In August 1914, Europe went to war. The build up to the war had been taking place for many months, indeed some might say for many years. But across the nation, the men of every city, town, village and hamlet rushed off to enlist, to "do their bit", to "fight the enemy." Thoughts were reserved for action and adventure, with very little concern about being wounded or dying.
Prescot was like all of those other places, with many of the local men joining the South Lancashire Regiment, or the King's (Liverpool Regiment). As the years passed and the enthusiasm for volunteering gave way to mandatory conscription, men often found themselves serving with units with which they had no geographical connection, but any analysis of the service of Prescot men will show that they served predominantly with the local units.
Many of the men were already reservists, having attested and enlisted to the militia, later known (from 1908) as the Territorial Force. As such, these men were already trained and were called up for active service on the outbreak of war, quickly being moved to France & Flanders as part of the initial British Expeditionary Force.
As the war progressed from the early months of mobility and cavalry charges to the trench war with which we are now familiar, the attrition developed and casualties mounted.
By the end of the war, hundreds of local men had perished on the battlefields of Europe and beyond. Many lay in foreign fields, often with no known grave, their last resting place unknown. The nation's thoughts turned to Remembrance of the dead and monuments to their sacrifice started to appear. These took the form of the national memorials, such as the Cenotaph in London and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey, to large municipal monuments for a town or city's dead, but many more smaller, local and more personal memorials appeared.
Schools, workplaces, churches and other organisations all undertook to remember the men with whom they were associated.
Prescot differed slightly from many other towns and cities in that the main civic memorial was unveiled at the height of the war, on 9th September 1916. The other memorials generally came into existence after the war was over.
As we approach the 90th Anniversary of the end of the Great War, it seems an appropriate time to recall the lives of the men named upon the memorial, to show that they were ordinary men with wives, children and jobs. This work to pieces together their background to illustrate the actions in which they served and died and also to show where they are buried or commemorated, to show that each of them was much more than just a name on a memorial.
There are over 300 men commemorated by this work; the youngest of them was Private Joseph Beadle of the South Lancashire Regiment, aged just 17 when he was killed on 24th October 1914. The oldest was Richard Disley, formerly a Private in the King’s (Liverpool Regiment). He was 51 when he died of war-related causes in September 1920.
Commemoration
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has a charter under which it operates, this charter stating that the Commission must commemorate the men who fell in the war. However, there are strict criteria for inclusion. The casualty must have died whilst on active service or succumbed to wounds, illness or disease whilst on active service or incurred whilst on active service. In addition, a “cut off” date of 31st August 1921 was set for the Great War criteria. Many men will have eventually succumbed to their wounds after that date but are not commemorated by CWGC.
However local memorials are different in that there are no set or standard criteria for inclusion; each place or organisation which commissioned a memorial will have had different criteria for inclusion.Some are simple; a school may commemorate its old boys who fell, a church may list those of its congregation. But even this was not as straightforward as it might seem; many men will have died without leaving relatives to campaign or subscribe on their behalf, other relatives of the fallen may not have wanted to see their men commemorated for whatever personal reason.
This has resulted in a situation where it is practically impossible to determine with 100% accuracy a complete list of the fallen of any town, church, school, etc.
Inclusion in the Prescot Roll of Honour
The starting point for this work was to transcribe the list of names inscribed on the civic war memorial. Added to this list were those men named on the Rood Screen inside the ParishChurch. Then a list was produced from the work “Soldiers Died in the Great War” of all men whose families had recorded that they were either born in Prescot or resided therein. Those who were simply shown to have enlisted in Prescot were excluded as they may have travelled some distance to enlist.
Further examination of the family details recorded by CWGC yielded more names for inclusion, and finally the other war memorials in the town were examined and their names collated. Clearly, in the case of a company like BICC, many of the casualties will have been from outside the town.Only those with a clear family or residential link to the town have been included.
But no record of the war is exact, and it is certain that some men not clearly associated with Prescot will be included, whilst others who were long-standing inhabitants of the town may well have been missed.
In some cases, detailed research has been carried out and as a result it has been found that a man is not from Prescot, but may have been from St. Helens, Huyton, Rainhill, etc. As the research had already been undertaken, these men have been included so that the work has not been wasted.
It should also be pointed out that the original intention was to also have a section covering the men who served in the war but were fortunate enough to return. This section has not yet been developed, due to the sheer volume of men who would have been included. It is hoped to remedy this in a future edition.
Brothers Who Died
It is worthy of note that several sets of brothers from Prescot died in the Great War. For more information on any of those named below, please go to the individual casualty page.
·Fred Chesworth (31/07/1917) and Harry Chesworth (12/10/1916) of Warrington Road.
·James Cundill (29/08/1916) and Thomas Cundill (07/07/1916) were not native to Prescot but their family had close ties with the town
·Albert Finney (25/02/1917) and Ernest Finney (16/05/1915), of Warrington Road
·John Fowler (16/08/1917) and Thomas Fowler (02/10/1918), of High Street
·Henry Norris (30/06/1918) and William Norris (30/07/1916), of Tithebarn Road, Knowsley. They also had a younger brother, Richard, killed in the Second World War
·John Maloney (22/08/1917) and Joseph Maloney (23/03/1918), originally of Sewell Street
·Fred Parkin (13/03/1918), George Parkin (15/10/1918) and Joseph Parkin (18/10/1917) had moved to Prescot from Ashton-in-Makerfield.
