This memorial is on a quite lane near the boundary with Haighton Parish. The lane leads down to the shrine at Ladyewell and the memorial is on the lane edge backing onto the graveyard of the old Roman Catholic Church.
The story of the memorial starts with the parish council taking a lead with a formal Parish meeting being called at the Village Club Room, on Whittingham Lane on the 18th December 1919. At this proposals were made for some form of a War Memorial in Broughton to the local men who had died in the conflict known then as the Great War.
The various interested parties then went way to discuss with their families and friends what type of memorial would is appropriate, bearing in mind that formal memorials were not the only type being decided on in the area.
In Billsborough they wanted a garden which unfortunately was never completed, in Catforth a memorial community hall and in Inskip a set of platters for the church.
The second meeting was arranged for the January of 1920 but the Rev Father Blackos of Fernyhalgh, sent his apologise and a letter saying that the church in Fernyhalgh was looking for its “own memorial on the roadside to the shrine”.
The Fernyhalgh memorial was paid for by public subscription and fundraising such as the fancy dress ball in 1921 (Lancashire Post 02/40/21). On the 6th April 1921 the Lancashire Post reported on the unveiling of the memorial by Lt. Col. Noblet.
Anecdotal evidence is that the memorial stone base with tilled areas including a cross was originally the site of a statue of the Virgin Mary that had been damaged and removed in 1910.
This memorial is described as a tiled pavement on two stones with a simple “Wayside Latin Cross” in granite inscribed:
“In the name of God of Victories pray for the repose of the souls of the five Fernyhalgh soldiers who gave their lives for King and country during the Great War f 1914-1918.
R.I.P. Eternal rest give to them O Lord”.
The plinth under the boulder has the inscription:
“This monument has been erected by the people of Fernyhalgh in memory of their fallen heroes”
The memorial lists the five names as:
Lt William Pyke Sep.9 1916
Lt Francis Kilroe Aug 27 1918
Pte John Frost April 8 1918
Pte William Smith May 27 1918
Pt Samuel Worswick Nov 11 1918
Further details of these soldiers are available on application to Broughton Parish Council or www.livesofthefirstworldwar.co.uk
2nd World War Memorial
The “granite plinth” beneath the boulder has a further inscription which was commissioned in 1948 by the Parish Council (church); this remembered those lost of the 2nd world war on the left side of the boulder.
The memorial lists the three names as:
P.P. Kevin Heller R.A.F April 10th 1944
Cpl. Denis Bentley R.M. March 16th 1945
Pte. James Mason R. Norfolk Regt. July 18TH 1944
2nd Lieutenant William Edward Pyke, 1st/4th battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
Died 9thSeptember 1916 remembered on the Thieval Memorial (CWG)
2nd Lieutenant Francis Joseph Kilroe, of the Highland Infantry regiment was born in 1893, the eldest of the 6 children of Catherine and Patrick Kilroe, his siblings were Alfred born 1884, Florence born 1889, Mildred born 1899, Cyril born 1902 & Eileen born 1904. In 1911 he was living with his parents at Fulwood Lodge, Fulwood and was working as a Salesman and Horse Driver. He died on the 28th August 1918 and is buried at Longuenesse (St Omer) cemetery.
Private Samuel Worswick originally enlisted in 1904 in the East Lancashire Regiment and served for 3 years. He reenlisted in 1907 in the 7th Battalion Kings Own Lancashire Loyal Regiment and served a further 4 years; in 1912 he was in the reserve and was called up in 1914 to the Army Service Corps. His parents were William and Elizabeth Ann (nee Elliot) Worswick and he was baptised at St Walburgh in January 1885. He is listed in 1904 as a farm servant and in 1907 as a Labourer. He died on 11/12 November 1918 and is buried in the Gaza cemetery, Palestine/Israel. His CWG records state that he “transferred to the 800th Area Employment Coy. Labour Crop. Died of sickness 12th November 1918 aged 34”.
Research done by AL