Wigan Album

Very clear image never seen that view before with no bus station

It would be great if it was like that now! It looks so clean and much better than
nowadays. The Market Square should have been left as it was...a rallying point for the town.

Both my grandfathers were killed in WW1 I wonder if they are in the ranks.

A truly remarkable picture but one which I'm a little uncomfortable with .
The photographs I've seen of priests blessing the big guns on the western front prior to them unleashing their carnage always filled me with horror.
Makes one ponder the relationship between war and religion.
Two superb postings . Thanks

Both my grand fathers names on same plaque in parish church Both d[ed in Turkey I th[nk it was Helmund land have pic of grave sight guess i have spelling wrong but as my english teacher said Shakespear could not spell

annemarie - it's likely your grandfathers died at Gallipoli. Put their names into the Search on the Wigan & Leigh Archives site for the details. There's an entry there for all those listed on Wigan Borough's WW1 memorials.

Poet - the priest doing the consecration of the Colours is most likely the Rector of Wigan. Past Colours of the Regiment were deposited in the Parish Church when new Colours were consecrated. The Church has a doctrine of the 'Just War', which justifies breaking the Commandment, 'Thou shalt not kill'. Not all agree with this doctrine - but, combined with the fact that the CofE is the Established Church, its existence means that the church's Clergy are called to play their part in the practical working out of what that doctrine means for the support of the armed forces and their members, who are the ones who carry the doctrine through - risking their lives as they take part in the killing which war entails. Consecrating the Colours which are the symbol of a Regiment's esprit de corps, which is often vital in enabling troops to carry on against the odds, is a part of that... but I'm not sure about blessing guns on the battlefield. But the Chaplains who may have done this were on the battlefield with the troops, and may well have felt such actions helped morale.
As for war and religion... there's no denying that wars take place because of religious differences (look at Afghanistan now, with mosques of different branches of Islam being targeted). However, religious sanctioning of wars pursued for territorial or economic reasons does not make them religious wars.

Thankyou Rev David I will try quite a new at this but find nice people who are willing to help .Thank you once again

You're welcome, annemarie. Start from here - you may find their obituaries, with an image, alongside the information, which may also tell you if they're commemorated on other memorials in the Borough: https://archives.wigan.gov.uk

Annemarie also try the Manchester regiment as a lot of Wigan soldiers at Gallipoli were in this regiment. The Commonwealth War graves commission also have details of casualties. Good luck with the searching!

Thankyou both I will look at sites it will be interesting to find out as I know nothing about them

Annemarie, I'm writing a book on the 1/5th Battalion , if you have any questions, please feel frees to ask.

Ginge - you may be interested in the research I've carried out on the activities of the Wigan Branch of the British Red Cross - particularly re. The Beeches in Standish. Many of the women involved were the mothers and sisters of soldiers - principally of officers of the 1st/5th. The Voluntary Aid Detachments were formed as the medical branch of the Territorials - and the women joined the VAD as their menfolk signed up for the newly-named 1st/5th.
One such was Phyllis James, daughter of the Vicar of Haigh - two of the four sons he lost in the war, Francis and George, were officers in the 1st/5th, and died at Gallipoli.
A bit of a side-story for you, perhaps.