Steve Williams
Local historian Steve Williams, who is heavily involved with the Chorley Remembers project, is seeking relatives of two Chorley soldiers who were killed in in the Second World War and are buried in Italy.
Cassino War Cemetery with Monte Cassino in the background
The Brindle based military historian and author is flying to Rome shortly and intends to visit the small Italian town of Cassino, site of the famous battle for the Monastery of Monte Cassino in the spring of 1944.
He is seeking relatives or details on Gunner Alexander Herbert Hinchliffe who served in the 76th Medium Regiment (Shropshire Yeomanry) Royal Artillery and Sergeant John Pearson who served in the 6th Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment.
Both men lie in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the shadow of Monte Cassino.
Gunner Charles Williams (centre with cap) on Capitoline Hill in Rome, 1944
For Steve it will also be a personal pilgrimage – his father, Gunner Charles Williams, served with the Royal Horse Artillery and was in Rome in 1944 and again in February 1945, being treated in a hospital there after being wounded during the Allies advance in north east Italy.
He intends to visit Capitoline Hill in the city where his father was photographed in the autumn of 1944.
He said “I found the black and white photograph of my father in the family album and managed to locate the spot by researching Rome on the Internet. As for the trip to Cassino, I will pay my respects to the two Chorley men out there and would love to hear from their relatives before I go”.
Steve can be contacted by calling 01254 854298 or via the Chorley Remembers website, www.chorleyremembers.org.uk.
The project would also welcome details of Chorley men who fought in the two World Wars, as well as other conflicts since.
