BARNOLDSWICK WAR MEMORIAL RE-DEDICATION

[Thomo]

Just to show that it isn't possible to please everyone all of the time, I got a rather irate call from a descendant of one of the Rohilla victims this morning "Why isn't my great uncles name on the Rohilla panel?" and presumably didn't know that it was already on the main Memorial, as are the other eleven! The Rohilla Panel is there in remembrance of that disaster, in a way to replace the long forgotten Rohilla Day and the probably soon to be demolished Drill Hall which was built as a tribute to the 12 men lost. It may also be of interest to know that some of those men cared for the 19 year old Prince Albert when as a Midshipman he was removed from HMS Collingwood at Scapa Flow and taken aboard the Rohilla suffering from appendicitis , and then to a hospital in Scotland for an operation to remove the affected item. We all knew him as King George the 6th! I also had a call from Mark O,Garr this morning asking if I was happy with the plaques, and I am indeed happy, and when conditions are right I may see what I can do about the lettering on the old Memorial, this "Will" not happen before Sunday. Tomorrow I am going to do a stint in the marquee, probably between 1230 and 4,00 PM, I will be taking the hard copy of the book with me, so if anyone wants a preview, that would be a good time.

[Thomo]

The previous little saga did not end there. Another 25 minute call, and it became a bit Monty Python, add to that I am an ex Sailor and can become colourful when stressed! Other friends and relatives have searched the new plaques, and the names are not there!!!!!!!!!!!@X11V. "They are on the main Memorial!!" "Where?" "The big pointy thing, look at the big cube shaped lump with the names on it, and you will find them" "Oh, we thought they were only on the Whitby Memorial" It was with great pleasure that I was able to inform the caller that they are also on the Naval Memorial at Chatham! I then got the full family history plus medical problems, this I already know having researched them for the book. This was at cat feeding time, so I also have 5 hungry cats and 4 kittens protesting loudly, and a spagi bol mix to prepare for dinner, my cup runeth over, but did not spill!

[PanBiker]

You couldn't make it up Peter! A case of engage brain before opening mouth I think.

[chinatyke]

Peter,

Best wishes for tomorrow. I hope everything goes according to plan with the re-dedication. At last you see the results of your hard work. Thank goodness there are people like you who do these things.

My father was in the Navy during the war and I wish I could be there. I'm sure it will be an emotional event for many people.

It will be a great day for you and others. Well done.

Graham

[Nolic]

Peter, I hope all goes to plan and that the day goes off without a hitch. Thank you for all the hard work and dedication that you have put into this ....it is appreciated. Unfortunately living family comes first and I regret I will not be at the re-dedication as I have to take my wife to Blackburn hospital to see her father who has had another stroke. Nolic

[hartley353]

A big well done to Thomo for seeing a worthwhile project through to its finish, have a great day tomorrow.

[Wendyf]

Hope all goes well Thomo.

[whitbycolin]

I would like to congratulate Peter Thompson and the team that has worked tirelessly to bring together the re-dedication of the War Memorial. I know from e-mails we have shared that at times he has been overwhelmed with the responsibility. It can't have been easy at all with the many set backs the team experienced and he and the team deserve full marks for getting to this point.

Sadly Britain isn't known for its predictable weather but I do hope that that tomorrow Barnoldswick is bathed in dry bright and sunny weather, Monday onwards is of little matter

I'm afraid my wife and I cannot make it, and would like to ask those going if they might consider sharing any photographs and/or video. It is a personal request stemming from my strong desire for anything that is directly or indirectly related to the loss of the hospital ship SS Rohilla, if you can help please send me a private message

[Thomo]

At 0850 this morning, the phone rang, I don't usually get early calls on Sundays and I didn't recognise the No. A voice asking "is that Peter?" it was the pilot of the Spitfire advising me that he would soon be departing RAF Leuchars and enquiring about conditions here. He is coming here via Carlisle where the weather at present is not good, this may cause a detour of that area which makes giving an ETA here difficult, he will also be able to do only one circuit of Barlick, so listen out for it sometime after 1000. I will have a look at flight radar and see if I can pick him up on there. Just how much Barlick has changed became quite apparent yesterday and I was surprised how many people had no idea about what is happening here today, word of mouth must have gone the way of the Corner Shop! No its not showing up on the radar, airliners only, traffic is colossal around London.

[PanBiker]

Excellent Thomo, will keep an ear cocked for the Griffon.

[Tizer]

It was the pilot of the Spitfire advising me that he would soon be departing RAF Leuchars and enquiring about conditions here.

Thomo, it's not often one gets a call like that, but you deserve it and much more for all your effort and diligence. If all our big companies and institutions were run as efficiently we could put the Great back into Britain!

[Thomo]

The pilot is Phill O,Dell, chief test pilot for Rolls Royce.

