Kirkbride War Memorial, Cumbria
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1. Kirkbride village information board
[Outlining its history, flora, fauna and
leisure walks] |
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2. Kirkbride Parish Church (St Bridget’s)
[The war memorial is on the right behind the
gate] |
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3. Kirkbride Parish War Memorial
[Commemorating the war dead of WW1 and WW2] |
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4. The inscriptions on the war memorial
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For additional information click on ‘Comments’ below.
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posted by ritsonvaljos at 11:30 pm
5 Comments:
Additional information
Introduction: Kirkbride and its place in history
Kirkbride is a village, a civil parish and an ecclesiastical parish (Church of England) in N.W. Cumbria (previously Cumberland). It has a modern-day population about 500 although it was significantly larger during the Second World War when an airfield was built in the southern part of the parish.
The village has a well-documented history, a diverse fauna and flora and a number of way-marked leisure walks making it relatively easy to discover Kirkbride on foot. To assist anyone wishing to learn about Kirkbride there are a few helpful information boards indicating what to look out for [Photograph No. 1].
As with many settlements in this part of the world the parish church building is located at an important site in the parish. Kirkbride’s parish church and churchyard, known at various times as either St Bride’s or St Bridget’s, stands on the edge of a former Roman fort. Excavations have unearthed items from around 80 A.D. to 110 A.D. Photograph No. 2 shows the main entrance to St Bridget’s churchyard.
Just inside the churchyard, to the right-hand side behind the entrance gates is the Kirkbride War Memorial [Photograph No. 3]. This memorial remembers the war dead of the First and Second World Wars. The names can be found on the lower part of the memorial [Photograph No. 4].
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Dedications on the Kirkbride war memorial
Kirkbride’s war memorial is carved in the shape of a Celtic cross and made of local red sandstone [Photograph No. 3]. It was originally intended as a memorial for the locals who had died in the First World War and was unveiled on 21 October 1921 with the dedication by the Bishop of Carlisle (Church of England).
This is the (original) WW1 dedication engraved into the stone at the base of the memorial:
To the Glorious Memory of
William Sibson Barnes
John Joseph Bell
Thomas Bird Robinson
Martin Sutherland
“All you had you gave”
1914 – 1918
Following the Second World War a small brass plaque was added close to the bottom of the Celtic Cross. Its dedications reads as follows:
1939 – 1945
In Grateful Memory of
John Studholme Bell
Harry Blamire Little
John Lowther
John James Watt
William Watt
“They died that we might live”
…………….
Other war memorials in the church and churchyard
In the churchyard there is one ‘official’ CWGC burial: WW2 casualty Sergeant Henry Blamire Little, RAFVR. In addition, there is another gravestone in the churchyard which remembers a WW1 casualty not listed on the memorial in the churchyard: Lieutenant Gilbert Todhunter, a Signalling Officer with the 10th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (formerly with the 106th Winnipeg Light Infantry). Although serving with the Canadian Infantry, Lieutenant Todhunter was originally from Keswick (like Kirkbride, also in the county of Cumberland).
Although not strictly speaking a ‘war memorial’, inside the church is a much older memorial dedicated to the memory of Midshipman William Metacalfe, who died aged 16 on 6 September 1808. William Metcalfe was the second son of Rev. Francis Metcalfe (the elder), Vicar of Kirkbride between 1791 and 1823. A brother of William Metcalfe, Rev. Francis Metcalfe (the younger) succeeded their father in charge of the ecclesiastical parish (1823 – 1835).
At the time of his death William Metcalfe was serving on board the ‘Aeolus’. This was a convict ship transporting 79 female convicts from Britain to the penal colony in New South Wales. Although there were a small number of deaths connected to operations at RAF Kirkbride there is no memorial to remember them in the church or churchyard.
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CWGC citations WW1 casualties
Below are the Commonwealth War Graves Commission citations for the WW1 casualties listed on the Kirkbride War Memorial:
1. Lieutenant Willam Sibson Barnes
Name: BARNES, WILLAM SIBSON
Rank: Lieutenant
Date of Death: 05/06/1916
Age: 24
Regiment/Service: Border Regiment, 11th Bn.
