“A Pal’s poignant tale”
Reported by Karen Smyth |
| Pupils' touching tributes to Pals |
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The Mayor of Accrington with the officers
of the Pals Regiment, February 1915.
Photograph by kind courtesy of Andrew Jackson
(donated by the family of Lt.Charles Stonehouse, who was killed in action on 1st July 1916) |
When Britain entered the war against Germany on 4th August 1914, groups of local men signed up all over Britain. In the area of Accrington and its environs, 36 officers and 1,076 men enlisted in ten days. Their official name was the 11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington) East Lancashire Regiment but they quickly became known as the Accrington Pals’. Their valedictory service was held at St. John’s Church on 21st February 1915. Two days later, sixteen thousand people lined the streets of Accrington to watch the Pals march to the railway station on their way to training in North Wales. In July 1916, at the Battle of the Somme, 230 Pals were killed and 350 wounded in a space of 20 minutes. |
Pals Memorial Chapel |
Photograph courtesy of Andrew Whitehead |
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Photograph courtesy of Andrew Jackson |
There was no single memorial to the Pals in Accrington until Revd. Dennis Crook had the idea for a memorial chapel, partly as a result of reading the extensive research and books on the Pals by Bill Turner. As the Pals had used St. John’s Church for their service, it was deemed appropriate that such a chapel should be located within the building. It was developed in the North Transept underneath the organ pipe work and is a place of great dignity and beauty. It was dedicated on 23rd February 1992.
The pews, which seat 34 people are mahogany; the floor is of Portuguese limestone and the altar is made of stone from Hornton in Oxfordshire. The total cost for the work was in the region of £30,000. Many donations were received from the public bodies and from private individuals who had a link with the Pals.
The book of Remembrance was made by Mr. John Baron of Clayton-le-Moors with calligraphy by Derek Lundy of Accrington. The first section of the book relates to the Pals whilst the second part refers to the men of our area who served in other regiments.
The Toc H lamp was donated to the Pals by the Earl of Clarendon and is now on permanent loan to the chapel thanks to a generous decision by the members of Toc H, who also made considerable funds available for the project.
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Pals Regimental Drum
Photograph courtesy of Andrew Jackson
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The drum was used to recruit men to the Pals’ battalion and accompanied them to Wales, Egypt and France. It was used as the troops marched between villages and was left behind the lines as battle raged. Somehow, it was preserved along with the drumsticks and was later presented to Lt. Col. Rickman. After his death the drum remained in the possession of his son, Major Gerry Rickman, who generously presented it to the chapel at the dedication service.
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A casket, containing soil from the Somme, was donated by Mr. Raymond Wolstenholme.
There are 8 plaques and banners around the chapel. Seven of these represent the Infantry Regiments of Lancashire at the time of the Great War. The eighth (the York and Lancaster Regiment) represents the Yorkshire regiment with which the Pals were closely associated throughout the war.
The regiments are:
The King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment)
The Lancashire Fusiliers
The Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment)
The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
The King’s Liverpool Regiment
The East Lancashire Regiment
The Manchester Regiment
The York and Lancaster Regiment
The plaques to the east and west of the chapel entrance represent the Northumberland Fusiliers, which was the regiment of the Pals’ Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. A. W. Rickman: and also the Royal Artillery.
The architect for the project was Mr. Christopher Martindale of Milton Keynes.
Many people contributed generously towards the work but special mention should be made of the late Mr. Cliff Collinson, who was tireless in his determination to gain recognition for the courage of the pals. An aumbry, which is used for the Reserved Sacrament, was purchased in his memory, and can be seen on the rear wall in the ambulatory of the church.
The commemorative kneelers were worked by the parishioners.
The special Pals linen and crochet work was provided by Mrs. Joyce Hanson.
The cross was made by Mr. Jack Howarth; each scallop represents 7 men who died.
The memorial tablet was made by Mr. John Shaw.
The main Contractors were R. P. Townley and Son Ltd., Burnley Road, Accrington.
The plasters and tillers were Ed Davies and Sons Ltd. of Clitheroe.
The electrical work was done by Tony Gardener of Pinewood Drive, Accrington.
The French polisher was Arthur Dewar and Co. of Burnley.
The candlesticks were donated by Accrington Lions Club.
The chapel is used regularly for mid week services and the 8.30am Holy Communion service on a Sunday.
