Wigan Album
War Memorials
6 Comments
Photo: Rev David Long
Item #: 32916
The roundel at the top was adopted as the symbol for the 55th West Lancashire (Territorial Force) Division - the motto reads 'They win or die who wear the Rose of Lancaster'.
An enamelled roundel bearing the symbol was placed upon the battlefield grave markers of members of the Division. Sadly, as the markers were replaced with permanent headstones, such identifying marks were lost. Some grave markers were brought back to Britain by families after the war - there are only a few in our region - and one I came across, in All Saints' Church, Newton-le-Willows, still has its roundel attached.
It's good that the Memorial Tablet is still there to be seen, especially in a modernised building. It's beautifully crafted.
These war memorials definitely need to be kept, in memory of all those who died in both world wars.
I remember this when I was the bottle snatcher in there in the mid 80's, it used to be on another wall before it was all refurbished in late 80's/early 90's.
We never did the world wars in history at school and this memorial I always saw whilst working logged in my brain and this is the way I remember the war years 1914-1918 / 1939-1945.
That's interesting, Ian - I've entered this on the Imperial War Museum's War Memorials Register - and they like to have as full a record as possible about the memorials recorded. As I remember it, the tablet is on the wall opposite the bar to the rear of the building. Where do you remember it being in your time?
The memorial used to be on the other side of the room, the wall that separate's the front and back bar never used to be there, roughly where the door is near the bars is roughly where it was located as there was a wall there at the time, the ladies toilet was where the front bar is now. Let me know if you need more info.
Didn’t the British Legion Club move from Dicconson Street to Upper Dicconson Street ?