Bramhall War Memorial

Transcription

1 Bramhall War Memorial Bramhall War Memorial is set in a Garden of Remembrance located on the west side of Bramhall Lane South, about 50 yards south of the railway station. This stone memorial, which is listed as Grade II, was designed by a local man, Arthur Davies, who based the upper portion above the octagonal pedestal on the Cross designed by the architect Sir Reginald Blomfield ( ) for cemeteries in France and Flanders. It was unveiled on Sunday 18 th December 1921 by General Sir Henry de Beauvoir de Lisle ( ) and it was dedicated by the Vicar of Bramhall, Rev. John F. Jones. His son David, who planned to follow his father into the church, was killed in Burma in 1945, and his name is on the memorial. The main road it lies on is closed for half an hour during the Remembrance Sunday services, to accommodate the large number who attend. Inscriptions: THE GREAT WARS, YOU GAVE YOUR LIVES FOR COUNTRY, HOME & DUTY. WE REMEMBER YOU AND ARE GRATEFUL. WE ERECT THIS MONUMENT TO YOUR HONOUR AND MEMORY. "THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD, AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM, NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN, AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN, AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM."

2 Roll of Honour: SYDNEY BARBER JOSEPH BARDSLEY BERTRAM BAYLEY VERNON W. L. BAYLEY EDWARD BOUSKILL RALPH BOWETT FRANK S. BROOKS ALEC W. BRYDON R. HENRY BURGESS LESLIE BUTLER J. ARTHUR CHAPMAN ARTHUR FORD THOMAS H. GARNER HENRY GRAHAM MALCOLM B. GREEN FRANK H. HALLIDAY HERBERT W. HEATON HAROLD W. HIGGINS H. RONALD HIGGINS TOM W. HOOLEY FRED HORTON STEPHEN W. ISHERWOOD STANLEY JEPSON DESMOND C. JONES EDWIN J. JONES M. GUY KENNY FRED LAMB DAVID E. LANGTON FRED LEAH ALFRED LEE-WOOD T. ARTHUR MADDOCKS ALFRED S. O'DWYER DOUGLAS PADFIELD FRANK PEARSON SAMUEL PEARSON J. ERIC PERCY G. HAROLD PIKE NORMAN PINKERTON TOM A. PUGH R. LEIGH REDFERN ALFRED J. REDFERN ALFRED E. ROBINSON ROBERT B. RUSSELL WILLIAM J. SIVEWRIGHT REGINALD S. SPENCER GEOFFREY R. STEINTHAL J. STANLEY WHITLOCK JAMES B. WOOD [The names of Barber, Bardsley, Brydon, Isherwood, Pugh & Sivewright also appear on the Cheadle Hulme civic war memorial a couple of miles away. 38 of the men named above also appear on the memorial in nearby St. Michael s Church, and nine of them are on the memorial in Bramhall Methodist Church: Chapman, Halliday, Heaton, the Higgins brothers, the Redfern brothers, Spencer & Wood.]

3 Roll of Honour: JOHN A. APPLEBEE ARTHUR F. BADDELEY HAROLD BAILEY JOHN A. BARLOW HARRY BROOKSBANK KENNETH R. BURROWS ROBERT J. G. BURTINSHAW FRANK H. BUTTERWORTH LEONARD COCKER ALEXANDER COLLIE JOHN K. COLLINS GODFREY DAWSON KEITH R. DEAN JOHN L. DUKE JOHN B. ELLIOTT CYRIL C. GIBSON GEORGE N. HARDWICK PETER K. HOPE ROBERT B. HOPE STANLEY R. HOTSON KENNETH R. HOWARTH ALAN IBBOTSON DAVID L. W. JONES WILLIAM KERSHAW WILLIAM E. S. LEES LAWRENCE A. MANNERS ROY MARPLES JAMES A. McMANUS DONALD W. McMICHAEL PHILIP L. MORTON DAVID R. POLLARD PETER PROSSER STAMFORD M. SHARP PHILIP E. TURNER BRYAN G. WALKER ROBERT M. WALMSLEY ARTHUR W. WHITTAKER RONALD A. WILLIAMS HERBERT WILSON JOHN M. WOOD THOMAS G. WOOD [Cocker s name appears to have been added recently, although it was already on the nearby Cheadle Hulme civic war memorial.] The following notes give brief details of the circumstances of the deaths of all the men who have been identified, from both wars.

