War Memorial - St Paul's
St Paul’s Memorial
Site
In the graveyard at St Paul’s Church, Huddersfield Road, Stalybridge.
History
The memorial was erected to commemorate the servicemen buried at St Paul’s Church.
Over a period of years, the graveyard – which was once the main burial ground for Stalybridge – became something of a jungle. It took on a very unkempt appearance and there was so much vandalism that it became impossible to identify the sites of some graves.
The vicar, the Rev Paul Robinson and the Imperial War Graves Commission resolved that the best thing to do was to landscape the churchyard and to erect a memorial giving details of the 57 soldiers, sailors and airmen lying within the graveyard.
The monument was dedicated on Sunday, 24 August, 1997. Proceedings began with a service, attended by the Bishop of Manchester, the Rev Peter Forster; the Mayor of Tameside, Cllr Eileen Shorrock; and representatives of 17 old comrades’ associations, including Polish ex-servicemen.
Afterwards, the congregation made their way into the graveyard, where the memorial was dedicated by Bishop Forster. The names of those commemorated were read out by the Rev Robinson; the curate, the Rev Jay Macleod; and Royal Navy veteran Cllr Charles Meredith, a former mayor of Tameside and Stalybridge, and member of the congregation.
Description
The memorial is a squat, four-sided obelisk, about 5ft tall, made of a sand-coloured stone.
On the front is the inscription:
THEIR NAME LIVETH
FOR EVERMORE
1914 1939
1918 1945
THOSE HONOURED HERE
DIED IN THE SERVICE
OF THEIR COUNTRY AND
LIE BURIED ELSEWHERE
IN THIS CHURCHYARD
Right-Hand Side
| 3rd Clerk F Atherton | RAF | 18 May, 1919 |
| Pte H Bardsley | Labour Corps | 14 Mar, 1919 |
| Cpl J Bennett | Royal Engineers | 23 Mar, 1919 |
| Pte J Blewitt | East Lancashire Regiment | 14 Mar, 1919 |
| Pte T Bolton | Manchester Regiment | 27 Oct, 1918 |
| L/Cpl W Bottomley DSM | Royal Engineers | 15 Nov, 1918 |
| Pte R Bower | Cheshire Regiment | 25 Jun, 1915 |
| Pte J Bowyer | Labour Corps | 22 Feb, 1919 |
| Pte J Butterworth | South Wales Borderers | 22 Oct, 1918 |
| Pte JE Clarkson | Border Regiment | 15 Jun, 1918 |
| Pte WHG Cooke | Manchester Regiment | 19 Jan, 1916 |
| Driver I Downs | Royal Army Service Corps | 7 Feb, 1920 |
| Pte A Eastwood | Cheshire Regiment | 27 Jun, 1915 |
| Pte G Eckersall | South Lancashire Regiment | 3 Dec, 1918 |
| Pte T Fairbrother | Cheshire Regiment | 19 Dec, 1916 |
| Pte F Gartside | Lancashire Fusiliers | 12 Dec, 1915 |
| Cpl CW Gibson | Manchester Regiment | 5 Sep, 1915 |
| Sapper E Hawkins | Royal Engineers | 17 Feb, 1919 |
| Pte H Heathcote | King’s Liverpool Regiment | 24 Jun, 1916 |
| Pte H Hibberd | Cheshire Regiment | 16 Apr, 1918 |
Back
| Pte R Higham | King’s Liverpool Regiment | 17 May,1917 |
| Flight Cadet R Hill | RAF | 28 Aug, 1918 |
| Aircraftman WD Hughes | RAF | 9 Feb, 1918 |
| Shoeing Smith F Lawton | Royal Field Artillery | 18 Sep, 1918 |
| Sgt WL Leckie | Royal Field Artillery | 9 Jan, 1916 |
| Pte R Marsden | King’s Liverpool Regiment | 27 Feb, 1918 |
| Driver J Melia | Royal Field Artillery | 10 Apr,1918 |
| Pte E Moran | Lancashire Fusiliers | 1 Jan, 1915 |
| Pte J Pailthorpe | Cheshire Regiment | 8 Jul, 1918 |
| Pte J Radford | Manchester Regiment | 1 Jan, 1916 |
| Pte J Shaw | Cheshire Regiment | 13 Aug, 1917 |
| Pte S Smith | King’s Liverpool Regiment | 7 Jan, 1921 |
| Pte T Smith | Lancashire Fusiliers | 1 Jan, 1916 |
| Pte H Taylor | Labour Corps | 21 Nov, 1918 |
| Pte W Walker | East Lancashire Regiment | 27 Nov, 1916 |
| Sgt J Webb | Duke of Wellington’s Regiment | 1 Oct, 1915 |
| Pte AE Warhurst | Royal Army Service Corps | 25 May, 1920 |
Left-Hand Side
| Pte E Banks | South Lancashire Regiment | 29 Nov, 1940 |
| Air Mechanic L Battersby | Royal Navy (HMS Daedalus) | 24 Nov, 1943 |
| Gunner H Birch | Royal Artillery | 10 Apr, 1944 |
| Pte W Corbett | East Yorkshire Regiment | 13 June, 1947 |
| Pte H Hall | East Surrey Regiment | 6 May, 1941 |
| Fusilier JR Hollingworth | Royal Scots Fusiliers | 18 Mar, 1944 |
| Sapper G Lord | Royal Engineers | 23 Aug, 1943 |
| Air Mechanic J McCabe | Royal Navy (HMS Waxwing) | 3 May, 1944 |
| Gunner W McCarthy | Royal Artillery | 8 Dec, 1943 |
| Pte B McManus | Duke of Wellington’s Regiment | 14 Sep, 1939 |
| Bombardier SG Miles | Royal Artillery | 31 Jul, 1943 |
| L/Sgt E Moss | Royal Engineers | 26 Sep, 1940 |
| Gunner JP Nield | Royal Artillery | 20 Mar, 1944 |
| Lead Aircraftman F Peace | RAF | 25 Nov, 1943 |
| Driver H. Schofield | Royal Engineers | 22 Jan, 1944 |
| Pte J Turner | General Service Corps | 31 Dec, 1946 |
| Sgt P Watson | Royal Artillery | 21 Oct, 1944 |
| Pte JA Whitworth | Pioneer Corps | 12 Oct, 1946 |
| Lt H Woolven | General List | 21 May, 1947 |
| Pte W Wright | Duke of Wellington’s Regiment | 14 Jan, 1940 |