THE GREAT WAR CENTENARY COMMEMORATION IN SPENBOROUGH 2014 TO 2018

To mark the Centenary of the start of The Great War, in 2012 Branch members started looking at what sort of event would be a fitting tribute to the British and Empire Forces who took part.

Whatever we did, it had to be inclusive, educational, informative and involve other organisations such as schools and the Scouts etc.

We have been fortunate to receive funding from the Kirklees Metropolitan Council's Spen Valley Area Committee who have given our proposals their full support. The Branch has joined the Imperial War Museum's Centenary Partnership which is providing a great deal of information support.

Three projects are to be undertaken as follows:

PROJECT I - WAR GRAVES

Over 3000 Spenborough men served in the Colours of whom 508 lost their lives. Of these, 28 died from their injuries in the UK and have graves in Spenborough.

The Branch has obtained agreement from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (whose duty it is to maintain these graves), to clean up the graves and the immediate surrounding area to CWGC specified standards.

Kirklees MBC has given approval for this work in their Municipal cemeteries and permission is being sought from the local churches for their burial grounds, together with any living relatives that we can contact.

The work has been divided up amongst the Branch volunteers and is scheduled to commence in spring 2014.

The photograph below shows the somewhat neglected grave of Cpl George Carter, which prompted our Branch Historian, Charlie Turpin to bring this to the notice of members and to drive to project forward in 2014.

During the work, it would be remiss of us to ignore the 28 graves of our local men from WW2 and we will tend to these at the same time.

Click this link for further details.

PROJECT II - LECTURE TOUR

This is an educational project and is being fronted by our Branch Chairman, Eddie Morton and Secretary David Walker. An illustrated lecture is being prepared to give to schools and any other local organisation. A number of schools have already expressed an interest and have booked slots for the lecture.

This should be a most informative project in which they will outline the Great War in general and the part taken by our local men in particular.

PROJECT III - EXHIBITION

An exhibition of the Great War is now in the course of preparation, which will be professionally designed to provide an impressive overview of the War. Leading the project is our Branch Historian Charlie Turpin, who without question, is the foremost authority of military matters in the area, particularly our local WW1 Battalion, the Cleckheaton Company of the 1/4th Duke of Wellingtons.

Cleckheaton Library have been most cooperative by allowing us to site the exhibition in the main hall. It is envisaged that the exhibition will commence on the date Great Britain declared war, 4 August and will run for a number of weeks.

Branch Members will be guides at the exhibition for a number of days each week to answer questions. We will also be able to help members of the public with computer searches for their own military ancestors.

As an exhibition centrepiece, we hope to involve local schools. We have photographs of a "wheeled stretcher" which was donated by a local family to the Cleckheaton Territorials in 1914 and we hope to involve students in accepting the challenge to produce drawings and manufacture a full-size working replica.

The exhibition is portable and the Branch can relocate this in full or part for a short time at any interested organisation's premises during the year.

STOP PRESS - The exhibition was opened on 5 August 2014 - for full details and photographs go to Photo Gallery 2014 or click this link.

           *          *          *          *          *          *         *          *          *