If you wish to receive email notification of changes to the Accrington Pals pages, please register. 5th July 2008 It was announced on Friday that English Heritage has offered a grant towards the costs of repairing the roof and walls of St. John's Church, home to the Accrington Pals Memorial Chapel. The grant is a two-stage process, the first of which will involve a detailed assessment of the building's condition and of the costs required to make the repairs. The cost of this stage are estimated to be £11,700 for which English Heritage is offering a grant of £9,000. It will then be for the Parish Council to decide whether or not to proceed to the second stage, the repair and building work. The cost of this stage has been estimated as £95,000 for which English Heritage is offering a grant of £58,000. A handout for the St. John's Church Fund Raising Appeal can be downloaded from the Memorial Chapel page on the website. Pete Flynn has kindly provided two photographs showing 15629 Robert Worthington Rigby. One is a studio portrait taken with Robert in Melton Blue uniform. A photograph taken at the double-wedding in 1915 of 15733 James Sullivan to Ellen Nichols and of Jack Nichols - a Bombardier in the Royal Garrison Artillery - to Nelly De Maine appears on the site thanks to Ken Hare and family, with help from Mike Townend and Towneley Hall Art Gallery & Museum. The photograph can be found linked from James' entry in the list of officers and men. Can you help me to unearth the true story behind the popularity of the liqueur Benedictine in East Lancashire? Burnley Miners Club first served the drink in December 1918 (thanks to Mike Townend for the information) and now sells more Benedictine than any other retail outlet in the world - the liqueur's often drunk with hot water when it's known as a Bene'n'hot. It's been said for many years that the drink gained its popularity in East Lancashire after a local battalion camped near the Benedictine Abbey at Fécamp in Normandy during the First World War. Recently, the idea that the battalion was the Accrington Pals has become widespread - Benedictine will even tell you this themselves. It seems much more likely that the liqueur was brought back by men of the 5th East Lancs, but I'm unable to find any record of an East Lancs battalion that was ever in the area of Fécamp. Any help would be much appreciated! 24th May 2008 A new page on the website tells the story of Gerry Gorst, who joined the Accrington Pals in late-May 1916 as 2nd-in-command of W Company under Harry Livesey. I am very grateful to Gerry's son, John Gorst, for allowing me to make use of letters written by Gerry to his sister during his time on the Western Front in 1915 and 1916. The web page on Harry Livesey has been updated to include Gerry Gorst's account of his company commander's heroics at Serre on 1st July 1916. Harry Livesey's part in the attack at Serre was the subject of a recently-published article in the Lancashire Telegraph. Maj. Thomas Carter Clough was 2nd-in-command of the Sheffield City Battalion from its formation until June 1916. Thomas' great-great-granddaughter, Nicola Hollis, has kindly provided his photograph. 12th April 2008 The appeal to save St John's Church, home to the Accrington Pals Memorial Chapel, has now received donations totalling more than £28,000. If you wish to help the fund reach its target of £50,000, please forward a cheque, made out to St. John's Pals' Fund, to the Accrington Observer offices at 103 Blackburn Road, Accrington, BB5 1JJ. Ian Thomas has very kindly provided photographs and other material relating to his father, 15045 Frank Thomas. Frank was wounded in No Man's Land on 1st July 1916, but returned to the front to win the Military Medal with the 8th East Lancs. He transferred back to the Accrington Pals only to be taken prisoner at Ayette on 27th March 1918. Photographs of Frank and his best pal, Percy Hargreaves, who died of wounds on 28th June 1916, can be found alongside their entries in the list of officers and men. Extracts from a letter written from hospital by Frank Thomas to his father, describing the attack of 1st July 1916, can be found on the Personal Testimony page. Ian has also forwarded a better copy of the 'barbershop' photograph. This can be found on the second Gallery page. I have added a further 18 photographs of Accrington Pals to the site, all taken from local newspapers. Special thanks go to Dennis Otter for generously sharing the results of his work. Thanks to Andy Buck, and Mike Townend of Towneley Hall Art Gallery & Museum a photograph of a C Battery (Burnley) group of the Accrington & Burnley Howitzers can be found on the Howitzers gallery page at S/7909 Stanley Corbet Baker, a 20 year-old Clayton-le-Moors man, died of wounds on 30th October 1915 while serving with the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders. A photograph of Stanley has been kindly provided by Geoff Mayer. 