Grave Reference: B. 8.
Cemetery: AUTHUILE MILITARY CEMETERY, France
Additional Information: Son of the late William and Mary Barnes, of Mawbray, Maryport,.
……………
2. Driver John Joseph Bell
Name: BELL, JOHN JOSEPH
Rank: Driver
Service No: T4/109655
Date of Death: 22/03/1917
Age: 22
Regiment/Service: Army Service Corps, 108th Coy.
Grave Reference: 1005.
Cemetery: SALONIKA (LEMBET ROAD) MILITARY CEMETERY, Greece
Additional Information: Son of Joseph and Sarah Bell, of Bush Terrace, Kirkbride, Cumberland.
……………..
3. Private Thomas Bird Robinson
Name: ROBINSON, THOMAS BIRD
Rank: Private
Service No: 19484
Date of Death: 01/07/1916
Regiment/Service: Border Regiment, 11th Bn.
Panel Reference: Pier and Face 6 A and 7 C.
Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL, Somme, France.
Additional information: Born Armathwaite, Cumberland;
Living Kirkbride, Cumberland.
……………….
4. Private Martin Sutherland
Name: SUTHERLAND, MARTIN
Rank: Private
Service No: 8639
Date of Death: 15/05/1917
Age: 20
Regiment/Service: Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders,
10th Bn. (Machine Gun Sect.)
Grave Reference: XVIII. N. 2.
Cemetery: ETAPLES MILITARY CEMETERY, Pas-de-Calais, France.
Additional Information:
Son of Angus Stephen and Ellen Sutherland, of Sutherland House, Kirkbride, Carlisle.
Born at Longtown, Cumberland.
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CWGC citations (WW2 casualties)
Below are the Commonwealth War Graves Commission citations for the WW2 casualties listed on the Kirkbride War Memorial:
1. Sergeant John Studholme Bell
Name: BELL, JOHN STUDHOLME
Rank: Sergeant
Trade: Pilot
Service No: 754390
Date of Death: 19/08/1940
Age: 24
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Grave Reference: Sec. K. Ward 1. Grave 86.
Cemetery: WIGTON CEMETERY, Cumberland
Additional Information: Husband of Winifred Bell, of Wigton
…………….
2. Sergeant Henry Blamire Little
Name: LITTLE, HENRY BLAMIRE
Rank: Sergeant
Trade: W.Op./Air Gnr.
Service No: 1099718
Date of Death: 14/05/1943
Age: 22
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 86 Sqdn.
Grave Reference: East of church. New ground alongside path.
Cemetery: KIRKBRIDE (ST. BRIDGET) CHURCHYARD, Cumberland
Additional Information: Son of John and Jane Emily Little, of Kirkbride.
……………….
3. Lance Corporal John Lowther
Name: LOWTHER, JOHN
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 14209510
Date of Death: 23/08/1944
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: The Parachute Regiment, A.A.C.
13th (2/4th Bn. The South Lancashire Regt.) Bn.
Grave Reference: VA. P. 3.
Cemetery: RANVILLE WAR CEMETERY, Calvados (France)
……………
4. Lance Corporal John James Watt
Name: WATT, JOHN JAMES
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 5502679
Date of Death: 15/09/1943
Age: 25
Regiment/Service: Hampshire Regiment, 1/4th Bn.
Grave Reference: II. E. 40.
Cemetery: SALERNO WAR CEMETERY, Italy
Additional Information: Son of James and Rachel Watt, of Powhill, Cumberland.
…………….
5. Corporal William Watt
Name: WATT, WILLIAM
Rank: Corporal
Service No: 6460971
Date of Death: 16/08/1943
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
And No. 2 Commando
Grave Reference: IV. H. 25.
Cemetery: CATANIA WAR CEMETERY, SICILY, Italy
Additional Information: Son of James and Rachel Watt, of Powhill, Cumberland.
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Dedication
This article is dedicated to the memory of the villagers of Kirkbride who lost their lives during the two World Wars of the 20th Century.
“They gave all they had to give: their lives”.
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