'Mistakes engraved on Oswaldtwistle war memorial' - claim (From Blackburn Citizen)

'Mistakes engraved on Oswaldtwistle war memorial' - claim

3:30pm Wednesday 8th July 2009

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MISTAKES have been engraved on a town’s war memorial according to a historian, who says that his warnings went unheeded.

Accrington Pals researcher Walter Holmes contacted the Lancashire Telegraph in May claiming Oswaldtwistle War Memorial’s draft list was full of spelling mistakes, duplicated names and omissions.

Hyndburn Borough Council released the list for Hyndburn residents to correct if necessary, posting it online and in public buildings, ahead of a rededication ceremony.

However, Mr Holmes claims that the finished plaque is still full of mistakes.

He said one of the fallen, Henry Campbell Whittaker, is listed twice incorrectly, as Campbell H. and H. Whittaker.

However, he has noticed one correction.

On the preview list for example, one man’s name was listed as Drunnond, but this has since been changed to the correct spelling of Drummond.

Mr Holmes said some spelling mistakes, such as Duxberry instead of the correct Duxbury, remained and that a large number of names were missing.

He estimated that while ten percent of the names on the list are of surviving men and men who are not from Oswaldtwistle, many of the town’s fallen were not included.

He added the missing names included William Lowther, an Accrington Pal.

Mr Holmes, who has spent decades researching the subject with the late Bill Turner, author of the book Accrington Pals, said errrors were reproduced from 1922 newspaper records which reproduced handwriting mistakes.

He said “They’ve taken the easiest records available without checking them against others.

"You have to go to church lists and check war records and this hasn’t been done.

"The worst thing is the preview list online was greyed out like they knew it was a mistake, but they put it on the memorial anyway.”

Hyndburn Borough Council’s leader Coun Peter Britcliffe said: “The work was done for us by the Royal British Legion who assure us that the list is correct.

"They worked very hard to check the veracity of the list and used all information they had available.

"I have invited Mr Holmes to write to me and if he chooses to point out these mistakes I will have them re-checked.”

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