Local Servicemen
The Burntwood Memorial Project
In the years after World War 1, many cities, towns and villages felt the need to commemorate the sacrifice made by the servicemen from their towns who had lost their lives during the Great War, the War to end all wars. Most of those War Memorials were paid for by public subscription and recorded the names of all those local servicemen who had paid the supreme sacrifice.
As the 100th Anniversary of the outbreak of war in 1914 was approaching, it was felt that a suitable way to celebrate the 25th Anniversary - in 2011 - of Burntwood Family History Group would be a project to bring some detail to the names on the Chasetown War Memorial in Chasetown Park by researching the lives and service careers of the men honoured there. The Burntwood and District War Memorial Project was the result.
The aim of the Burntwood Memorial Project is to research the lives of servicemen from Burntwood and the surrounding area who made the ultimate sacrifice, using the help of relatives or descendants where that is available. A mini-biography is compiled for each serviceman. The biographies appear on our website once they are completed; in due course, a book will be produced containing all the completed biographies. A printed copy of the biography is produced for the serviceman's family, another for Staffordshire archives. Burntwood Family History Group also keeps a copy to display with other biographies and related information.
Local newspapers have been informed about the project and, through them and a poster campaign, we have encouraged members of the public - especially those related to men whose names are recorded on a local war memorial - to contact and help us with the project. Volunteers from Burntwood Family History Group undertake the research, uncovering as much detail about the serviceman as possible: which of the Armed Forces he served in, the theatre of war in which he fought, where and how he lost his life; we also try to paint a picture of his family and of his life before he became a serviceman.
BFHG is grateful to Dave BROWN of Chasetown for the donation in 2011 of his copy of The Roll Of The Great War 1914 - 1918 (Walsall and District).
Burntwood Memorial Project Biographies
Below you will find links to the biographies we have compiled for local servicemen who gave their lives for their country in the First World War.
The First World War 1914 - 1918
The Second World War 1939 - 1945
Other