MILLBROOK IN THE GREAT WAR

In World War One, Millbrook was an isolated village, with neighbours Carrbrook and Heyheads even further away from the centre of Stalybridge. In 1911, there were 1,400 males in these areas, and, of those, at least 108 soldiers were killed or died as a result of the War.

In an attempt to reconstruct the missing Roll of Honour from the Mount Tabor Chapel [now demolished], I have tried to trace all the men born or bred in the villages - including those on existing Memorials from the Wesleyan Chapel, St James' Church and Staley Cricket + Tennis Club, and those listed in the Reporter newspapers of the time. I consulted various websites, local rate books, baptisimal lists and relevant census etc to 'fill out' the details of the men: their families, where they went to school, what they did for a living, and their interests and commitments.

I also feel that to write about the men without examining the lives of those at home is to present half the story, and so I have produced lists of who was living where at the time, an index of many of the familes, and an account of village life for those important years. I am also trying to list the men who returned, and those who fought, and died, in World War Two, as many of these were relatives of the casualties from the earlier War. One side result of this is a list of 300 men from WW1 who should be named on Stalybridge War memorial, and I thank the British Legion for their help in, hopefully, remedying this. I have had help from relatives and friends of the soldiers, local historians, the Local Studies Library and Gay Oliver who produced a web site where these men are remembered.

But there is still much to do, and anyone who can add to the list, or has more details of the soldiers from any War will be helping to pass them into the future instead of slow oblivion as happened in times passed. Who remembers the men from the Boer War?

News

In conjunction with Dukinfield Family History Group work has now started on recording the Monumental Inscriptions in St James' Churchyard, Millbrook