Each February, on the Sunday nearest the 21st, a special service is held in St. John’s in honour of the Pals, Which is attended by service organisations from all over Lancashire and beyond.
For further information on the “Accrington Pals” visit
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 Colin Johnson and his wife Elsie have worshipped at St Johns Church for the past 45 years, they started attending when their sons were baptised at the church. They soon became part of the fabric of church life, with Elsie teaching at the Sunday School, and Colin as a sidesman.
Colin has very strong links with the church, as his dad William Johnson was one of the Accrington Pals. I spoke to Colin about his memories of his dad, and about what he knew of his dad’s time in the ‘Pals’. |
 William Johnson was born in 1897. At the age of 17, he was amongst the thousands being affected by the East Lancs recession. With Howard and Bulloughs still closed and four and a half thousand men and their families living on strike or lock out pay, the prospect of pay and billeting allowances of around one pound a week was all the encouragement they needed to join up.
He joined the hundreds of other young men queuing at the local recruiting office, which was No 5 Whalley Road, to enlist in the Accrington Pals’ battalion. Following this, medicals were held at the sunday school in Willow Street.
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In Bill Turner’s book – The Accrington Pals – we learn that the Pals left the Valedictory Service at St Johns on 23 February 1915.They marched to the station and boarded trains for Caernarvon. They spent a few months in the barracks there, then moved to Rugeley Camp in Staffordshire, May 12 1915. Colin recalled his dad saying they had to build their own accommodation on arrival!
Intensive military training followed, including a spell at South Camp, Ripon for musketry training.
In December they received the call up for Egypt. They boarded the TSS Ionic at Devonport and set sail on December 19 1915. On 31 December, south east of Crete, they had a very narrow escape from an enemy torpedo. William told Colin just how terrifying this was, but they still had to try and defend themselves….rifles against torpedoes!
It really hit home just how lucky they had been when they arrived at Port Said. They witnessed the arrival of some of the survivors of the sinking of the SS Persia, leaving 334 dead – probably by the same enemy submarine that had tried to torpedo them!
They set sail for France in March 1916. It was time for preparations and trench building ready for ‘The big push’, 1 July 1916, Serre. The first day of battle, 7.20am on a beautiful summer’s morning. They were optimistic, they had been told that the wires had been cut on the enemy lines, that the British bombardment would have weakened or even obliterated the German defences. It hadn’t. In less than 20 minutes 235 Pals were killed and 350 wounded. Colin’s dad lived to tell the tale, trenches mixed with dead and wounded, rats eating the bodies.
“Lions, led by Donkeys”
William was suffering from shell shock. He was moved to a hospital in London (insert photo and accompanying comment-newspaper)
Understandably he didn’t talk about this time often. Colin remembers the periods where his dad would be quiet, or would break down. We can only imagine what he had seen and lived through, which these days we would term post traumatic stress.
From London, William was transferred to Bowden House, Manchester. There was a happy twist to the tale as it was here that William met Kitty Ratchford who was in service there. She was to go on to become his wife and they raised a family together. Colin was born in 1930.
When William returned to Accrington he approached Howard and Bullough about returning to his job. They refused – the symptoms of his shell shock might cause him to fall into the machinery!
His father bought him a newsagents at 15 Park St. He ran this until he died in 1956 at the age of 59.
 William was also a member of the Home Guard until they were formally stood down on 3 December 1944 and finally disbanded on 31 December 1945.
Then he went on to become an officer with the army cadets until he became ill. He was Colin’s officer as Colin spent 6 years in the army |
Vernon, Colin and William
24/07/1943 |
cadets until he went off for his National Service aged 18. |
A particularly poignant memory Colin has is of the Armistice Day Parade, marching from Union Street, to the top of Little Blackburn Road and onto the Cenotaph. Colin can remember standing watching his dad, marching with three other Pals in his group of 4, the clink of medals as they marched by, wearing hard hats and morning suits.
Colin and Elsie currently worship at St Christopher’s where feelings run high regarding the fate of the church. He commented that you can see the Spire across the town. Indeed you can. The church rises up from the houses around it – a reminder of all who went before us…….Lest we forget.
Reported by Karen Smyth – Aspire Fund Co-ordinator on 29/10/07 and incorporated in the Accrington Observer article “A Pal’s poignant tale” on Friday 9 November 2007.
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