“If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as hr day;
Ad laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, ender an English heaven.”
So sang Rupert Brooke, one of our soldier poets, and all who took part in the unveiling of the memorial, erected in grateful memory of fallen comrades, by the employees of the Prescot Works, felt that they who had fallen, somewhere – somehow, were giving “back the thoughts of England given,” and we, by their sacrifice, were again finding possible “laughter learnt of friends,” dreams happy as her day, gentleness and hearts at peace.
It was fitting that the memorial should be dedicated and unveiled at such a time – in the Springtime – when once again the flowers bloom and the Spring sunshine and English air breathe thoughts of England and “peace, under an English heaven.”
The ceremony which took place on Thursday 20th April, opened with the singing of the hymn “For all the saints, who from their labours rest”, led by the B. I. & H. C. Ltd., Silver Band, and after a prayer of invocation by the Revd. T. C.Legge, Prescot, the Bronze Tablet, containing the names of the fallen, on a background of white stone, was unveiled by James Taylor, Esq., Chairman of Directors, who was asked by Mr. Simon Hannah, on behalf of all the employees, to take over the Memorial Tablet into the keeping of the firm. The Memorial was then dedicated by the Revd. J. P. W. Lovett, Prescot, the Last Post and Reveille were sounded by the Boys Brigade Buglers from Liverpool, and the Revd. F. Goodman, Prescot, prayed. Then they all joined in singing Kipling’s Recessional, “God of our fathers, known of old.”
A number of beautiful floral tributes were placed on the Memorial; Lieut. E. J. Flanagan placing one for the Navy, Lieut.-Col. D. Bates, T.D., J.P., D.L., one for the Army, Capt. F. J.Smethurst, one for the Air Force, W. Kerfoot, Esq., one for the Company, James Taylor, Esq., on behalf of Mrs. Taylor and himself, and a number by relatives of the fallen men.
The National Anthem concluded the ceremony, and standing with bared heads, the words of another of our Soldier Poets, Herbert Asquith, came to mind:-
“His lance is broken, but he lies content,
With that high honour which he lived and died.
And falling thus, he wants no recompense
Who found his battle in the last resort;
Nor needs he any hearse to bear him hence,
Who goes to join the men of Agincourt.”
The panels for the First World War contains the following list of names. Note that currently, only those who I have found to be living in Prescot have been researched and are comemorated within these web pages. Ultimately, all of the named men will be researched and their stories told.
| Nathan |
Abbott |
| William |
Abbott |
| William Arthur |
Amos |
| T |
Ashton |
| Robert William |
Askew |
| W |
Atherton |
| Sidney |
Bagnall |
| Fred |
Bailey |
| Harold |
Baines |
| John |
Barclay |
| Joseph |
Beadle |
| Walter |
Beesley |
| John |
Berry |
| Thomas |
Bishop |
| Frederick Henry |
Bowers |
| Thomas |
Briscoe |
| Albert Edward |
Buckley |
| Frank |
Burgess |
| Robert |
Burrows |
| Henry |
Byron |
| Richard |
Carney |
| James |
Caseberry |
| Fred |
Chesworth |
| William Alfred |
Chesworth |
| William |
Chorley |
| Charles Oscar John |
Cocking |
| James Ernest |
Cofield |
| Joseph |
Conlin |
| Richard |
Corner |
| James |
Cowell |
| Charles |
Critchley |
| Mathew |
Critchley |
| William |
Critchley |
| David William |
Davies |
| Thomas |
Davies |
| Walter |
Donohue |
| G |
Dwyer |
| Alfred Thomas |
Eaves |
| William |
Eccleston |
| William |
Edwards |
| George |
Emery |
| George |
Evans |
| Harold |
Eyden |
| John |
Ferissey |
| Albert Holt |
Finney |
| Ernest |
Finney |
| Percy |
Fisher |
| Thomas |
Fleetwood |
| Samuel |
Flute |
| Herbert |
Foster |
| William |
Foster |
| John Terence |
Gilgannon |
| James |
Gordon |
| Samuel |
Green |
| Richard |
Greenall |
| John |
Hanks |
| Frank |
Hartley |
| Frank |
Hayes |
| Isaac |
Hayes |
| Joseph |
Higgins |
| Frank |
Hollihead |
| William |
Hornby |
| William Henry |
Hornby |
| Charles Badham |
Horton |
| William |
Hosker |
| Thomas |
Houghton |
| Edgar |
Hoyle |
| William |
Hulme |
| H |
Hunter |
| Harry |
Johnson |
| John |
King |
| Alfred James |
Kirby |
| Thomas |
Larkin |
| Henry |
Lea |
| Walter |
Leather |
| Harry |
Leyland |
| Thomas |
Lloyd |
| W |
Lloyd |
| James |
Lyon |
| John |
Lyon |
| Bertie |
Marsh |
| Frederick George |
Marsh |
| Edward |
Melia |
| John |
Moss |
| Robert |
Mutch |
| Albert Edward |
Orange |
| Fred |
Parkin |
| George |
Parkin |
| Joseph |
Parkin |
| Milsom |
Parr |
| Stanley |
Parr |
| Redvers Samuel |
Pemberton |
| James |
Pickavance |
| Frank |
Platt |
| John |
Platt |
| Richard |
Porter |
| James Richard |
Prescott |
| Thomas Lewis |
Prescott |
| Harry |
Preston |
| John Edward |
Reynolds |
| David Frances |
Roberts |
| William Henry |
Roberts |
| William |
Robinson |
| William Henry |
Robinson |
| Thomas |
Rufford |
| George |
Stanworth |
| Alfred |
Taylor |
| Ernest |
Taylor |
| T |
Taylor |
| James |
Thomas |
| Samuel |
Townsend |
| George |
Travis |
| G |
Unsworth |
| Robert |
Valentine |
| Arthur |
Waite |
| G |
White |
