison Butterwood

Close up of inscription on the front of Butterwood gravestone
The full memorial on the Butterwood grave
Links:

War Memorials Archive listing

War Memorials Online listing

Second World War - Barnsley War Memorials
Researched by MAC

Photographs by Barnsley Historian

Grave Location and Inscription:
C 278

In Loving Memory of / Jean Annie / the beloved daughter of / Robert Evison & Annie E. / Butterwood / who was accidentally killed / June 28th 1940 aged 6 years. / Suffer Little Children to Come unto Me. / Also of their beloved son / Robert Evison / who was killed in Italy / April 21st 1945, aged 24 years. / A Duty Nobly Done. //
Also / Robert / Evison / the beloved / husband of / Annie / E Butterwood / who died Jan 13th / 1956 / aged 64 years / "At Every Dawn / A Thought of You / At Eventide a Prayer." //
Also / Annie Eliza / Butterwood / the beloved wife of / Robert Evison / Butterwood / who died June 8th 1983 / aged 86 years / Joined together again / In Thy Love and Peace. //

Robert is also remembered on
the Brierley War Memorial, St Paul's Church, Brierley, on the Brierley Royal British Legion WW2 Roll of Honour and on the Felkirk St Peter's Lychgate WW2 Memorial Tablet and on the Monk Bretton Working Men's Club WW2 Roll of Honour
 
He is buried in Argenta Gap War Cemetery in Italy and commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.


BWMP #BRY02/02

Brierley Cemetery Leslie Steele

Kerb edging around Steele family grave plot

Close up of Leslie's name on his parents grave plot
Links:

War Memorials Archive listing

War Memorials Online listing

Second World War - Barnsley War Memorials
Researched by MAC

Photographs by Nigel Croft

Grave Location and Inscription:

D 511

In Loving Memory of //
My Dear Parents / Mabel & George Steele //
Also Their Son Leslie / Killed in Action 1943 //

Leslie is also remembered on the Brierley War Memorial, St Paul's Church, Brierley, on the Brierley Royal British Legion WW2 Roll of Honour and on the Felkirk St Peter's Lychgate WW2 Memorial Tablet 

He is buried in Kanchanburi War Cemetery in Thailand and commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.


BWMP #BRY02/03

Thursday 14 July 2016

Cudworth, Somme Memorial Park, Cudworth Park

Details of 41 Cudworth Men
(click to enlarge - if downloaded names and info are readable)
Old Bowling Green Cabin decorated with Poppy Art
Names panel, dedication panel, Somme Information Panel
Repainted after vandalism. Photo by DC in 2021.

Edit: 31 July 2024 Additional name since last visted.



Links:

War Memorials Archive listing

War Memorials Online listing

Lives of the First World War Community

Transcribed and photographed by BarnsleyHistorian
 

Inscription:
[on the central black plaque]

To the memory of the men of Cudworth / who made the supreme sacrifice / at The Battle of the Somme / 1st July 1916 - 22nd November 1916. / "At the going down of the sun and / the morning we will remember / them" / The memorial open by / Councillor Charles Wraith MBE / 11th July 2016 //  

[on the steel plaque to the left]
To the Memory of the Men of Cudworth / Who made the Supreme Sacrifice / at the Battle of the Somme / 1st July 1916 - 22nd November 1916 / (names and information)

Note: Both plaques have been transcribed as seen.  

Names: 
Each name is followed by the man's Service Number, Rank, Battalion, Regiment, Mode of Death, Date of Death and Age if known.

Where further information on a name has been researched by our volunteers it will be linked here  (look for the names in blue) to a page on this site or to an external site. 

Arnold Richard Henry
Barnes Fred
Batty James William
Bonds Frank
Bowen Arthur
Bowering G J
Bromley John William
Brooks John
Cale John
Clare Jabez Benjamin
Chappell Albert
Copley William
Emery Edward
Fenn Albert   
Glover David
Hewitt Charles Ernest*
Holmes Victor
Howard Lawrence George
Jackson James
Joburns Edward
Joyner Bernard
Kirk Wilfred
Lowe Walter
Maher Patrick
Morley George
Newberry Joseph
Poskitt Walter
Powell Richard Henry
Powell Thomas William
Reece James Arthur
Richards Thomas
Richardson Charles John
Sayers Charles
Snowden Fred
Stainrod Joseph Arthur
Teal Frank
Thomas Lawrence
Thompson John William
Tipping John
Waterfield George Henry
Watson Charles George


* should be Cyril Ernest Hewitt
 
Edit: 31 July 2024 - visited today and spotted that a new (to me) panel had been added with an additional name. See photo above.
Pearson Thomas Elijah 19417 Private
6th Bat. York & Lancaster Regiment.
KIA 29/9/1916.
 
