The War Memorial of Wigton, Cumbria
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| 1. Wigton War Memorial, Cumbria (Wigton Cemetery) |
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| 2. The WW1 names on Wigton war memorial |
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| 3. The WW2 names on Wigton war memorial |
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| 4. CWGC headstone of Sub-Lt. R.M. Aitken, R.N. |
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posted by ritsonvaljos at 9:15 pm
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Additional information
Wigton commemorates its war dead of the World Wars
Wigton is a small market town situated in north-west Cumbria (previously Cumberland) about 10 miles (c. 16 kms.) south-west of the city of Carlisle. The town received its market charter in 1262. The present church building of St Mary's Parish Church (Church of England) mainly dates from 1788 and was built on the site of a previous church dating back to at least the 12th Century. Among the notable people born and brought up in the Wigton area are the painter and illustrator Robert Smirke, R.A. (1752 - 1845), the scientist and Nobel Prize recipient for Physics Sir William H. Bragg (1862 - 1942) and the broadcaster and writer Lord Melvyn Bragg, F.R.S. (b. 1939).
Wigton's municipal cemetery is located on Station Hill on the outskirts of the town. The first burials were in 1856 with two mortuary chapels originally for the Established church and Non-conformists (one of which can be seen in Photograph No. 1 above].
Close to the entrance of the cemetery is Wigton's war memorial [Photograph No. 1]. Originally constructed after the First World War the names of the people of Wigton who died that war can be found engraved on four granite panels around the base of the memorial. The four panels with the WW1 names can be seen in Photograph No. 2. This memorial also commemorates those from the Wigton who died in the Second World War [Photograph No. 3].
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Wigton War Memorial - original dedication
Below is the original dedication engraved on Wigton War Memorial which is located near the entrance of the town's cemetery:
"This monument commemorates those who, at the call of king and country, left all that was dear to them, endured hardness, faced danger, and finally passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self sacrifice, giving up their own lives that others might live in freedom.
Let those who come after see to it that their name is not forgotten."
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Remembering those who gave their lives in the First World War
Below are the names of the Wigtonians who lost their lives in the First World War (1914 - 1919):
Pte. John Armstrong
Cpl. Jos. Carr
Spr. D. A. Sutherland
Sgt. J. W. Powley
Cpl. T. J. Williamson
Lt. L. H. Davis
Pte. T. Park
Pte. T. J. Brady
Pte. R. Wilson
Pte. Jos. Haney
Pte. John Baxter
Pte. John Fell
Pte. Wm. Dixon
Trooper Jas. Hampson
Pte. John Robinson
Pte. Jos. Storey
Pte. Robt. Pearson
Pte. Geo. Fisher
Pte. Jon Reay
Lt. N. H. P. Salusbury
L/Cpl. W. P. Chicken
Lt. F. R. L. Bell
Pte. J. Hogg
Gnr. Wm. Lawson
Pte. Robt. Carr
Pte. H. Pearson
Stoker John Hyslop
Pte. H. R. Hoodless
Pte. S. Darwood
Cpl. H. Greenup
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Pte. Thos. Dodd
Pte. H. Askew
Pte. T. W. Heslam
Gnr. John Ashbridge
Lt. J. P. Lawson
Sgt. E. Marsden
Pte. Jos. Ashbridge
Pte. Jos. Carson
Pte. Wm. Dodd
Sgt. J. F. Highmoor
Pte. Thos. Barnes
Sgt. R. W. Plenderleath
Pte. H. Mitchinson
Pte. A. Denholm
Lt. A. L. Humphreys
Pte. W. P. Weightman
L/Cpl. Jos. Hall
Driv. Wm. Clark
Pte. C. Tennant
Cpl. John Irving
Pte. J. H. Shepherd
Cpl. T. H. Walker
Pte. Jos. Graham
Pte. H. H. Pearson
Pte. T. B. Holdsworth
Pte. J. Pennington
Pte. Freeman Robinson
Sgt. Thos. Dixon
Pte. Jas. Brady
Lt. John Donald
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L/Cpl. R. C. Frizzel
