Memorials

In addition to the main Civic Memorial in Prescot, there are (or were!) 6 other memorials:

Details of the above can be found by following the links above or to the left within the "Memorials" page 


Commonwealth War Graves Commission

In addition to the local memorials mentioned above, the main commemoration of the UK & Empire war dad is undertaken by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

The CWGC Charter obliges the commission to commemorate all casualties individually by name. To that end, those who have a known grave are commemorated although not necessarily by a Commission headstone, as will be clear when looking through this publication. Those who have no known grave will be commemorated on one of the Commission’s memorials, most of which are campaign related, such as Thiepval and the Menin Gate.

It is important to know that the deceased were not returned home for burial. A few officers’ bodies were repatriated early in the war, but the practice ceased in early 1915 for a variety of reasons.  However, the families of soldiers who died on home soil were given the option of having the body returned home for burial, and many took this option.

As a consequence, when the Commission started to produce the standard headstones with which we are all familiar in the early 1920’s, most of the home burials were already commemorated by a headstone. The families of these casualties were given a choice of having a commission headstone or not. As a broad rule, it seems that those who already had other family members interred with them ended up with a family headstone, whilst those buried alone generally have a commission stone, although this is clearly not true in all case. Some family plots have the main family stone and also a Commission headstone.

Either way, the work of the commission is to ensure that the casualty name is remembered and all stones, whether Commission headstones or Private Memorials, are checked, usually every 3 years. It is not the responsibility of the commission to maintain the grave plot, and some of the older graves in Prescot Churchyard bear witness to this. The commission’s role is to ensure that the commemoration remains in perpetuity.

Appendix 1 to this document lists those burials and commemorations which are in Prescot Churchyard, indicating if they are a private memorial or commission headstone.

Some family stones can be found which contain details of a casualty who is buried overseas, or who has no known grave, and there are some of these in Prescot Churchyard. These commemorations are private and are not the responsibility of the CWGC.

For further details of the work of the Commission, the following two publications are highly recommended:-

 

“The Unending Vigil: The History of The Commonwealth War Graves Commission” by Philip Longworth

(p. Leo Cooper, 3rd Rev. Edition, April 2003) (Paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1844150045

 

“Remembered: The History of The Commonwealth War Graves Commission” by Julie Summers, Brian Harris and Ian Hislop

(p. Merrell Publishers Ltd., May 2007) (Hardback)

ISBN-13: 978-1858943749
 
 
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