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
Morley – St Matthew, Derbyshire
HENRY ANGRAVE CECIL TOPHAM Location: St Matthew, Church Lane, Morley, Ilkeston Derbyshire, DE7 6DE Details on Cross: G.R.U. 2-LIEUT H A G TOPHAM 1-WeLSH REGT 25 5 15 From CWGC: TOPHAM, HENRY ANGRAVE CECIL Rank: Second Lieutenant Date of Death: 25/05/1915 Age: 23...
Llanblethian – St John the Baptist, Vale of Glamorgan
Evan Thomas David Location: Church of St John the Baptist, Llanblethian, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan Details on Cross: In memory of 22094 Pte. E. T. David 2nd Welsh Regiment 4th April 1917 From CWGC DAVID, EVAN THOMAS Rank: Private Service No: 22094 Date of Death:...
Shipbourne – St.Giles, Kent
Edward Cazalet Location: St.Giles, Shipbourne, Kent, TN11 9PF Details on cross: Carved/Inked: IN MEMORY OF 2nd LT.E.CAZALET 1st Btn WELSH GUARDS KILLED IN ACTION 10-9-16 Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): No GRU tag Cross dimensions (millimetres please)...
Filleigh – St Paul’s Church, Devon
GRENVILLE FORTESCUE Location: St Paul's Church, Filleigh, Devon EX32 0RU Details on cross: 2 x GRU tags on shaft above crossbeam, 3 x GRU tags on crossbeam. Due to position on wall and condition of tags, impossible to read. Plaque underneath gives all the information...
Bitterley – St Mary, Shropshire
Philip Vaughan Holberton Location: St Mary, Bitterley Lane, Bitterley, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 3HL The cross is located next to some pews on the left hand side of the church, just inside the oak screen. It is dedicated to Lieutenant Colonel Philip Vaughan Holberton....
Tittleshall – St Mary, Norfolk
Lionel Kenelm Digby Location: St Mary, Tittleshall, Norfolk, postcode unknown. Details on cross: Small metal plate at top of cross stamped ‘GRU’ Below plate at head of cross RIP Across arm of cross 38456 Pte L K Digby 7th Norfolk Regiment Killed in action Below arm of...
Putney – All Saints church, London
Location: All Saints church, Putney Lower Common, London SW15 1AP Details on Cross: In Memory of 202160 PTE G DOWN B COY 1ST BN THE BUFFS KILLED IN ACTION 7-7-17 Dimensions: Unavailable Details: None standard cross, upright and crossbeam pointed. Appears to be in very...
South Collingham – St John the Baptist Church, Nottinghamshire
Thomas Hugh Corbett Woolley Location: St John the Baptist Church, Church Street, South Collingham, Nottinghamshire, NG23 7LN Details on Cross: KILLED IN ACTION CAPT T.H.C. WOOLLEY 2/8 SHERWOOD FORESTERS 27-4-1917 Text type: Painted The cross is a non-standard style...
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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
