Wigan Album

So many young men lost. 19 yrs old.
Another 19 yr old known to us, Len Hall lost at the Battle of Loos.
What a futile thing war is.

He was killed accidentally, it is such a shame.

Whilst researching war memorials in Tamworth I came across one which looked as if it had been a home shrine for a WW1 casualty, which had found its way into a local club, then seems to have been forgotten about until quite recently. It's now out on display and alongside it are two framed poems by 'Jodie Johnson, Lancashire, England'. I Googled her, and found that she was from Haydock, but went to school in Ashton - and was at the Rectory School when she wrote the poems - one in 1994, age 9, and one in 1996, aged 11 - reproduced below. Some Veterans came across the poems and asked if they could have copies printed out and sold to raise funds for the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, which was just getting off the ground then. When she was at Byrchall High School she was invited to the unveiling of the first memorial to be dedicated there, in 1998 - to the men of the 49th (West Riding) Division (see WMR 68576). Her poems had raised £10,500 by then. She is named on the memorial, and her poems are on display on it, too. I wonder what she went on to become?

WHO ARE THESE MEN ?

Who are these men who march so proud
Who quietly weep, eyes closed, heads bowed ?
These are the men who once were boys
Who missed out on youth and all of it's joys

Who are these men with aged faces
Who silently count the empty spaces ?
These are the men who gave their all
Who fought for their country for freedom and all.

Who are these men with sorrowed look
Who can still remember the lives that were took ?
These are the men who saw young men die
The price of peace is always high.

Who are these men who in the midst of pain
Whispered comfort to those they would not see again ?
These are the men whose hand held tomorrow
Who bought back our future with blood, tears and sorrow.

Who are these men who promise to keep
Alive in their hearts the ones God holds asleep ?
These are the men to whom I promise again
Veterans, my friends, I WILL REMEMBER THEM.