Remembering those from Chorlton who served in the Great War

Now that the First World War has passed from living memory it seems all the more important to record many of the local men who served and in some cases died.

Most can be found on the war memorials around Chorlton and using the National Archives which hold the military service papers from the Great War their lives can be revealed.

The records include the Attestation Papers, details of the regiments they joined, where they served and where some of them died. Some like the Attestation Papers which were filled in at enlistment provide simple biographical details, while others carry the stories of wounds suffered and bitter sad correspondence about war pensions to the men’s widows.

They were a mixed bunch, drawn from all walks of life and while most served on the Western Front a few saw service at Gallipoli and some in the Middle East.

With a little more digging and using the regimental war diaries it is possible to follow their daily lives, from the trenches to rest and recuperation periods, training sessions and again back into the great battles.

I have to own to a personal interest. My family like most were deeply involved in the conflict. I can count two uncles, a grandfather, great grandfather, and two great uncles as well as some who fought in the Imperial Armed Forces of Germany. For us this war and the 1939-45 war were really civil wars where members of my family faced each.

Pictures; Attestation Papers of James Rogers, born James Roger Hall in Birmingham 1898, a British Home Child sent by the Guardians of the Derby Work House to Canada. He ran away from his third farm and enlisted in the August of 1915 aged just 17. Similar war records are available for the men who went from Chorlton. Discharge papers of his brother William Hall. Simpson Family collection.