23rd January 2008 Owing to the (hopefully temporary) closure of St John's Church, the Accrington Pals Memorial Service is to be held this year at St James' Church on Sunday 17th February (2.40pm for 3pm). If you would like to attend, please contact Shelley Whitehead by email at: Meanwhile, the appeal to save St John's has reached the £20,000 mark. 31542 Pte. Charles Edwin Nutt won the Military Medal with the 11th East Lancashires on 13th April 1918 during the Battle of the Lys. Thanks to his great-niece, Christine Rawson and her daughter, Pennie Cowley, Charles' photograph and a copy of the citation for his gallantry award now appear on the website. Charles was killed in action little more than a month later, and lies buried in Caestre Military Cemetery. 22364 Pte. Ernest Dixon from Barrowford joined the 11th East Lancashires in the Autumn of 1916. In a 1918 family photograph kindly provided by his great-grandson, Duane Gorst and his wife Sandie, Ernest is seen wearing a wound stripe, long service/good conduct stripe and at least two overseas service stripes. In a follow-up to a successful 2004 event, Towneley Hall museum in Burnley will be staging an exhibition in November called '90 Stories Revisited'. MIke Townend, Keeper of History at the museum, would like to hear from anyone who can contribute an interesting story of a family member (man or woman) from Burnley who served at home or in a battle zone. Mike can be contacted at the museum by telephone on 01282 424213 or by email at: Tessa West has generously provided a photograph of her uncle, 2/Lt Eric Marcus Carr of the Sheffield City Battalion, who was killed in action at Serre on 1st July 1916. Finally, a short selection of websites which have attracted my attention recently, and which I hope will be of more general interest. A Wiki site focussing on the June 1917 Battle of the Messines Ridge includes photographs of the remains of practice trenches dug in the vicinity of Penkridge Bank Camp where the Accrington Pals trained in 1915. Ralph Hudson's book on the Bradford Pals has been placed online in its entirety. On the same site, there are recordings of veterans made in the 1980s as well as a 1976 interview with Bradford Pal George Morgan. Last but by no means least, do take a look at this stunning collection of colour photographs taken by Mike St Maur Sheil on the battlefields of the Western Front. 23rd December 2007 The current edition of the Accrington Observer reports that the fund to save St. John's Church, home of the Accrington Pals Memorial Chapel, has now reached more than £13,000. Musician Ephy Clarke has recorded a new song in memory of the Accrington Pals, and has made 500 copies on CD at his own expense. All proceeds from the CD sales will go towards the St. John's appeal fund. Further information is available through Ephy's website. Bertram Harradine died on 13th November 1917 following an enemy gas shell bombardment of the front line held by the 11th East Lancashires at Acheville. The letter written by Capt. Frederick Heys to Bertram's mother informing her of her son's death has been kept in the family and appears on the site thanks to Bertram's great-niece, Helen Wright. Names have been put to faces in a Z (Burnley) Company photograph taken at Penkridge Bank Camp in 1915. Those in the photograph are 15708 Robert Bullen, 15744 Edward Hanslip, Holton?, 15361 George Edwin Breckell, 15367 Charles Edward Humphreys, Harrison, 15706 Joseph Bland, 15752 William Henry Ridge, Fletcher, Heyes?, Ralph, Dickinson, Woods, 15908 William Sharpe, 15573 Robert William Knowles, 15373 John Henry Russell, 15370 Reuben McGuire, 15184 James Henry Roberts, 15724 Job Lockett, 15574 John Lockett, 16054 Joseph Hurley Pickles, 15972 Edmund Talbot, Brown, Ralph?, Haworth/Howarth, 16034 William Cowpe, 15735 Earl Whittaker, 15754 James Hartley Schofield and 16047 John James Wiggan. The photograph is second from bottom on the second gallery page. Eve Noden-Wilkinson has very kindly provided photographs of her father, L/112 Emmanuel Kenyon, an Oswaldtwistle gunner who won the Military Medal with the Accrington & Burnley Howitzers. Emmanuel's portrait can be found linked