News - New South Yorkshire WW2 memorial planned for heroes (Rotherham)

the names of servicemen from Rotherham killed during World War Two will be listed on a monument in the town’s Clifton Park if enough funds can be raised.


The Friends of Clifton Park have raised £8,500 so far to help pay for the monument, but need a total of £30,000.

The group says although most villages in the town have their own war memorials there is not a central one in Rotherham bearing the names of everyone killed.

Members have contacted the War Graves Commission and have a list of 1,217 names they want included.

To make sure everyone from the town killed in the line of duty is included, and all named are spelled correctly, the list of servicemen is on display in the Garden House in Clifton Park between 9am and 5pm daily.

Friends of Clifton Park want relatives to check the list so that any mistakes can be rectified before the monument is commissioned.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/new-south-yorkshire-ww2-memorial-planned-for-heroes-1-4436171

News - Hero honoured nearly a century after his death (Thorne)

ALMOST a century after he suffered fatal injuries while serving his country in the First World War, the contribution of a South Yorkshire soldier has been officially recognised.

The “Debt of Honour”, run by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), records the names of more than 1.7 million servicemen who died in the two world wars.

The name of Thomas Ernest Butler, from Thorne near Doncaster, has now been added to the list, 93 years after his death.

One of 12 children, Corporal Butler, joined the York and Lancaster Regiment at the outbreak of war in 1914 and served in Gallipoli, Egypt, France and Belgium.

He was invalided out of the army in March 1918, with blindness in one eye, and died four months later.

Councillor Tony Brookes, who was researching those commemorated on Thorne War Memorial, said he was “surprised” to find that Corporal Butler was not on the Debt of Honour.

Barbara Melling, the granddaughter of one of the soldier’s sisters, was able to provide his birth certificate, which attributed his death to “gas on active service” and pneumonia.

Coun Brookes then put the case to the CWGC, which accepted that Corporal Butler’s death had resulted from his war service, and added his name to the United Kingdom Book of Remembrance.

It is also likely that the CWGC will provide a headstone in the churchyard where Corporal Butler he was buried.

Ms Melling said: “Now Tom is in the Debt of Honour I know that he won’t ever be forgotten.

“I am very happy, but also sad that it has taken 93 years for him to get the recognition he deserves.”

Coun Brookes added: “I am delighted that Tom has finally been recognised at such an appropriate time – the run up to Remembrance Day, which is also the 90th anniversary of Thorne War Memorial.

“There is at least one other Thorne soldier, Albert Venus, who the CWGC has not recognised, so I will now be pushing his case.”

From: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/hero_honoured_nearly_a_century_after_his_death_1_3946629

News - Pictures come in for project (Newark)

Photographs of ten fallen heroes have so far been found for a pictorial project to honour Newark’s war dead.

Mr Brian Clark-Dench, 74, of Balderton, whose uncle features on the Newark Memorial To The Fallen.The project, which aims to put faces to the 603 names on Newark’s Memorial To The Fallen at Newark Cemetery, is being coordinated by Mr Pete Stevens, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission stonemason.

He hopes to find all of the pictures in time for the 100th anniversary of the start of the first world war in 2014.

The Newark memorial names 456 Servicemen who died in the first world war and 144 casualties from the second world war.

Also named are one Serviceman who died in West Africa in 1961, one who died in Malaya in 1952, and one in Afghanistan in 2007.

Mr Stevens is seeking pictures to a further 45 names from the first world war on the memorial in St Giles’ Church, Balderton, and 13 from the second world war.

Mr Stevens has set up a website to add each picture collected to the details of the casualty on one of the war memorials.

The website can be viewed at www.memorialphotoproject.tumblr.com

So far those who have come forward to help with the project include Mr Brian Clark-Dench, of Gibson Crescent, Balderton, whose uncle, Mr Alfred Charles Dench, is one of the names on the Newark memorial

 

Mr Dench, who was born in Winthorpe and lived on Middlegate, Newark, for most of his life, served in 1st Battalion King’s Company of the Grenadier Guards.

He was killed in 1915 at the village of Loos, France, at the age of 23, and was later buried to the north-west of the village.

Over the years Mr Clark-Dench has compiled and collected military items related to his uncle, including his original dog tags, campaign medals, postcards sent from France, photographs and even his death notice, signed by Field Marshall Herbert Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War from 1914-16.

Mr Clark-Dench, who served in the same battalion as his uncle during the 1950s, said: “When I saw the article in the Advertiser I was amazed and wanted to come forward and help.

“I never knew my uncle but I do feel the need to keep his memory alive because his story is an interesting tale.

“He was held in high regard as being a real hard man, strong as an ox.

“During battle he saved his company commander from No Man’s Land, despite being under heavy enemy fire — this was the type of man he was.

“Coming forward to help with the project is very important because the men on the memorials should be remembered — what they did for this country should never be forgotten.

“I am immensely proud of what my uncle did and the rest of my family — that is something I wanted to honour.”

