Frodsham rally to councillor’s bid to honour town’s war heroes

Jan 19 2012 Chester Chronicle

RELATIVES of Frodsham’s fallen soldiers from the two world wars have rallied to support a town councillor aiming to produce a leaflet paying tribute to the local heroes.

Councillor Allen Wales is researching the personal stories behind the names of 137 sons of Frodsham inscribed on the community’s war memorials on Overton Hill and in St Laurence’s churchyard that will be included in the special publication funded by the town council.

“All we have on the memorials is their initials and surnames, which is not very personal,” said Cllr Wales, whose poignant project was highlighted by The Chronicle last month, with an appeal for families to share any treasured memorabilia, photographs or letters.

“The response has been terrific,” said Cllr Wales. “I’ve had at least 20 phone calls from relatives offering their support and information about the soldiers, including a lady now living in South Wales who has war records giving fascinating details, down to the height and hair colour of her relative who was killed in action at the age of 21.”

Cllr Wales, a supermarket manager who is devoting most of his spare time to producing the leaflet that will be distributed to local schools and residents attending Remembrance services, added: “I now have the full names and rank of all the men on the war memorial that can now be read out every year, and relatives are very pleased about that.

“But I’m uncovering lots of personal stories and gathering these together for the publication. It’s very heartening that people have said they are really pleased that someone is doing this and I hope to have it finished by Remembrance Day this year.”

His research has revealed another 13 casualties of both wars from Frodsham who do not appear on the memorials, and he hopes to add their names, along with other local servicemen/women killed in other conflicts.

Frodsham resident Michael Wilson – whose great uncle, Kenneth Clarke, is buried in Holland where he was killed, at the age of 24, during Operation Market Garden in 1944 – praised Cllr Wales’ efforts.

He said: “It’s a great thing to do, even if it’s just a case of Kenneth’s full name being read out on Remembrance Day.

“But I’m sure there are hundreds of stories in Frodsham, and it’s only when you get someone willing to give up so much of his time to do this that you realise it’s such a nice way of remembering these men and paying tribute to them by telling their stories, especially to our children.”

Cllr Wales can be contacted on 07870 639 497.