from his entry in the list of officers and men. 20th October 2007 The fight to save St. John's Church, Accrington and the Pals Memorial Chapel has taken a new twist with the launch of a fund-raising appeal supported by the Accrington Observer. The current issue of the newspaper reports that church officials have reversed their earlier decision to close the building permanently. Anyone who wishes to help can forward cheques, made out to St. John's Pals' Fund, to the Observer offices at 103 Blackburn Road, Accrington, BB5 1JJ. St. John's Church has a new website at The full collection of the so-called 'Unburnt Documents', the WW1 army service records reconstructed for pension purposes, has recently been made available online by Ancestry.co.uk. I have so far located the records of 103 Accrington Pals, the names of whom can be found on the site at 26263 John Radcliffe won the DCM with the 11th East Lancashires at La Becque on 28th June 1918 when - despite having been seriously wounded by a shell burst - he took command of a Lewis Gun section and led it to its objective. Thanks to Andrew Stevenson, a photograph of John and of his DCM citation can be found on the site at Heather Slater has kindly provided a photograph of her grandfather, L/144 George Dilworth of the Accrington and Burnley Howitzers. 30th August 2007 Amidst the continued uncertainty as to the fate of the Accrington Pals Memorial Chapel in St John's Church, it was heartening to read of Father David Lyon's conviction that St James' Church - already home to the battalion's colours - would provide a spiritual home to commemorate the Pals should St John's be permanently unavailable (Letters to the Editor, Accrington Observer, 24th August). The online list of officers and men has been updated with photographs of two of the original Accrington Pals. 15224 Percy Bury was killed in action on 1st July 1916. As his body was never identified, he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. 15384 Harry Aspinall survived the Battle of the Somme, despite being wounded in November 1916, but was killed in action with the battalion on 24th February 1918. Harry lies in Roclincourt Military Cemetery. My thanks go to Percy's grandson, Malcolm Bury, as well as to David Ingham, Jane Davies and the Museum of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment. John Oakley has kindly provided a photograph of his great-uncle, Roland Oakley, who enlisted into the ranks of the Sheffield City Battalion with the number 12/203 before being granted a commission on 14th July 1915. 8th July 2007 It is with great sadness that I have to report the death in hospital in the early hours of Friday of Bill Turner, author of 'Accrington Pals' and 'Accrington Pals Trail'. In the course of his work on the battalion's history, Bill assembled a large collection of photographs, interviews and other memorabilia which might otherwise have been lost, but which now form the William Turner Pals Collection held at Accrington Library. His commitment to seeing the battalion commemorated in its home town was most recently realised in the unveiling of the memorial in Church Street. He will be greatly missed. 1st July 2007 On this 91st anniversary of the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, it is sad to report that St John's Church, Accrington is to close permanently. While the future of the Accrington Pals Memorial Chapel remains to be resolved, it is hoped that a permanent home for the battalion's memorabilia and artefacts will be found in Haworth Art Gallery. On a lighter note, I have added a new quiz on the Accrington Pals to the site. The earlier quiz remains on the site, for those of you who missed it first time around. In Memoriam, 1st July 1916 6th May 2007 Sad news this month that St John's Church, Accrington - home of the Accrington Pals Memorial Chapel - has been forced to close temporarily because of concern over the safety of the church's electrical wiring. At a time when the church was already struggling to raise funds for structural repairs, the estimated cost of £20,000 for re-wiring comes as a bitter blow. I shall gladly forward any ideas for fundraising to the church. Thanks to Gloria Bird and David Ingham, a photograph of Earl Whittaker can now be found alongside his entry in the list of officers and men. Brothers Jack, Sam and George Thompson from Clayton-le-Moors all served in the First World War. Of the three, only George survived. George's granddaughter, Jacqueline Wilson, has generously provided photographs of the three brothers, as well as one of Accrington Pal Bob Berry who died of wounds on 27th March 1918. Jack and Sam Thompson George Thompson Bob Berry Nelson Gordon Johnstone enlisted into the ranks of the Sherwood Foresters at Accrington on 31st August 1914. After gaining a commission in the Black Watch, he won the Military Cross before losing his life on 31th December 1917 when a Stokes shell prematurely exploded. Nelson's great-niece, Helen Johnstone, has kindly given a photograph for use on the website. 