Joseph Rowan, killed in action on 14th July 1916 and later buried near to where he fell by his comrades, left a widow and young son at home in Rawtenstall. He was only 22yrs of age at the time but had been promoted twice in his short period of army service. A labourer by trade, [...]
Great–grandfather of our parishioner Catherine Wallwork (nee Ives), John Edward Whittaker was one of over a million men from Britain and Ireland who enlisted for military service between May 1916 and April 1917. At the age of 31, married with a young family and parishioner of St James the Less, John Edward joined the East [...]
In September 1999, after many years of searching by family members and before First World War military records became accessible via the internet, our parishioners Kathleen Testa and her son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Jackie, travelled to Gorre, a small village in the Pas de Calais region of France. There, in a cemetery first established [...]
On August 4th 1914 the declaration of war between Great Britain and Germany was announced in a short statement by the Foreign Office at11 p.m. On that morning day, the Tuesday edition of the Accrington Observer & Times, (which served Haslingden) carried front page news about the conflict in Belgium and the threat of war. [...]
