THE PROJECT
THE HISTORY
THE SURVEY
LOCATIONS
Update
Hello all, this project is still open but is currently hibernating. We would love to complete it, but this is very dependent on time and whether we can secure additional funding to pursue it.
Thanks to everyone who has been involved, including those who still are, and all those who visit and comment or share, it has so far been a terrific success, we hope to extend that in the future.
In the meantime we fully intend to keep the site live in its current form, and are still taking any info you have with a view to one day finishing the database as time allows.
Nick & Tim. April 2023.
Recent marker reports
Yattendon – St Peter & St Paul, Berkshire
Francis William Lindley Gull Location: St Peter & St Paul Church, Yattendon Lane, Yattendon, Berkshire, RG18 0UE Cross Details: A single tag, GRU A circular metal plate attached with nails to the centre of the cross with the wording: R.I.P IN LOVING MEMORY OF...
Aldworth – St Mary’s Church, Berkshire
Location: St Mary's Church, Bell Lane, Aldworth, Berkshire, England, RG8 9SB Believed to be the cross of Gunner Willian Pinfold RFA. This is a Second World War Marker in all Likelihood. Details: The cross is located outside the church, upright against the nave window....
Bury Parish Church – Greater Manchester
John Lynn VC Location: Bury Parish Church The Rock Bury Greater Manchester BL9 OAH Weblink This is the cross of Private John Lynn V.C. D.C.M. It was located on the wall at the rear of the church on the left hand side as you enter. However currently it has been...
The Lord Ashcroft Gallery – IWM London
Frank Lester VC Location: The Lord Ashcroft Gallery. Imperial War Museum London Lambeth Road London SE1 6HZ Weblink Details on cross: GRU tag at top of shaft, GRU Details on cross member 3 tags, 51874 Cpl F. Lester, 10 Lancs Fus., 12-10-18 Text type (e.g....
Flyford Flavell – St Peter’s, Worcestershire
St. Peter's Church, Flyford Flavell has two battlefield crosses, this one from WW1 and a second one from WW2. They are mounted on the north wall under the bell tower. The church is usually locked, the key may be obtained from the house behind the village shop and post...
The Poppy Factory, Richmond, Surrey
Two Unknown British Soldier (both major twentieth century wars) "The Poppy Factory is the country’s leading employment charity for veterans with health conditions or impairments. We work with businesses across the country to provide bespoke opportunities and ongoing...
High Hesket – St Marys Church, Cumbria
John Joseph Troughear Location: St Marys Church, Hill Crest, High Hesket Cumbria CA4 0JL Details on cross: GRU 1 2 This tag with 1 2 but this is broken so can only see half of the 2 7285 PTE J J Troughear (note the T of the surname is difficult to make out) 14th...
Wootton – St Mary the Virgin, Oxfordshire
Wootton is a small village in North Oxfordshire, just outside Woodstock. St Mary is a pretty 13th Century church in the centre of the village. The church contains 8 battlefield grave markers from WWI, which can be seen on the opposite wall as you enter the church....
On the blog
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About the project
Wooden Battlefield Crosses and grave markers exist all across Great Britain and indeed across the world. You can find them in churches, memorial halls, chapels, museums and private dwellings. Although various lists exist there is no definitive study of them; the available information is often buried in collections of other memorials. These are deeply personal connections with the people involved in the conflict and form a direct link to the families, loved ones and communities who were left behind.
The aim of this project is to try and provide an online resource which creates a place to find the information about these curious objects, where they exist, how to access them and what they meant a century ago, how they continue to be part of the communities they still exist in and how people continue to engage and respond to them as a link the link to First World War.
Ultimately the intention is to list every single battlefield cross or wooden grave marker returned from the lines in Europe to Great Britain after the war ended. The website will hopefully provide a resource that will give everyone access to information on as many of the locations and as much detail as possible about the stories surrounding the people whose graves they marked in France and their symbolic return to the people they left behind.
We need your help…
You can send us information on your local wooden crosses and battlefield markers, whether it be your own photos, photos you have permission to use from a local archive, details of the building and how the marker has become part of the story of it. We also need your research on the soldiers, their life and service, their families, the incidents surrounding their death and the eventual return of the grave marker to Britain and back to the community where the person came from.
We have provided an easy guide to help you to survey, photograph and research these sites and a rough but growing list of locations which we will hopefully be building on as more information comes to light. We will also be putting together an online guide looking at how and where to research the stories of the men these crosses are named for and how you might be able to look into the story behind them to build an online collection which everyone can use to explore these fascinating memorials.
Contact us
Have you done a survey or do you fancy having a go at one? Maybe you aren’t sure what to do or maybe you have already completed some research on a battlefield cross you’d like to add to the project or share via the website.
Perhaps you think you may have something nobody has seen in nearly a century in your loft or shed? Let us know.
Please send us an email to info@thereturned.co.uk