Thomas Elijah Pearson's name does not appear on the Cudworth war memorial at St John's Church although he had two children born in Cudworth in 1912 and 1914 and was still living in Cudworth when he enlisted in  March 1915. He had been born in Denaby and was still living there in the 1911 census. His widow Beatrice remarried in late 1917 and at some point before the 1921 census she and her children moved to Mexborough where E T Pearson IS commemorated on Mexborough's war memorial. As Cudworth's war memorial was erected in 1920 it is likely that she had moved away from Cudworth before names were collected for that war memorial. Mexborough war memorial was unveiled in November 1922.
 

BWMP #CDW13

War Memorial Gravestones in Brierley 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' Register 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.

Brierley Cemetery contains 3 WW2 memorial gravestones + 1 CWGC burial

Robert Barker Wilson (WW2)

In the list below, where the names 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
C 209 Ronald Howson
 

Royal Navy HMS Tamar

2 October 1942
C 278Robert Evison Butterwood

Scots Guards

21 April 1945
D 511Leslie Steele

Royal Artillery

4 June 1943*
*
*
*
*
*
*


BWMP #BRY02

Wombwell, WW1 Memorial Plaque, Wombwell Park

World War One Memorial Plaque in Wombwell Park (photo 11 July 2016)
Links:

War Memorials Archive listing

War Memorials Online listing
 

Photographed by Fay Polson
 

Inscription:
This Park is Dedicated / to the Memory of the Men / of the Parish of Wombwell / who Fought and Sacrificed / their Lives in the / Great War 1914 - 1918 / 'The Living owe It to Those who no longer can speak to / tell their Story for Them' / This plaque was / donated by / the Wombwell Branch of / the Co-operative Funeralcare



BWMP #WMB17

Tuesday 5 July 2016

Barnsley, Somme Centenary Art, Barnsley Town Hall

Somme Centenary Artwork at around 6.30am on 1 July 2016
photo by Barnsley Historian
Night time showing the illuminated panels in front of the Town Hall
photo by Nigel Croft

Links:

War Memorials Register listing

War Memorials Online listing

Lives of the First World War Community 

Photographs of the individual panels

Mens' names researched by the Barnsley War Memorial Project

Additional research by Barnsley Historian and Fay Polson
 
Information:
There is no interpretive panel as yet for this temporary war memorial which commemorates Barnsley Men who Fell on the First Day of the Somme. Details will be added here when we have them. The artwork will remain in situ until Remembrance Sunday 2016. We do not know what will happen to it after that. 

Note added 13 August 2016: The Council have now improved their information about the artwork and several pages of information, including a downloadable list of the soldiers' names can be found on their website here.

Note added 28 August 2016: A QR code has been added to the ends of the displays. Visitors are invited to scan it for more information on the artwork.  We lack the technology to check but assume it points to the Council website linked here.

Note added 21 December 2016: The artwork has been awarded a PRO TEM award by Civic Trust Awards. The Pro Tem Award is presented to a temporary building, structure or space.  

Note added 21 April 2017: It was reported in this week's Barnsley Chronicle that with the support of the NPS Group the memorial is to be reinstated somewhere in Barnsley town centre,  subject to planning permission.  

Note added 24 October 2017: The artwork is to be installed in Churchfields Gardens opposite St Mary's church. For more information see here. Now with added interpretation board.

Somme Artwork 'Light Lines' being installed in new position 26 October 2017

New added interpretation board 26 October 2017

The artwork, which was created by artists [musson+retallick] consists of 30 perspex panels divided into 5 vertical strips which each bear the names of two men. For around half the names a photograph of the man has been reproduced, otherwise a generic silhouette has been used. The panels are laid out along the pavement edge of the gardens in front of Barnsley Town Hall with small gaps between each large panel. At night the panels are illuminated by white led lights and the light is refracted along the edges of the panels and boundaries of the strips.

Below each two names and images is a disc shaped brown object, this is a piece of local children's clay artwork, cast in resin and attached to the plaques.  Each item is numbered and an index to the pieces with the names of the children who created them can be found on the Barnsley Council website, here. 

We have called the groupings Panel Set 1 to Panel Set 30 for ease of reference, looking a the artwork from left to right. 

Names:
Where further information on a name has been researched by our volunteers it will be linked here  (look for the names in blue) to a page on this site or to an external site. It is possible that research has turned up an image of a soldier not included on this memorial so please follow the links. 

