Silent Remembrance
(Top): Ennerdale Parish War Memorial
(Middle): The Fallen of WW2 from Ennerdale Parish
(Bottom): Names remembered on the poppy wreath
[Photographs: J. Ritson]
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posted by ritsonvaljos at 5:04 pm
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1. The Ennerdale Parish War memorial:
Standing in silent remembrance
Far from the theatres of war, often in a quiet country churchyard, are memorials dedicated to the memory of local parishioners who fell in the World Wars. The names of young men and women who once lived and were loved by their family and friends in these places are engraved on the memorials. These monuments stand in silent remembrance of the young people who gave their lives in the service of their country. Their grieving relatives and friends would not see them again this side of Eternity.
The above photographs show the Ennerdale Parish War Memorial near Cleator, Cumbria. It lists the names of Fallen Parishioners of the World Wars. This memorial is found in the churchyard of St Mary's, Ennerdale (Church of England). While there are comparatively few names engraved on this memorial, those whose names are listed were a grievous loss to those that loved them. This memorial, like many others throughout the world will stand for a long time.
Strangely, the only WW2 service casualty buried in St Mary's Churchyard actually came from the neighbouring town of Cleator Moor and a parishioner of St John's Church, Cleator Moor. He was Flight Sergeant Edward Dixon MacDonald, RAFVR (Service No 1685261, Wireless Operator / Air Gunner) who died aged 21 on 26 April 1944. F/Sergeant MacDonald's wartime story has been written separately to this one.
Even more strangely, Flight Sergeant MacDonald's name is not engraved on the memorial. However, each Remembrance Sunday his name is included in the prayers of the Ennerdale Church parishioners along with those whose names are listed on the memorial.
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2. Ennerdale's WW2 Casualties:
Listed on the Parish War Memorial
In addition to F/Sgt MacDonald who is buried in the churchyard there were three WW2 casualties from Ennerdale Parish.
(a) Fusilier Joseph Henry Robinson
Fusilier Joseph Henry Robinson, Service No 3460446, was accidentally drowned while on exercise in India on 2 July 1942. Fusilier Robinson was serving with the 10th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers and was 31 years old when he died. He was one of seven men, mostly from the Lake Counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, who were serving with the 10th Lancashire Fusiliers to lose their lives in the same accident. A separate article has been written about this incident.
Fusilier Robinson was the son of Mary Jane Robinson and the late Joseph Robinson from Ennerdale. Mrs Robinson was well known in the Ennerdale area and ran the Ennerdale Tea Rooms. Fusilier Robinson was also the husband of Annie Robinson (née Crawford). In 1942 Mrs Annie Robinson was living at 3 High Scotch Street, Whitehaven. After the war, Mrs Robinson is recorded as living at Hensingham, Whitehaven near to where her own mother lived.
Earlier in the war, on 9 December 1940, the younger brother of Mrs Annie Robinson - Flight Sergeant Joseph Crawford, RAF (Service No 648647, 113 Squadron) - was killed while on active service in the Middle East. He was just 19 years of age and has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Alamein Memorial. Similar to F/Sgt E.D. MacDonald, the casualty buried in Ennerdale Churchyard, Flight Sergeant Crawford was a Wireless Operator / Air Gunner. This occupation had an extremely high attrition rate in human life.
(b) Ordinary Telegraphist Jonathan Cook
Telegraphist Jonathan Cook, R.N., Service No P/JX 341873, died while serving with HMS Lanka, a land-based naval posting in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). At the time of his death on 13 July 1943 he was 20 years old. Telegraphist Cook is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. He was the son of Jonathan Cook Snr and Elizabeth Cook of Ennerdale.
(c) Sergeant William James Nappin
Sergeant William James Nappin, Corps of Military Police, Service No 14957947, died in India on 13 May 1946 aged 19. This was the period between the end of hostilities with Japan (August 1945) and the granting of independence to the India and Pakistan (August 1947). Sergeant Nappin was the son of Stanley Nappin and Mary Nappin of Ennerdale. He is buried at the Madras War Cemetery, Chennai, India.
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3. Ennerdale's WW1 Casualties:
Listed on the Parish War Memorial
While this article is principally concerned with the WW2 casualties of Ennerdale Parish, the names of the WW1 casualties (1914 – 1918) on the parish war memorial are also listed here. This enables some comparisons to be made between the service casualties of the two wars.
