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
St Columb Minor – St Columb Minor Church, Cornwall
2/Lieut C.L. Teape Location: St Columb Minor Church, St Columb Minor, Cornwall, TR7 3EY Details on cross: 2/Lieut C.L. Teape Devons This cross is a replica of that which stood over the grave in France of Charles Lewarne Teape, Sec Lieut 9th...
East Farleigh – The Ancient Parish Church, Kent
Capt. S.R.P. WALTER Location: The Ancient Parish Church, East Farleigh, Kent, ME15 0JD Details on cross: IN MEMORY OF Capt. S.R.P. WALTER ROYAL WEST SURREY R. & RF.C. KILLED IN ACTION JULY 31. 1917 Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags,...
Albourne – St Bartholomew’s Church, West Sussex
British Soldier Location: St Bartholomew's Church Lane, Albourne, West Sussex,BN6 9DF Details on cross: Hand carved letters 'GRU' 'British Soldier' Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): Hand carved. Cross dimensions (millimetres...
Styal – Quarry Bank Mill, Cheshire
Captain Arthur Tylston Greg Location: Quarry Bank Mill, Styal, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 4LA Details on cross: I.W.G.C, CAPT A.T.GREGG, 3 CHESHIRE REGT.ATT.R.F.C, 2-4-17 Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): 4 GRU tags. Cross dimensions (millimetres please)...
Allithwaite – St Mary’s Church, Cumbria
Isaac Henry Brockbank Location: St Mary's Church, Church Road, Allithwaite, Cumbria, LA11 7RD Details on cross: 1 GRU tag 20384 H. BROCKBANK. Cross dimensions (millimetres please) Shaft Height: 1143mm. Cross beam width: 406.4mm. Width of wood: 69.85mm....
How Caple – St Andrew and St Mary, Herefordshire
Second Lieutentant L C LEE Location: Parish church of St Andrew and St. Mary, How Caple, Herefordshire, HR1 4SX Details on cross: GRU 2nd LIEUT L C LEE IRISH GUARDS 1st FEBRUARY 1915 Text type: Four GRU tags Cross dimensions Shaft Height: 1120mm Cross beam...
Winchester – Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire
VAL BRAITHWAITE Location: Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 9LS (cross is usually inaccessible to the public) Details on cross: IN MEMORY OF VAL BRAITHWAITE, LIEUT 1st BN P.A SOMERSET LIGHT INFANTRY WHO FELL IN ACTION NEAR THIS SPOT ON JULY 1 1916...
Thwaites – St Anne’s Church, Cumbria
Lieut. CG Lewthwaite MC Location: St Anne’s Church, Thwaites, Cumbria Details on cross: In memory of Lieut. CG Lewthwaite MC C/231 Brigade RFA Killed in Action July 29th 1917 Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): Painted Cross dimensions (millimetres...
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