·Redvers Pemberton (07/07/1918) and Thomas Pemberton (19/06/17) of Houghton Street
·George Wagstaff (18/04/1918) and William Wagstaff (12/09/1918) of Saggersons Court
Indeed throughout the research for this work, family links between the men continually surface, cousins, in-laws, brothers, etc. In addition to the brothers listed above, there are 3 men called William Hornby who fell. Two of these are cousins and the third was their uncle. One of the two cousins, William Henry Hornby, had a sister, Elizabeth. She married Charles Fowler, brother of the above two Fowler brothers.
Casualty Page Layout
Each of the casualty pages has been derived from a number of data sources. It should be noted that it has not been possible to obtain information underneath all of the headings for all the named casualties. Also, some of the information contained within the various sources is contradictory. No attempt is made to determine which, if any, is the most accurate data; instead, all is reported exactly as it has been found.
Photographs
Where possible
pictures of the casualty's headstone have been obtained and include
for those with no known grave, the official memorial on which they are named is pictured
contemporary pictures from the Prescot Reporter archives have been obtained
Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Information
This information is the official record of the casualty, showing their name, unit, number, date of death and cemetery or memorial. "Personal Information" and "Age" are also shown in some cases, although as this was provided by the next of kin for the official "Final Verification Form" in the early 1920's, some families may not have supplied it.In many cases, families had moved on from their last known address, widows had remarried, etc., and so many of the CWGC entries contain no personal information. Addresses shown are, in many cases, the address of the next of kin at the time of completion of the Final Verification Form and may not be the address at which the serviceman lived.
CWGC commemorate only those who died up to the official "cut off" point of 31st August 1921 and whose death was directly attributable to war service.
Personal Information
This information is from the 1920's publication "Soldiers Died in the Great War". Where the information was held, it shows the casualties birthplace, place of enlistment and place of residence. In addition, it shows how they died as "Killed in Action", "Died of Wounds", etc., and also the Theatre of War in which they died. Note that if this is shown as "Home", this could actually be anywhere within the UK. It should also be noted that not all casualties are listed in this work. There are few records for those who died after the armistice of 1918.
Census Records and Births, Marriage and Death
Where possible, these records have also been accessed to provide background information.
A search of the 1901 census has been undertaken for each of the Prescot casualties. However, many of the men only moved to Prescot at a later date.In some cases, the earlier 1891 and 1881 census returns have also been searched to locate the individual.
For Births, Marriages and Deaths, where found, the relevant details from the register are included. This shows the Registration District of the event, the Quarter and Year, Volume and Page Number. Using this information, it is possible to order the appropriate certificate from the General Register Office at www.gro.gov.uk for a fee of £7
It should be noted that in the late 19th and early 20th Century, the Prescot Registration District included large areas of Widnes and St Helens. As a consequence, it is likely that some of the people included in this work on the strength of where they were born actually did not live in Prescot. However their entry has been retained as no proof one way or another could be found.
In reading this work, it must be remembered that in the late 19th and early 20th century, accuracy of dates and ages was haphazard at best, and this report often reveals inconsistencies between a person’s ages at different points. For example, a man may be reported as born in 1892, be aged 10 in the 1901 census, then reported as aged 25 when he is killed in 1918.No attempt is made to reconcile obvious errors; they are reported here as they were reported at the time.
Service Information
Extracted where possible from official histories, war diaries, private papers, etc., this section attempts to illustrate some details of the casualties’ service and the actions in which the men were engaged around the date of their death.Clearly, reading the details of several men of the same battalion killed around the same time might appear repetitive, but the intention is to have as complete a picture as possible for each individual.
In many cases, it is not clear exactly when a solider joined the battalion with which he served, so the reported actions in some cases might actually pre-date his service with the battalion.
Newspaper Reports
Any entries from the archives of the ‘Prescot Reporter’ or any other newspapers which relate to the casualty have been copied and are reproduced with full acknowledgement of the source.
Individual Soldier's Medal Index Cards
These cards, which give reference to the Medal Rolls on which a soldier’s medal listing is held, can also provide useful additional information. They show service with other units and also in many cases provide the date on which a man first arrived in a Theatre of War also stating which one, for example “France and Flanders”, “Balkans”, etc.
Some cards record the death of the soldier and often the date. When medals were issued in the early 1920’s, many were returned as being undeliverable, probably due to the family moving home. The return of any such medal is usually shown on the card. In a small number of cases, additional comments, including addresses, may be found on the reverse of the card.
The cards are currently owned by the Western Front Association and are reproduced where possible.
Medals
The most commonly issues service medals were:-
o1914 Star (Mons Star) was awarded for service in France or Flanders (Belgium) between 5 August and 22 November 1914
o1914-15 Star was awarded for service in France or Flanders (Belgium) between 23 November 1914 and 31 December 1915, or for service in any theatre of war between 5 August 1914 and 31 December 1915
oVictory Medal was awarded for service in any operational theatre of war between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. It was issued to individuals who received the 1914 or 1914-15 Star and to most individuals who were issued the British War Medal. The medal was also awarded for service in Russia (1919-1920) and post-war mine clearance in the North Sea (1918-1919).
oBritish War Medal was awarded to both servicemen and civilians that either served in a theatre of war, or rendered service overseas between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. It was also awarded for service in Russia, and post-war mine clearance in the Baltic, the Black Sea, and the Caspian Sea between 1919 and 1920.
oSilver War Badge was awarded to men who had served but had been discharged due to illness or injury.
Service and Campaign medals were only awarded to servicemen who served overseas. There are several men contained in this work who did not have a medal entitlement as they only served in the UK and may have died due to illness or accident. Sadly, they would not have a medal entitlement and therefore no Medal Index Card.
