This is an account of the men of Mid Cheshire who answered the call to arms in 1914 and the families they left behind as reported in the local press of the time.
"A" Company 11th Battalion Cheshire Regiment - July 1916 (IWM)
Resting in captured German trenches on the Somme
The book tells the story of how they joyfully went to
war believing it would be "All over by Christmas" before eventually
discovering its true horror.
You can read how the Cheshire Regiment made a gallant stand at
Audregnies which saved the BEF after the Battle of Mons but cost them
78% of their compliment.
 |
1st Battalion The Cheshire Regiment at Audregnies -
24th August 1914
Click here to purchase a print of the painting by David Rowlands
|
You will also read of the people at home who
tried to carry on without them. How they raised funds to support the war
and made "comforts" for their men at the Front and how they gave
succour to the many Belgian refugees who came to the area having fled
from the German hordes who had invaded their country. On a lighter note
you will be informed of the local sports results and of the many people
found to be "Drunk and Disorderly" and their punishments.
But most of all it is about the men who when the call came to do their
duty did so without a moment's hesitation. We should all be proud of
their bravery and sacrifice and never forget them.
Alan was born in 1946 and has lived all his life in Northwich. He has a
wife and two sons and two grandsons. He gained a 2-1 degree in American
Studies at the age of 57 whilst working as a Shiftman at Hays
Chemical. After taking early retirement he worked as a Teaching
Assistant for six years before retiring. He is now on the committee of
the Northwich Heritage Society and is a Governor at Sir John Deane's
Sixth Form College.
Click
here to go to the Cheshire Regimental Museum website
Copies are available to purchase from the
DAN Office in Northwich Library
£10.00 - SORRY - SOLD OUT
(50% Royalties go to Royal British Legion)
Published May 2014 - Soft Bound - 6" x 9" - 338 pages
Copies are still available from Amazon here.
Can be ordered through the DAN Office if required.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More information on Northwich at War
here.
Information on all those from 1st Battalion Cheshire Regiment who
Gave Their Lives
here.
War Diary of 1st Battalion Cheshire Regiment
August - December 1914
here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other publications by Northwich Heritage Society on World War I
here.
Heritage Society Publications are also available from the
DAN Office in Northwich Library
Click
here for Details
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shot At Dawn
 |
| Shot At Dawn Memorial - National Memorial Arboretum |
Lance Corporal James Holland 13857 of 10th Cheshire Regiment, from Flower Street, Northwich, was one of 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers executed for cowardice or desertion during World War One. You can read a transcript of his trial
here. He was shot at dawn (3.38am) on 30 May 1916, aged 31. All the soldiers were posthumously pardoned under The Armed Forces Act (2006).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lost Boys of Lostock by John Knowles
The Lost Boys of Lostock is the culmination of five years of meticulous research, including visits to the battlefields of France and Belgium. The idea for the 150-page book, which features numerous photographs,
followed a chance sighting by John, 75, as he went for a routine hair cut to Longworth’s in Station Road, Lostock Gralam. On his way out he glanced at the Memorial Cross in the parish churchyard and recognised a Commonwealth War Graves headstone. The sighting set him off on a quest spanning five years and culminating in the publication of The Lost Boys of Lostock, with profits
from the sale of the book going to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
John examined a multitude of military records and unearthed the lives of those who died and the suffering of their families, such as the Connollys of Brook Street, who lost three sons, the Deakins of Ann Street, the Southerns of School Lane and the Millers of Station Road.
Thirteen men from Manchester Road were killed alone, and there is a moving account of three young emigrants who went from Lostock to Canada and returned, at the call of arms, and paid with their lives.
“The Connollys’ story especially inspired me, but they were just three of so many, and I wanted to try and ensure the sacrifice of all these men will never be forgotten and that we should all be ever grateful,” said John, from Lostock Green.
“In the first dozen years of the 20th century these young men had represented the future of Lostock Gralam – but those futures were to be truncated by the bloodiest carnage man had ever experienced.”
John is a Mancunian, whose father was a prisoner in the German Stalags during The Second World War.
He spent 20 years as head of New Wellington High School, Timperley, and moved to Lostock Green upon retirement in 1995.
Copies are on sale locally at:
Bruschetta Café Bar, 84 Witton Street, Northwich
Castle Tiles, Northwich
Eastfield Pharmacy, Lostock Gralam
Firthfield Pet Store, 66 Witton Street, Northwich
Longworth’s Hairdressers, Lostock Gralam
Copies can also be ordered
here.
Also to be published soon, the story of the Wincham War Dead - Northwich Guardian article
here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belgian Refugees Buried in Northwich
Two young Belgian refugees buried in an unmarked grave in
Northwich during the First World War have finally be given a proper resting
place.
Around 250 Belgian refugees were housed Northwich and Winsford during the war.
One of the refugees, Frans Buyssens, believed to be aged ten, died of
peritonitis in February 1915. He was buried in Northwich cemetery.
In June that year Henri Joseph Burghys, also aged 10, died during an
operation at the Victoria Infirmary. He was buried in the same grave as
the other Belgian boy.
They are the only two recorded deaths among refugees during their stay in Mid Cheshire.
Their burials were paid for by Sir John, of Brunner Mond, which is now known as Tata Chemicals Europe, but they had no headstone. Local author Alan Lowe has campaigned to give the refugees a proper grave, and it was unveiled in November 2016.
Full Northwich Guardian article
here.
William Harold Hutchings was born in Toxteth Park, Liverpool in 1886. After training at the Liverpool School of Art, he is thought to have worked for the United Alkali Company based in St Helens.
After the war, William worked as a clerk for Brunner Mond in Northwich, and continued to paint and draw. He was a founder member of the Northwich Society of Artists, and a member of the Crescent Players.