4 These men died in the First World War, : Sydney Barber lived at Cheadle Hulme and was 20 when he was killed at Gallipoli on 10 th August Joseph Bardsley lived on Ack Lane and was killed at Passchendaele on 2 nd September 1917 aged 37. Bertram B. Bayley died of pneumonia on 5 th May 1917 aged 38 and is buried at Woodchurch. Lieutenant Edward Bouskill lived on Bramhall Lane (South) and was killed at Passchendaele on 4 th October 1917 aged 21. Corporal Ralph Bowett was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and was killed at the Somme on 5 th September 1916 aged 22 2 nd Lieut. Frank S. Brooks was one of the 20,000 killed on the First Day of the Somme 1 st July 1916, aged 23. Lieutenant Alec W. Brydon lived in Bramhall Park and was 31 when he was killed at Gallipoli on 31 st August R. Henry Burgess lived on Maple Road and was killed in France on 14 th March 1917 aged 23. Leslie Butler was another who was killed on the First Day of the Somme 1 st July 1916, aged 20 J. Arthur Chapman died on 30 th January 1918 aged 21 of wounds incurred serving with the Black Watch, and is buried at Woodchurch. Arthur Ford lived on Moss Lane and was 28 when he died of meningitis soon after enlisting in 1915, the first man on the memorial to die, on 11 th March. Corporal Thomas H. Garner grew up on Dairyground Farm and was 24 when he was killed at Gallipoli on 5 th June 1915, on the same day as Halliday. Driver Henry Graham died in France on 20 th November 1918, a few days after the Armistice, of what was described as pneumonia, aged 21. Malcolm B. Green died on Christmas Eve 1920, four years after being discharged He is not on the CWGC website. Lance Cpl. Frank H. Halliday lived Bramhall Lane (South) and was killed at Gallipoli on 5 th June 1915, the same day as Garner, aged 24. Lieutenant Herbert W. Heaton lived on Woodford Road and was killed at Passchendaele on 5 th September 1917 aged 21. Harold W. Higgins lived on Kitts Moss Lane and was 21 when he was killed at Gallipoli on 6 th June H. Ronnie Higgins was Harold s brother and was 20 when he was killed in France on 24 th January nd Lieut. Tom W. Hooley was a 45 year old architect and was killed at Passchendaele on 3 rd September 1917, the oldest man on the memorial. Fred Horton was 26 when he was killed at Arras on Easter Monday, 9 th April Stephen W. Isherwood was 33 and married with 2 children when he was killed in action in Mesopotamia on 25 th January Captain Stanley Jepson was 26 when he died in France three months after the war had ended, on 24 th February Corporal Desmond C. Jones lived in Elvyn Cottage was 23 when he was killed at Arras on 3 rd April Captain Edwin J. Jones lived on Manor Road and was 28 when he was killed at ` Givenchy on 13 th June 1917.