Pte. B. J. Carrick
Pte. Anthony Barnes
Rfm. Jos. Blair
Pte. C. McCahy
Pte. J. W. Mecahy
Sgt. W. Studholme
Pte. R. Twentyman
Pte. Arthur Hall
Lt. E. T. White
Rfm. Jas. Scott
Pte. J. W. Musgrave
Gnr. John Short
Pte. J. W. Graham
Sgt. Jos. Hampson
Lt. Wm. Sinton
Pte. J. S. McQuiggans
Sgt. Albert Dodd
Pte. Thos. Cook
Pte. J. N. Chicken
Sgt. John Veitch
Major Sam Rigg
Cdt. J. H. B. Kayss
Pte. J. F. C. Pattinson
Pte. J. P. Wilkinson
Pte. J. Gilbertson
Sgt. J. S. Holliday
Pte. J. McLachlan
Lt. Stanley Rigg
Pte. Chris. Barnes
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Pte. Isaac Peel
Pte. Thos. Pearson
Pte. L. Hodgson
Sig. J. O. Oversby
Pte. Jos. Snodden
Pte. T. Coulthard
L/Cpl. J. R. Harris
Bomb. F. Barnes
Pte. Jas. H. Holliday
Pte. Bert Watson
Pte. Harry Dodd
Pte. G. T. Henderson
L/Cpl. J. G. Strong
L/Cpl. Wm. Waite
Pte. W. Armstrong
Drv. Wm. Martin
Lt. J. J. Twentyman
Gnr. Alf. Dessauer
Lt. J. C. Lazonby
Lt. J. E. Moffat
L/Cpl. R. Wilson
L/Cpl. Wm. Stanley Pape
Pte. W. S. Wilson
Pte. J. H. Muirhead
Pte. Wm. McKenzie
Pte. Jos. Oliphant
Pte. T. W. Little
Driv. John Slee
Pte. G. Oliphant
Nurse Isabel Hope
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Remembering those who gave their lives in the Second World War
Following the Second World War the names of the local people who died between 1939 - 1945 were added to the memorial [Photograph No. 3]. Below is the dedication for the Second World War (referred to as "the Second Great War") on the Wigton War Memorial and the list of names:
"Also those who laid down their lives in the Second Great War 1939 - 1945"
G. W. Ashbridge
R. Ashbridge
T. Barnes
J. S. Bell
J. J. Brady
W. Crellin
T. Donelly
L. Easdon
H. Fell
R. Foster
E. Graham
G. Graham
H. N. Hall
J. Hampson
F. Haney
W. S. Irwin
J. Miller
T. Musgrave
H. Scott
J. A. Scott
J. Shepherd
G. H. Smith
V. Smith
J. T. Stoddart
E. Stordy
R. C. Tomlinson
D. Thwaite
J. Watson
G. D. Wilkinson
J. Ashbridge
M. K. Barnes
F. Bragg
P. Williamson
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In addition, there are two 'official' Commonwealth War Graves Commission burials in Wigton cemetery whose names do not appear in the above list. They are as follows:
Thomas Grainger Jefferson , R.A.F.V.R.
(died 14/02/1941)
Robert Mallory Aitken, R.N.
(died 29/10/1946)
According to the additional information on the C.W.G.C. website Aircraftman T.G. Jefferson's next of kin (his mother and step-father) lived at Oulton a village just outside Wigton. Oulton has been part of Woodside parish since 1934 rather than the Wigton Town Council area.
Sub-Lieut. R.M. Aitken of H.M.S. Gannet was Canadian. His parents are listed as living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A photograph of his C.W.G.C. headstone can be seen above [Photograph No. 4]. The epitaph on Sub.-Lt. Aitken's headstone reads as follows:
"He trod the the Golden paths of youth, then left the world and youth behind."
This is the C.W.G.C. citation for Sub-Lt. Robert Mallory Aitken, R.N.:
Name: AITKEN, ROBERT MALLORY
Rank: Sub-Lieutenant (A)
Date of Death: 29/10/1946
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Royal Navy, H.M.S. Gannet
Grave Reference: Sec. P.2. Ward 2. Grave 53.
Cemetery: WIGTON CEMETERY, Cumberland
Additional Information:
Son of Albert E. Aitken and Marjory Mallory Aitken, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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Dedication
This article is dedicated to the Wigtonians who died in the two World Wars.
"They gave their all so that others could be free."
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Wigton Garden of Remembrance
In the 21st Century, between 2006 and 2014, Wigton also created a Memorial Garden (in effect a ‘Remembrance Wall’) to remember the townsfolk who lost their lives in the two World Wars. To read about this project click on the following link:
A 21st Century Remembrance for Wigton, Cumbria .
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