Any relative of one of the fallen featured on either memorial and who has a photograph of them or who can help in any way can contact Mr Stevens via Petejstevens@hotmail.co.uk or contact the Advertiser newsdesk on 01636 681234.

The Newark project mirrors a much bigger scheme to find photographs of as many as possible of the 72,000 British and Commonwealth casualties of the Battle of The Somme, whose names are commemorated on the French Thiepval Memorial To The Missing.

From: http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Pictures-come-in-for-project

News - Honoured at last (Bingham)

The grave of a first world war soldier is set to be marked with a headstone — 94 years after his death.

Gunner Thomas Alfred Baggins is buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave in Bingham Cemetery.

However, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is looking to install a headstone after the Ministry of Defence confirmed the soldier had been awarded war grave status.

55150 Gunner Baggins, who served in the Royal Garrison Artillery, died in 1917 from pulmonary tuberculosis, aged 22, as a result of his service.

The search for Gunner Baggins’ grave was made more difficult because the name on his death certificate is not Baggins but Buggins.

He changed his name to Baggins when he enlisted because, apparently, he did not like Buggins.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has asked Bingham Town Council to confirm Gunner Baggins’ burial plot so an application can be made for a headstone.

Its inscription is likely to read: ‘Gunner Thomas Alfred Buggins — served as Baggins.’

The chairman of the council’s recreation and cemetery committee, Mr John Stockwood, praised the efforts of the commission who, he said, were going to great efforts to find soldiers who were buried in unmarked graves.

“It is important to remember those who made the greatest sacrifice,” he said.

“There are too many unmarked graves of soldiers who died in the Great War. The very least we owe this man is a name.”

Gunner Baggins was born around 1894 in Shropshire. The 1911 census records the family as living in Bingham, in Buggins Cottage, Fosse Road, which still exists today.

His father, Thomas James Buggins, was a gamekeeper and, before he enlisted, Gunner Baggins was an asylum attendant at Nottingham County Asylum, Radcliffe.

Gunner Baggins was discharged on April 14, 1916, after being deemed no longer fit for service.

His younger sister, May, was with him when he died, and buried with him is his brother, Mr Harry Buggins, who died in 1945.

Representatives of the War Graves Commission are due to visit the plot next month.

Mr Pete Stevens, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission stonemason, said the headstone application could take between three and 18 months to process.

“Many soldiers changed their names when they enlisted, some because they lied about their age, some because they wanted to escape the law,” he said.

“In this instance it was simply a matter of not liking his name.

“If the soldier had no family, or the family had no money, they were buried by the local parish.”

From: http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Honoured-at-last

News - Pictorial project to honour war dead (Newarl/Balderton)

A project has been launched to match photographs to all the names on the Newark and Balderton war memorials.

It is hoped it will be completed in time for the 100th anniversary of the start of the first world war in 2014.

The project mirrors a much bigger one to find photographs of as many of the 72,000 British and Commonwealth casualties of the Battle of The Somme who have no known resting place and whose names are commemorated on the French Thiepval memorial to the missing.

There are 603 names on Newark’s Memorial To The Fallen at Newark Cemetery, of whom 456 are first world war casualties.

Another 144 are from the second world war, one died in West Africa in 1961, one in Malaya in 1952 and one in Afghanistan in 2007.

There are 45 names from the first world war on the memorial in St Giles’ Church, Balderton, and a further 13 from the second world war.

Mr Pete Stevens, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission stonemason, is behind the idea to match photographs with the names.

He suggested it at a meeting in Leicester about restoring war memorials there.

Mr Stevens, of Coleman Avenue, Balderton, said completing the project in time for 2014 would be a fitting testament to the memory of those who died.

He said: “If we could achieve this it would fantastic.

“It would be the perfect way to ensure that the memory of these men lives on for the next generation, and wonderful to have a gallery completed in time for August 4, 2014, which is the 100th anniversary of the declaration of war by Great Britain on Germany and her allies.

“A number of very special events are being planned nationally and this one I hope will capture the imagination.”

Mr Stevens plans to create a website where people can upload pictures of their relatives, along with items such as letters from the Front to create a more detailed insight into their lives.

Mr Stevens has already found some photographs of the dead through his work and through genealogy websites.

He has discovered the name of Private Levi Sibcy from 2/8th Sherwood Foresters, who was killed on January 15, 1915, aged 16, and is the youngest soldier recorded on either memorial.

He wants to know more about the six soldiers, also from 2/8th, who died of wounds sustained in the Irish uprising of 1916 and are on the Balderton memorial.

Mr Stevens wants people to trawl though family archives for pictures.

He plans to contact schools in the hope teachers will make research part of history lessons, and pupils will take news of the project home to their parents.

He hopes a home can be found for the gallery, possibly in Newark’s planned new museum which, subject to Lottery funding, would be created at the Old Magnus Buildings, Appletongate.

Any relative of one of the fallen featured on either memorial and who has a photograph of them or who can help in any kind of way can contact Mr Stevens via Petejstevens@hotmail.co.uk or contact the Advertiser newsdesk on 01636 681234.

From: http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Pictorial-project-to-honour-war-dead