Worcestershire | Pershore Abbey | War Memorial
| The Abbey, Pershore Ordnance Survey reference: SO 947457 War memorial |
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460 men from Pershore went to the Great War – one fifth of the total adult
population at that time – and 101 of them never returned. The old Norman font in the Abbey had been replaced with a new one in 1840: the memorial was erected in 1921 on the site of this Victorian font. At this time, the old font was restored and the Victorian one sent to a church in Ceylon. The Memorial was sculpted by Alfred Drury R.A., and consists of a stone pedestal surmounted by a figure of Immortality holding an Olive Branch of Peace and a Crown of Everlasting life. This photograph is from a 1930s postcard – the electric light fitting just visible in the background on the left dates the original photo to some time after the Abbey’s electrical lighting installation in 1928. The only change to the memorial since then has been the addition of the names of the dead from WW II. A leaflet about the memorial is available from the Abbey bookstall. |
Remember with thanksgiving the true and faithful men
who in these years of war
went forth from this place for God and the right
The names of those who returned not again
are here inscribed to be honoured for evermore
R.I.P.
To the Immortal Dead
1914-1918
1939-1945
“Be thou faithful unto Death and I will give Thee a crown of Life”
Lincolnshire Regiment
James S. Annis
Edward J. Marshall
Royal Berkshire Regiment
Albert W.T. Dancocks
Walter J. Dolphin
Hampshire Regiment
Harold G. Moseley
Leonard T. Moseley
West Yorkshire Regiment
Harry J. Beard
Alfred Brant
Welsh Regiment
James Archer
John Cosnett
Royal Marine Light Infantry
Douglas Nutting
Royal Naval Reserve
John C. Smith
Oxf. and Bucks. Light Infantry
Albert Brookes
Shropshire Light Infantry
Alfred E. Fulcher
Somerset Light Infantry
George H. Cosnett
South Staffordshire Regiment
John W. Townend
Sherwood Foresters
Charles Reeves
The London Regiment
William Askew
Suffolk Regiment
Kenneth R. Mason
Sussex Yeomanry
Hiram W. Moulson
Australian Imperial Force
George M. Hammond
Machine Gun Corps
Arthur Moulson
Tank Corps
William Winwood
10thJATS. I.A
Robert H. Deakin
Worcestershire Regiment
Charles F Andrews
James O. Andrews Q.O.W.H.
Oliver Birt
William R. Barber
Oliver H. Barnes
William Bridgewater
Arthur Biddulph
Arthur Bozzard Q.O.W.H.
John Bagnall Q.O.W.H
Arthur Buckle
Bertram J.F. Cartland
Francis A. Charlwood
William F. Checketts
Thomas H. Cosnett
Albert Coldicott
John Clark
Herbert Dufty
Walter Edwards
Henry Fletcher
Henry Garrett
Frederick George
Arthur Giles
George W. Grinnell
John Grinnell
John F. Grundy Q.O.W.H.
Ernest Hall
George W. Haynes
Ernest Haynes
Aubrey W. Hudson
Edward Hughes
Arthur Langford
Cecil H.G Lushington
Nicholas J. Mann
Arthur Mayo
William Mumford
John Need
Ernest Price
William H. Pring
Hubert C. Pugh
Robert Reeves
Thomas L. Roper Q.O.W.H.
John W. Smith
Harry Stanton
Maurice H. Saunders Q.O.W.H
Ralph Tinson
William A. Taylor
Charles E. Twigg
Royal Artillery
John Barber
William C.S.Crook
Mark A. Giles
Arthur Hall
Frank R. Harbord
Charles Marshall
James W.P.Richards
Henry S. Smith
Leonard Twigg
Grenadier Guards
William J. Dufty
William Hitchings
Arthur Kings
Edward G. Palfrey
Percy W. Smith
Gloucestershire Regiment
Thomas G. Coldrick
Joseph Grinnell
Francis J. Preece
Charles P. Surman
Royal Engineers
Harry Charlwood
John F.J.B. Miller
Thomas J. Pugh
Royal Fusiliers
Harold V. Conn
Sidney F.D.Fell
Arthur C. Hudson
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Alfred Coldicott
Douglas Hook
Philip Hunt
Devonshire Regiment
Henry W. Cosnett
Albert T. Jones
George H. Hands R.A.S.C.
1939-1945
Royal Navy
Michael Durkin
George Cyril Ronald Ludlow
Neville Parker
Peter Stubbs
George Young
Royal Regiment of Artillery
Alec Leonard Hitchings
Corps of Royal Engineers
Harvey Eric Ball
Arthur Charles Box
Wilfred Stanley
Grenadier Guards
Ronald Buckingham
The Gloucestershire Regiment
Stanley Thompson McCoull
The Worcestershire Regiment
Francis Victor Adams
William Annis
Lester Harrison Barnes
Geoffrey George William Knight
Cecil H. Bingham, Priest
Parachute Regiment
Ronald William Wood
Army Catering Corps
Alfred Thomas Barber
Royal Air Force
Ryland George Addis
Alfred Charles Brown
Frank Reginald William Checketts
Francis Harry Alfred Nicholas
Thomas Routledge
Francis Victor Adams
Notes: Men served in World War I: Notes below are for men listed on memorials in the villages around Pershore. Much more detailed notes, including newspaper stories about the men on the memorial, and many others who survived service in the Great War can be on the following large page, Pershore Men in the Great War. Most of those listed here have supplementary information listed on that page
1. Alfred Brant of the Yorkshire Regiment was a brother of my grandmother.
2. The Somerset Memorial lists Albert Beechey, George Henry Cosnett, and Horace Henry Twigg of Pershore, Worcs. as having served as privates in the Somerset Light Infantry during WW I. Beechey and Twigg are not listed on the Pershore memorial: Beechey appears to have actually come from Drakes Broughton, as he is listed on the Drakes Broughton War Memorial, less than two miles away.
3. Aubrey W Hudson and Arthur C Hudson were from Wick, and are also listed on the Wick war memorials In addition, Aubrey Hudson is listed on the Memorial Scroll in Worcester Cathedral
4. Francis George Preece has his middle initial wrongly listed as ‘J’ on the memorial. There is also a memorial to him on a gravestone in Naunton Beauchamp churchyard. Paul Hughes is researching men who went from Chipping Campden to fight in the Great War, and informs me that Francis Preece, Harold G. Moseley and Leonard T. Moseley, although they were from Pershore, were living in Campden when they enlisted. He has information on them which I have not listed here, but is still searching for more. If you have information on these three people, or know of relatives of them who may have information, please contact him (details at the bottom of the Chipping Campden page).
5. Douglas Nutting apparently came from Drakes Broughton: he is listed on the Drakes Broughton memorial.
6. Private Charles J. Reeves is listed in the Sherwood Foresters Roll of Honour (number 19093, 11th Btn., died 06/10/1916)
7. Oliver H. Barnes is also listed on the Pinvin War memorial.
8. Edward Arthur Giles (Worcestershire Regt.) was married to Mary Beatrice Giles of Pinvin: he is buried at Pinvin, and listed on the Pinvin memorial
9. Arthur Langford (Worcesters) was the son of John Langford of Pershore. At the time he was recruited, he was living with his wife and child at Paxford, Glos. and his name is also listed on the Paxford War Memorial
10. Nicholas Joseph Mann came from Tewkesbury, and is listed on the Tewkesbury war memorials and Roll of Honour
11. J. Critchley Smith was born in Pershore and lived in Wyre Piddle at the time of his death. He is also listed on the Wyre Piddle and Fladbury Churchyard memorials.
Last modified 3 June 2002