On this special memorial artwork we have indicated where an actual image of the man is present with a * Also note the symbol ^ which indicates a note about this man at the foot of the page.

Panel Set 12
Challenger J L*
Hague W
Howe A J
Moore L
Harris W*^
Robinson A*^
Roystone A*
Swinmurn J*
Wood F
Woolley S*
Panel Set 17
Clegg J
Clegg T
Clegg T
Cooper S*
Ives E
Lake J W*
Sanderson M*^
Swift W*
Waring J T*
Williams J A*     
Panel Set 22
Batley E
Chapman J*
Hurd G
Inskip F*
Jones E*^
Kelk T A*
Kenworthy A W
Lee D W
Smith J R*^
Turton A*


Notes:

Victor Holmes, panel set 4.  It has been proven by a relative that this image, from the Barnsley Independent in 1916, actually shows Victor's brother Harry Holmes who survived the war.

Thomas West, panel set 4. The image above this name is actually that of Thomas Goldsby West whose name in on panel set 7.


Charles Sayers, panel set 6. Sources differ, but this man did die somewhere between 1st and 3rd July 1916.

J Jackson, panel set 7. This is an image of James Jackson from Cudworth who was killed on 7 July 1916, it should be John Jackson from Barnsley killed on 1 July 1916.

Thomas Goldsby West, panel set 7. For an image of this man see West T, panel set 4.


R J Higginbott, panel set 8. Should read Higginbottom

W Atkinson, panel set 9. This man did not die on 1 July 1916. We are trying to find out who this image shows. 


W M Beckett, panel set 11. William Beckett (no M) who died on 1 July 1916 was in the 13th Btn, York and Lancaster Regiment. Is the cap badge shown on the image that of the Y&L?

H Smith, panel set 11. No-one from Barnsley called H Smith died on 1 July 1916.
  
W Harris, panel set 12. This photo is of Wilfred Harris Lavender.

 
A Robinson, panel set 12. Either Andrew Robinson or Arthur Robinson. The other A Robinson is on panel set 25. We are trying to find out who this image shows. 


J Marshbank, panel set 12. Should read Marchbank.

C C Thompson, panel set 13. This image shows Cecil Cuthbert Thompson who was killed on 14 July 1916, it should probably have been Charles Thompson from Darton who was killed 1 July 1916.

E Clowery, panel set 14. Should read Clowrey. 

H Miller, panel set 14. This man died on 1 Jul 1917. Included in error.

J Henighan, panel set 15. This man was killed on 1 July 1917. Included in error. 

Matthew Sanderson, panel set 17. This man died on 4 July 1916. It is possible he was included in error in place of Louis Sanderson who died on 1 July 1916.

S A Beache, panel set 19. Should read Beacher.

E Jones, panel set 22. This is Ernest Jones from Wombwell who was killed on 10 January 1917.  The man who died on 1 July 1916 was Edward Jones from Barnsley.

John Richard Smith, panel set 22. This man was reported missing at Mons and subsequently presumed dead in October 1914. He was one of five brothers who served, one of whom, William Smith, was killed on 1 July 1916. Probably have been meant to be Joseph Smith who was reported missing on 1 July 1916. 

Edit March 2021: J Powers, panel set 25. This photo is of John Willie Powers of Royston who died from wounds on 19 April 1918. There is a photo of John Powers of Sunderland Terrace who died on 1 July 1916 on the front page of the Barnsley Chronicle on 28 April 1917.

A Robinson, panel set 25. Either Andrew Robinson or Arthur Robinson. The other A Robinson is on panel set 12. We are trying to find out who the image there shows.

J W Kevitt, panel set 26. This is John William Kevitt who was killed on 6 July 1916. Probably meant to be his brother Ernest Kevitt who was reported missing on 1 July 1916.

F Nuttal, panel set 26. Should read Nuttall. 

H Turner, panel set 27 & 21. Only one H Turner from Barnsley died on 1 July 1916. Herbert Turner from Royston died on 1 July 1916, his photo appears on panel set 21. The image above H Turner on panel set 27 is actually Richard Turner of Monk Bretton whose name appears on panel set 20 below a blank profile.
Joseph H Turner died on 1 July 1916, but his picture does not appear in either local newspaper as far as we can tell.

F H Cave, panel set 29. This man died on either 1st or 2nd July 1916.

P H Thomas, panel set 30.  This man died in May 1916

Thomas York, panel set 30. This man, is the brother of Henry York on panel set 19. Although he was originally reported missing it was later discovered that he had been taken prisoner, and happily he survived the First World War.

 
BWMP #BAR70