Huddersfield Drill Hall War Memorial 1914 to 1921

Huddersfield Drill Hall War Memorial 1914 to 1921

The Huddersfield Drill Hall War Memorial was designed in 1922 and unveiled and dedicated on 30th August, 1924.  As part of major refurbishment of the War Memorial Boards in Huddersfield Drill Hall in 2018, it was noted that very little was known about those who were commemorated on the twelve panels, as only their names and initials had been fixed onto the panels.  It was not even known exactly how many men were commemorated there.  A project was begun to research each name and discover who they were, and, where possible, what happened to them.  It was expected to take about six months and be ready for the unveiling and rededication in November, 2018.  The amount of information that it is possible to access these days as well as the complexity of the anomalies held up the completion of the book until early 2020.

One major anomaly that was discovered during the research was that an officer and fifteen men who could or should have been commemorated alongside the 1,241 names had been left off for a number of reasons.  These men were included as an appendix in the book and the Trustees of the Drill Hall approved the commissioning of an extra panel to add these names to those of their comrades.  This is to be unveiled and dedicated in the summer of 2020.

It is hoped that the information that has been collected will help the families of the fallen to research their forbears.    Lest We Forget.