[Cathy]

Big day in Barlick today, I'm full of respect and admiration for you Thomo and excited about what is happening today. I'm sure all will go very well. Thanks to everyone involved, a huge job to bring together. Well done.

(We have a Pvt. J Hargreaves from Barnoldswick in our family tree, I believe he served and died at The Somme. Marilyn would know more details.)

[PanBiker]

10.52 two circuits of the town followed by a victory roll and a climbing inversion before levelling off and away. Fantastic display and an unmistakable sound.

[Thomo]

Was that good or what? we got two visits down here, must have clocked the flag. Well done Phill and Rolls Royce, and thank you, that was beyond my expectations. I will mail my contact at Derby tomorrow and thank him on behalf of Barlick.

[PanBiker]

Add my thanks also Peter, I forgot to add, a nice prelude for today's events.

Shoes polished, shirt ironed, now to choose a tie, can get to that now the Spit has done his stuff. Just less than three hours to kick off.

[PanBiker]

I put the final timetable up on Facebook. Gus Brennan had put a post up about the Spitfire with a number of replies. Some were comments about not enough information on the event. I added a note that the final itinerary was not finalised until a few days ago. I also posted the parade route. My posts have had a few likes.

[Jill Harwood]

Good luck for today, and thankyou to everybody concerned for all your hard work. It's good to see my Abbott relations honoured in their home town.

[Whyperion]

Missed the Spitfire as I was over in Burnley , if anyone has a video that would be nice. Got into Barnoldswick just after 2pm as things were starting to get together with plenty of people listening to the band ( regimental band of the division of the Yorkshire Regiment ? ) , I was too late to get a programme of events , but David Whipp stated he is hoping to get PDFs of cover and contents on the visitbarnoldswick website. Will try to get my best photos of the town and parade up once the laptop behaves. Good to see most of the local church leaders involved in the services. The leader of the town council became slightly emotional when recounting the statistics of the number of names on the memorial compared to numbers of Barnoldswick households.

I got a chance to thank the Bandmaster for the band's playing - probably the best version of the National Anthem I have heard for tone , pitch and tempo.

Understand minor details did not quite go according to plan , but overall plenty of interest from people in their family's recognition both in regard to Rohilla and the two world wars.

Around the town square Cafe on The Square was respectfully open , and I tried out the newish frozen yoghurt shop , sharing a grape smoothie in the 15 min interval.

One can only thank all involved for all their dedicated work and efforts , and the fine early autumn sunshine really was a final blessing on the day.

[David Whipp]

Some pictures from yesterday.

Freedom of the Town awarded by Town Council Chairman Cllr Ken Hartley to The Yorkshire Regiment.



Ian and Peter at the Freedom award.



Freedom Parade on Albert Road.



Freedom Parade on Rainhall Road.



Dedication of the new panels at the War Memorial.

[hartley353]

Great photos,Looks like a special day, and not a gamp in sight.

[Cathy]

Great photos, looks like everything went really well.

[Tardis]

A good day all around, particularly enjoyed the spitfire's arrival, although he did so during The Archers

I saw him start the victory roll, but he went out of sight from my house. Magnificent, and I take my hat off to the pilot.

Ian and Peter have done the town proud. Well done

This was the picture that I put on twitter

[Thomo]

Good morning all, and thank you for your support. So there we are, job done "Went the day well" only a few bits of confusion and minor hiccups, c'est la vie, I think that I can safely say that it was the best show since 1919. I have just spoken with our Spitfire Pilot, Phill O,Dell, and thanked him on behalf of us all for the splendid display of his, and the aircrafts skills, well done Rolls Royce, you made our day!, I will mail my contact at Derby shortly, Ian Graighead, and pass a message of gratitude for making it happen. In fact I have many thank you messages to send out. The most alarming glitch was at the unveiling of the plaques, I will not go into detail, lets just look upon it as the "Duke of Lancaster's Revenge" Where were they?!!! There is also a good report on page 10 of todays Lancashire Telegraph, thank you Tyrone.

[PanBiker]

I echo all that Peter says above and I know that he will include myself in the thanks that are due to a great number of people who made the event the success that it was and a fitting end to a lot of hard work by many people. The odd glitches are nothing compared to what has been achieved and in the spirit of why we set about the job in the first place. Simply to bring to attention those not previously recognised before.

Thanks to all those who took the trouble to turn out and support the parade and take part in the dedication.

Back to the practicalities.

I intend to update the National Register of War Memorials with our additions which is maintained by The Imperial War Museum. To that end, I have downloaded the paperwork and guidance notes required for notification of updates or changes to existing memorials. I will return these in due course once completed.

The IWM keeps the National record but there are other parties that may also benefit from a notification of our additions. I will look at these also over the next few weeks and report here on my actions.