IN MEMORY OF OUR BAXENDEN LADS

1914 - 1918

& 1939 - 1946

Wm. Turner - November 1994

Introduction
Baxenden War Memorial

CUCKNELL, Alan
GIBSON, Edward
KAVANAGH, Wilfred
TAYLOR, Ernest
WINTERBOTTOM, Richard

Links

Accrington Pals
Visit to Serre
The Somme and Vimy
First World War pages

Designed by  M i c r o L o f t

PTE. 19418 JAMES GREENWOOD of the Coldstream Guards was killed in action on October 9th 1917 in an attack on German positions in the Poelcappelle area of the quagmire that was the Ypres battlefield.

James was the youngest son of Mr. & Mrs. Greenwood of Glen Cottages, Baxenden. His father was, for many years, a foreman at Warmden Quarries. James was only nineteen and was considered by all to be a young man of much promise. He was a regular attender at Baxenden Wesleyan Mission. His sister, Mrs. Ben Schofield of Midland Street, Accrington, received a letter from his platoon officer - "I am sorry to tell you that your brother was killed in an attack on October 9th. A shell burst in the trench before the advance started, and he was killed instantly. It will be a great blow to you, and you have my deepest sympathy. Remember, he could not have died better than in fighting for his country. He did his duty well and nobly. With deepest sympathy, A.B. Bridge, Lt."

James' name is inscribed on the Tyne Cot Memorial, which is some six miles north-east of Ypres. It forms part of Tyne Cot Cemetery, which is the largest war cemetery in France or Flanders. Over 35,000 names of men who died in the Ypres area between August 16th 1917 and November 11th 1918 and were listed as 'missing' are inscribed on panels set in a semi-circular wall at the top of the cemetery. James' name is one of 118 Coldstream Guardsmen commemorated on the Memorial.