15th April 2007 Thanks to Mike Townend of Towneley Hall Art Gallery & Museum, David Ingham and John Sowerby, there are more photographs to introduce this month. A studio portrait of 15891 Pte. Sid Edwards and friends can be found linked from Sid's entry in the list of officers and men. The page on the Accrington Pals in Egypt now has a photograph of a Z (Burnley) Company group with camels! There is a now a second photograph of 15426 Sgt. Thomas Southworth D.C.M., Croix de Guerre. (In his entry in the list of officers and men, click on the D.C.M. hyperlink.) John Sowerby has kindly donated scans of photographs and items originally belonging to his great-uncle, 12/457 Pte. William Morton of the Sheffield City Battalion. In contrast to Accrington's Pals, the City Battalion veterans held a formal annual reunion until into the 1970s. Particularly interesting is the signed menu card from the 1964 50th Anniversary Dinner. Details of all 385 names listed in the 1918 Absent Voters List for Polling District M (part of Oswaldtwistle) have been added. The list of officers and men who joined the 158th (Accrington & Burnley) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery before its embarkation for France on 31st January 1916 is now around 90% complete following the addition of a further 41 names from C and D (Burnley) batteries. 4th March 2007 15244 Pte. Arthur Lunt joined the Accrington Pals in September 1914, and was wounded during the attack on Serre of 1st July 1916. Arthur's granddaughter, Helen Lunt, has very kindly provided a set of photographs which now illustrate a new web page. Thanks are also due to Beryl Third, John Garwood, Kieron Ridehalgh, Enid & Stuart Briggs, and Mike Townend & Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum for donating the following photographs: 15829 Pte. William Smith and his wife Jane Ellen, a Caernarvon girl. 18048 Pte. Stanley Bewsher M.M. with other East Lancashire Regiment convalescents. 15223 L/Cpl. Walter Briggs. Z (Burnley) Company marching along Blackburn Road, Accrington on 1st August 1915. Did the father of the Accrington Pals' medical officer save the life of David Lloyd George? See the updated page on Capt. Jack Roberts for the story. The page on the largely forgotten engagement at the Warnave River on 5th September 1918 has been updated to include a brief description of the action for which 29485 Cpl. Robert Walmsley won the Military Medal. If anyone can provide details of other men who won the Military Medal on that date, it would be much appreciated: 30689 Sgt. Bernard Timilty (Seedley), 27004 L/Sgt. Guy Rawstron Taylor (Haslingden), 26539 Pte. William Mozley (Colne) and 39698 L/Cpl. Harry Neville (Warrenpoint). Lindsay Hoyle M.P. and Steve Williams are leading an appeal to raise funds for a permanent memorial to Y (Chorley) Company. 20th January 2007 A photograph of Sgt. Herbert Dunderdale and his family is now linked from his website entry at The Accrington Pals Memorial Service at St John the Evangelist Church, Accrington will take place this year on Sunday 18th February (2.40pm for 3pm). If you are interested in attending, please contact Shelley Whitehead. The 1914-1919 Roll of Honour for Great Harwood is now substantially complete. I am especially grateful to Mark Gardiner for his help in identifying many of the men listed on the town's war memorial. All 374 entries in the 1918 Absent Voters List for Accrington Polling District L (part of Oswaldtwistle) have been added to the website. 