All Saints Church

Speke, Liverpool, UK

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Memorial Cross

The Memorial Cross in All Saints Graveyard was erected after the First World War to commemorate the Speke residents who gave their lives.  Included on the Cross though, is one Richard Hall Watt who is thought to be a relative of Miss Adelaide Watt of Speke Hall and not necessarily a Speke Resident.

Each Remembrance Day the Church congregation moves outside after their morning service to be joined by the local British Legion, other uniformed organisations such as the Sea Cadets and anyone who wants to pay their respects around the Cross.  We are few in number now, but we still gather to remember.

It is hoped that one day the names of those who have fallen in the wars fought since WWII will be included in the Memorial Garden.

Through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, I have managed to trace some of the above names and I am fairly sure that the following entries relate to these former Speke residents who gave their lives and were buried or commemorated in another country.  

Some have no grave and are recorded on memorials. Other give a specific cemetery and grave number. 

As you read down them, you will notice some of the records mention their parent's names and addresses.  While researching these, I was struck by how young these men were and how unfamiliar the place names they died in must have been. These brave young men from the tiny village of Speke were 

leaving their homes to fight for their country in foreign lands, never to return. 

 More information on each location and its history is available at the CWGC website.

Charles Nicholls
Private
16078
B Coy 5th Bn., King's Shropshire Light Infantry
who died on
Saturday, 5th September 1915,  aged 18

Additional Information:    
Son of Charles and Sarah Jane Nicholls of 4 Boundary Cottages, Speke,  Liverpool

Memorial:   
Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium in Addenda Panel 58

R Clay
Private
9392
2nd Bn., North Staffordshire Regiment
who died on
Thursday, 21st October 1915

Memorial:   
Karachi 1914 -1918 War Memorial, Pakistan
This memorial commemorates those who served and died in Pakistan in the 1914 -18 war and are buried in various cemeteries that have been impossible to look after

Thomas Raper
Lance Corporal
23203
1st Bn., Lancashire Fusiliers
who died on
Thursday, 11th April 1918

Memorial:  
Ploegsteert Memorial, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium in Panel 4
This memorial commemorates those whose final resting place isn't known but who fought in this area

John Mercer
Private
401042
16th Bn., Manchester Regiment
who died on
Thursday, 21st March 1918,  aged 19

Additional Information:   
Son of Thomas and Mary Mercer, of 55 Oglet Lane, Speke,  Liverpool

Memorial:  
Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France in Panel 64 to 67
This memorial commemorates those whose final resting place isn't known but who fought in the Somme area of France

H Probyn
Sapper
438195
427th Field Coy., Royal Engineers
who died on
Thursday, 6th September 1917,  aged 26

Additional Information:   
Son of Hugh and Emma Probyn, of Hale Cliff, Hale,  Liverpool

Cemetery:  
Potijze Chateau Grounds Cemetery, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium in Grave No. II.G.23

WE Wyke
Private
17487
2nd/4th Bn., Hampshire Regiment
who died on
Thursday, 3rd October 1918

Cemetery:  
Grevillers British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France in Grave No. XV.E.12

Thomas Gandy
Private
38889
13th Bn., The King's (Liverpool Regiment)
who died on
Thursday, 28th March 1918

Memorial:  
Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France in Grave No. Bay 3
This memorial commemorates 35,000 casualties from the British, New Zealand and South African armies whose whose final resting place isn't known