5 Engine Room Artificer Marcus Guy Kenny served in the Royal Navy and succumbed to what was described as pneumonia on 18 th September 1918 aged 20. Corporal Fred Lamb lived on Moss Lane and was 23 when he was killed in action in France on 23 rd August nd Lieut. David E. Langton lived on Thorn Road and was 20 when he was killed at Arras on 10 th April Fred Leah lived on Kitts Moss Lane and was 28 when he was killed in Flanders on 9 th April Captain Alfred Lee-Wood was a graduate of Manchester University and was 30 when he was killed on the First Day of the Somme, 1 st July T. Arthur Maddocks was 34 when he died on 9 th March 1919, four months after the war ended, and he is buried at Woodchurch. 2 nd Lieut. Alfred S. O Dwyer lived on Bramhall Lane and was 19 when he was killed at the Somme on 29 th July Douglas Padfield lived on Cromwell Rd next door to victims Harold & Ronnie Higgins and drowned swimming in the sea on 4 th June 1917 while convalescing at Conway Military Hospital, aged 22. Frank Pearson who may very well have been Samuel s brother lived in Woodford and died in Belgium on 27 th February Rifleman Samuel Pearson was a 27 year old silk weaver from Woodford who died on 16 th July 1917 and was buried there. Corporal John Eric Percy died in an English hospital on 13 th May 1917 aged 23 and was buried at Southern Cemetery, Manchester. George Harold Pike was the 39 year old married son of a clergyman and was killed at the Somme on 13 th November Norman Pinkerton was 27 year and serving with the army in India when he died on 21 st July Tom A. Pugh was 37 and a married man when he was killed at the Somme Somme on 23 rd July Alfred J. Redfern was Robert s brother and was 23 when he was killed at the Somme on 23 rd July 1916, in the same regiment and on the same day as Russell. Robert Leigh Redfern was known as Leigh and was Alfred s brother; killed at Gallipoli the year before, on 4 th June 1915, also aged 23. Alfred E Robinson has not been identified. Robert B. Russell was born in Bramhall and was 29 when he was killed at the Somme on 23 rd July 1916, in the same regiment and on the same day as Redfern. Captain W John Sivewright disappeared on a night patrol into no-man s land in Belgium on 2 nd November 1917 aged 22. Rifleman Lieutenant Reginald S. Spencer was a 25 year old Yorkshire-born local man who was killed at Arras on 14 th April Geoffrey R. Steinthal was 19 when he and 861 others went down with HMS Black Prince at Jutland on 1 st June John Stanley Whitlock lived on Grove Lane and was 32 when he was killed in Flanders on 25 th April Captain James B. Wood lived on Woodford Road and was 24 when he was killed in France on 26 th March 1918.

6 These men died in the Second World War, : Sapper John A. Applebee was serving with the BEF and was 21 when he was killed on 19 th May 1940 near Dunkirk. Major Arthur F. Baddeley was 44 when he died on 9 th February 1943 in Japan as a prisoner of war. Corporal Harold Bailey lived on Bramhall Lane and was 23 when he was killed at the River Po in Italy on 12 th April Corporal John A. Barlow was with the Medical Corps when he was killed aged 28 in a plane crash in Italy on 21 st Dec nd Lieut. Harry Brooksbank was from Woodford and disappeared in action in Burma on 18 th August 1942 aged 22. Sergeant Kenneth R. Burrows was married and was killed on 2 nd July 1943 aged 33 when his Wellington crashed returning from a mission. Lieutenant Robert J.G. Burtinshaw was a law graduate who was killed aged 25 in the Commando raid on St. Nazaire on 28 th March Flight Sgt. Frank H. Butterworth was married and was 24 when he died in Libya on Flight Lieut. Leonard Cocker 19 th September 1946, year after the war had ended. was 25 when his Spitfire failed to return from action over the El Alamein battlefield in Trooper Alexander Collie was 21, recently married and in the Royal Tank Regiment when he was killed in Greece on 11 th December Flight Lieut. John K. Collins was the 22 year old pilot of a Short Stirling bomber which was shot down off Holland ion 28 th June Second Off r Godfrey Dawson was 25 when he went down with the S.S. Arinia, a tanker, on 19 th December Leading Aircraftsman Keith R. Dean joined the RAF instead of Oxford University and was killed in a flying accident on 28 th June 1940 aged 19. Sergeant John L. Duke died of injuries on 28 th February 1945 aged 19 when his Lancaster bomber crashed returning from a mission. Lieutenant John B. Elliott was a law graduate who succumbed to disease in East Africa on 24 th April 1943 aged 30. Sergeant Cyril C. Gibson was killed on 15 th December 1941 aged 20 when his Hampden bomber crashed returning from a mission. George N. Hardwick has not been identified there is a man of this name on the CWGC website but he has no obvious links to Bramhall. Able Seaman Peter K. Hope brother of Robert, was killed on 13 th October 1940 aged 26 when his ship the S.S. Starling was attacked in the Bay of Biscay. Flight Lieut. Robert B. Hope, DFC brother of Peter, was a Lancaster pilot who was shot down over Essen on 3 rd April nd Lieut. Stanley R. Hotson was killed serving with the Royal Armoured Corps in Normandy on 17 th July 1944 aged 20. Lance Cpl. Kenneth Ronald Howarth lived at Woodford and was 21 when he was killed in Holland on 26 th September Aircraftsman Alan Ibbotson lived on Bridge Lane and was killed in a flying accident in England on 24 th January 1943 aged 21. A. Leslie Jackson has not been identified. Lieutenant David L.W. Jones was the son of the Vicar of Bramhall and was killed in Burma on 4 th April 1945 aged 20. Galley Boy William Kershaw was married and was 39 when his ship the S.S. Otaio was torpedoed on 28 th August 1941.

