Remember them ……..

After over 80 years a war memorial to some of the men who fought in the Great War has come out of the shadows.

The memorial went into storage sometime after All Saints Church was bombed in 1940.

The details remain sketchy, and it is unclear whether the church was the one in All Saints in Chorlton on Medlock or the one in Stretford.

Many of the men listed came from Hulme or Chorlton on Medlock and David Harrop who is now the custodian of the memorial says that “two possibly three are interred in Southern Cemetery, and many family members of these men are interred in Southern, it really is the most appropriate location and reflects the memorials origins”.

All of which points to the All Saints Church on Oxford Road.

The church was badly fire damaged and was demolished in 1949.

So it is fitting that David will be placing it in his permanent exhibition in the Remembrance Lodge at Southern Cemetery.  The exhibition already contains many items related to the two World Wars and some which have links to servicemen and women who are interned in the Cemetery.

A heap more work needs to be done on the men listed and in time it maybe possible to finally identify the church.

But for now, as David has said it’s presence in Southern Cemetery “is the most appropriate location and reflects the memorials origins”.*

Location; The Remembrance Lodge Southern Cemetery

Pictures; the War memorial 2023, courtesy of David Harrop

*The memorial will be on show later in the year or at the start of the next