Local historian & author and Secretary of the Chorley Pals Memorial, Steve Williams, gives his take on researching one group of men who worked for the Chorley Co-operative Society prior to the First World War.
When looking through the pictures room at Astley Hall in 2009, I saw pictures of six men mounted on a large piece of card; it was unframed. At the bottom of the card mount was the title “Employees of Chorley Co-operative Society who fell in the Great War, 1914-20”.
Having taken a digital photograph (what a bonus that technology is compared to a note pad and pen), I took it back to my home computer and began to research the six names.
First port of call on the Internet was the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website www.cwgc.org. Their ‘Debt of Honour’ register gave me some initial details such as rank, serial number, Regiment, date of death and where they were buried or commemorated. A visit to www.ancestry.co.uk allowed me to search a number of useful databases and find out more about each man.
On the ‘ancestry’ site is the Medal Rolls Index Cards of each soldier who served abroad in the war (Tip 1 - If you can’t find a name, it usually means he did not go abroad or the name is misspelt or misfiled). Sometimes the medal roll cards show the date a soldier entered a particular theatre of war (Tip 2 - just because it says ‘France’ does not mean he did not serve in Belgium; during the war everyone seemed to refer to the trenches on The Western Front as being “in France”. Tip 3 - If he is only recorded as having two medals it usually means he did not go abroad until the 1st January 1916 at the earliest; soldiers were given the 1914-15 Star if they were abroad in a theatre of war in those years).
If you are lucky you may find the soldier’s service or pension records; sadly over 60 per cent were damaged or destroyed by fire during the London Blitz during the Second World War. A search of ‘Soldiers who died in the Great War’ database revealed where some of the men were born, lived or how they died.
I list below my initial findings about each man….
Thomas BROWN is listed as John by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. He died of wounds sustained near the French border town of Armentieres on the 25th May 1915, being buried in grave II B 6 at Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery in northern France. He served as Private 16951 in the 1st Battalion of the Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, having been in France since the 14th April 1915. Thomas was born in Chorley and enlisted in the town in 1914.
John Lewis RATCLIFFE was killed in action near Armentieres on the 19th August 1917 and is buried in grave VIII E 17 in the large Cite Bonjean Cemetery in the town. He served as Lance Corporal 243315 in the 4th / 5th (TF) Battalion of the Loyal North Lancs. Regiment, having gone to France after 1st January 1916. John was born in Chorley and enlisted in the town (year unknown).
Herbert DUXBURY had a serial number of 243391 and served as a Private in the 4th / 5th (TF) Battalion of the Loyal North Lancs. Regiment - more than likely he joined up with his work mate John Ratcliffe (above), a common occurrence at the time. He too is buried at the Cite Bonjean Cemetery in Armentieres (grave VII B 32), having been killed in action near to the town. Chorley born, Herbert worked as a Clerk and lived with his mother at 48 Gillibrand Street in Chorley. He was aged 28 when he enlisted in the town on the 8th December 1915, being mobilized on the 3rd March 1916; he landed in France on the 13th February 1917.
Giles BAXENDALE was the son of Thomas and Margaret Baxendale of 13 Regent Road in Chorley. He was aged just 19 when he was wounded near Reims in the champagne region of France, dying of his wounds behind the lines on the 29th May 1918. He served as Private 41696 in the 6th Battalion of the South Wales Borderers and is buried in grave VI 20 26 in the City of Paris Cemetery at Pantin; next to him are rows of French soldiers killed earlier in the war.
Harry NELSON was the son of Richard and Alice Nelson of Chorley and the husband of Ethel: she was living at 122 Friargate in Preston after the war when the ‘Debt of Honour’ Register was compiled (probably c1921). He served as Lance Corporal 16287 in the 9th Battalion of the Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment and was killed in action in Salonica in northern Green on the 8th June 1917, aged 26. Harry is buried in grave E985 at Karasouli Miliatry Cemetery at Polikastro in Thessalonika (as it is now named).
Richard R. GREEN was born in the Mill Hill area of Blackburn but lived in Chorley. He was killed in action in northern France on the 27th October 1917, serving Private 27708 in the 8th Battalion of the Loyal North Lancs. Regiment. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, panels 89 to 91.
More research is needed, as I would like to know in which Department the men worked prior to enlisting. A visit to the Library in Chorley to view the newspapers around the date of each man’s death may shed more light on them.
Steve Williams
25th November 2010