7 Captain William E.S. Lees died in a drowning accident while on service in North Africa on 12 th April 1943 aged 26. Corporal Lawrence A. Manners was killed on duty in the UK with the RAF Volunteer Reserve on 7 th November 1943 aged 22. Wing Cmdr. Roy Marples, DFC & bar, was a married man and a Battle of Britain pilot who was killed aged 24 when his Spitfire collided with another on 26 th April Leading Aircraftsman James A. McManus was a married man who took ill in on home leave from the RAF Volunteer Reserve and died on 10 th January 1945 Captain aged 31. Donald W. McMichael died of rabies on 31 st March 1944 aged 32 while serving with the Royal Artillery in Burma. Trooper Philip L. Morton was killed on 3 rd July 1942 aged 28 during the first Battle of El Alamein. Lieutenant David R. Pollard died on 11 th September 1944 in a German hospital of wounds sustained in the Salerno landings in Italy, aged 24. Sergeant Peter Prosser died on 15 th August 1941 aged 21 when his Wellington bomber crashed into the North Sea on a mission. Major Stamford M. Sharp was with the Royal Artillery in Germany when he died aged 33 after the war, on 22 nd October Warrant Off r Philip E. Turner was serving in a Mosquito squadron in the Far East when he lost his life on 4 th March Sub-Lieut. Bryan G. Walker was an observer with the Fleet Air Arm when he died in an Flight Lieut. Lieutenant Corporal accident at sea on 2 nd September 1944 aged 20. Robert M. Walmsley whose father was the co-founder of Jaguar Cars was 21 when his Typhoon fighter-bomber was brought down by flak near Calais on 10 th November Arthur W. Whittaker was serving with the Royal Armoured Corps when he was lost at sea on 26 th November 1943 aged 26. Ronald A. Williams whose father was killed in the First World War was killed in Tunisia on 29 th April 1943 aged 30. Lance Cpl. Herbert Wilson died on 1 st March 1942 aged 25 while serving with the Royal Engineers and is buried at Woodchurch. Lance Sgt. John M. Wood who served with Royal Artillery died as a prisoner of war in Libya on 16 th October 1942 aged 24. Sergeant Thomas G. Wood was John s brother and was 20 when he was killed in a flying accident which also killed six children on the ground, on 16 th August The material above has come from a variety of sources: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, Jeff Tuck s book The Men of the Bramhall War Memorial; David Hill s book For King s and Country which profiles the war dead of The King s School, Macclesfield; Andrew Corrie s book Methodism in Bramhall (1996 ed.); the Stockport website; the website Carl s Cam which is dedicated to the war dead of Cheshire; the Government s Wills & Probate website; and the newspaper clippings collection in Stockport Local Heritage Library, augmented by our own research elsewhere. IRC August 2018