The WW1 casualties of Ennerdale Parish (covering the Ennerdale & Kinniside area) were all soldiers who served with the Border Regiment. The Borders recruited mainly from Cumberland and Westmorland. The details of the 7 WW1 Ennerdale casualties are as follows:
(a) Private Henry Brown, (1st Border), born at Salter, Frizington, who died of wounds at home on 25 July 1916, and was buried in Ennerdale St Mary’s Churchyard. Private Henry Brown had served in the Dardanelles (Gallipoli campaign). He was 18 years old.
(b) Private William Brown (7th Border), born at Salter, Frizington, and died during fighting on the Western Front on 14 December 1915. He was buried in the Menin Road Cemetery, Belgium. Private William Brown was 20 years old when he died.
[Henry Brown and William Brown were brothers. Their parents were Thomas and Annie Brown, who are listed by the CWGC as living at Tivoli, Moresby, Whitehaven after WW1].
(c) Corporal William Graham (5th Border) was born at Ennerdale Bridge, Cleator and enlisted at the nearby town of Cleator Moor. Corporal Graham died on 21 March 1918, aged 23. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Pozieres memorial, Belgium.
(d) Private Thomas Kitchen (8th Border) was born at Ennerdale Bridge, Cleator and enlisted at Whitehaven. He died on 10 April 1918 and has no known grave, but is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium. He was 33 years old and was the son of Betsy Kitchen and the late Tom Kitchen.
(e) Lance Corporal John Mackin (2nd Border) was born at Lamplugh, but living at Kinniside, Cleator at the time of his death at the age of 22 on 10 May 1917. L/Cpl Mackin was the son of John and Jesse Mackin of Kinniside, Cleator. He is buried at Aichet-Le-Grand Communal Cemetery, France.
(f) Lance Corporal Thomas (Tom) Mackin (1st / 5th Border) was also born at Lamplugh, Cumberland and died on 5 February 1917 aged 20. He is buried at St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France (died of wounds).
[Thomas Mackin was another son of John and Jesse Mackin of Kinniside. This was yet another family having more than one war casualty].
(g) Private Stanley Watson (2nd Border) lost his life on 8 May 1917, aged 22. He was the son of William and Mary Watson of Ennerdale and the husband of Adele Jane Watson (later Martin). Private Watson is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, France.
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4. A comparison of the casualties of the two World Wars
Even just looking at the casualties of one small village it is possible to infer the impact of the World Wars had on families and local communities. In the 1914 – 1918 war, there were two sets of brothers killed out of a total casualty list of seven. In WW2 the Mrs Annie Robinson, the widow of Joseph Henry Robinson not only lost her husband in the war but her younger brother as well. Families having multiple bereavements in both wars were not uncommon, and this would apply to all nations not just the UK.
Service casualties of both World Wars mainly involved the young. The eldest Ennerdale casualty in each war was in their early 30s when they died. Their home community was therefore deprived of some of their own at the peak of life.
One obvious difference between the two groups of casualties is that in the 1914 – 1918 war all the casualties were soldiers serving with the local regiment (the Border Regiment). All the WW1 casualties from Ennerdale died either on the Western Front (France & Belgium) or at home. Only the casualty who died of wounds at home saw action a theatre of war other than on the Western Front.
In WW2 all three casualties listed on the Ennerdale War Memorial lost their lives in the Far East. One of the casualties was serving in the Royal Navy (although land-based) and neither of the two army casualties was serving with the local regiment. As referred to earlier, the only WW2 casualty interred in Ennerdale Churchyard was serving in the RAFVR at the time. Even with the small numbers involved in this comparison, there are obvious differences in the nature of warfare and the theatres of war between WW1 and WW2.
This is but one war memorial standing in silent remembrance of the Fallen of the World Wars. One would like to hope that there will never be the need to build other memorials to remember the Fallen of another World War.
[NB – In the modern era the Ecclesiastical Parish of Ennerdale has been combined with that of nearby Lamplugh].
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This article is dedicated to the memory of the Ennerdale casualties of the World Wars.
Acknowledgements:
The Ecumenical Parish of Lamplugh & Ennerdale
Cumbria County Archives
‘The Whitehaven News’ (wartime reports)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
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