9th December 2006 As the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme approached earlier this year, I added a short clip of film to the website showing the Accrington Pals on the march on 1st August 1915. I can now show a second clip, showing the battalion leaving Hurdcott Camp near Salisbury on 14th December 1915. As before, my thanks go to the Queen's Lancashire Regiment and to the North West Film Archive for allowing me to show the film. Please remember that you will need to have a broadband connection and to have Adobe Flash Player 8 or later installed. A photograph of 15837 Daniel Worthington can now be found alongside his website entry, thanks to Daniel's grand-daughter, Maureen Gill. 11th November 2006 Kit Harvey has very kindly forwarded to me copies of letters and postcards written in 1915-16 by his great-great-great-grandfather, 15173 Cpl Richard Ormerod. With Kit's permission, I have used some of this wonderful material to illustrate a much expanded section on the Pals training period between September 1914 and December 1915. Richard was killed in action at Serre on 1st July 1916. John Garwood, author of the excellent "Chorley Pals", has also generously allowed me to use postcards from his collection on these pages. The many kind comments following the last newsletter were much appreciated. Those of you who enjoyed our travel journal page on Gallipoli may like to see the photograph of officers of the 1/5th Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment, kindly sent by Mike Townend, Burnley Borough Council and Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museums. The photograph is linked from Andrew Gill and Alan Makay have recently put the Burnley Roll of Honour for the Great War online. 14/620 Sgt. Fred Lindley was killed in action with the 2nd Barnsley Pals on 7th May 1917. Ruth Sen has kindly sent a photograph of her great-grandfather, which can be seen on the Barnsley Pals home page. 7th October 2006 In April 1916, 17967 Tom Davies of the Accrington Pals wrote a letter of advice to his brother Harry, a new recruit to the East Lancashire Regiment. Harry's grandson, Steve Davies, has very kindly allowed me to publish the letter on the website. Courtesy of Max McEvoy, a photograph of 15356 Absalom Marsh can now be found alongside his entry in the list of Accrington Pals officers and men. The guide to researching WW1 soldiers' service records has been brought up-to-date. A short account of our recent visit to the Gallipoli battlefields can be found on the Jackson Travel Journal pages at Steve Williams will be leading a short tour to the Somme battlefield over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend, 4th-8th May 2007. If you are interested in joining the tour, please contact Steve directly on 01254 854298 or at John Cookson has recently put online a nice account of Steve's 2006 tour of the Somme and Ypres battlefields. 26th August 2006 On 6th January and 24th February 1919, the Accrington Prisoners of War Committee organized events to celebrate the return from camps in Germany of more than 280 men of Accrington, Church, Oswaldtwistle and Clayton-le-Moors. The names and addresses of those men in attendance at the two events were published in the Accrington Gazette on 11th January and 1st March 1919, and now appear on the website. James Wolfenden was killed in action with the Accrington Pals on 12th April 1918. Annelie Smith has kindly provided a colour portrait of James which can be seen on the pages describing the Battle of the Lys. 3rd August 2006 Ernie Kay's story is told in a new page at Thanks to Jean Sears, a photograph of her grandfather Denis Whelan can now be found at The page on visiting the Serre battlefield has been updated with a photograph taken there in the morning of 1st July 2006, and one of graves in Achiet-le-Petit German Cemetery where four officers who lost their lives at Serre are buried. Superficially little different, the pages and maps describing the fight for Serre have been revised. If you have the chance, do take the opportunity to visit the exhibition 'Our Dear Pals, the Somme and the Great War', showing at Accrington's Haworth Art Gallery until 17th September. On Thursday 31st August at 7.30pm, the Haworth is hosting an illustrated talk by Steve Williams about his recent guided tour of the Somme battlefields. If you would like to attend, please contact the Haworth on 01254 233782. Refreshments are included in the charge of GBP3.00. The Accrington Pals also feature in a new booklet published by the Ministry of Defence to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. 27th June 2006 As we approach the 90th Anniversary of the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, I am for the first time able to show film of the Accrington Pals on the website. In Memoriam, 1st July 1916 BBC Radio Lancashire have a special programme live from Accrington between 9am and midday on Saturday 1st July, and will be broadcasting an adaptation of Peter Whelan's play 'The Accrington Pals' from midday to 1pm on Sunday.
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