Remembrance Sunday

Here is the story behind two of the names on the War Memorial in Church Road, Leyland.

Harry B Jackson, pictured left, was working with the Leyland Paint and Varnish company in South Africa at the outbreak of the war. He served with the 4th Regiment South African Infantry (South African Scottish). Having gone through the war he unfortunately died of Spanish Flu just 4 weeks before the Armistice.

Harry and his brother Will died within a week of each other in barracks down in Woking in October 1918. Here they are together in South Africa around the outbreak of the War.

Many thanks to Paul, grandson of Harry Bowman Jackson, for the information and photos.

Paul's dad grew up in a house on Bow Lane. He went to Liverpool university but left in 1939 to join the army and was a despatch rider with the Border Regiment and escaped from Dunkirk by the skin of his teeth. He then joined the RASC and ended the war in East Africa and then was part of the British Military Mission to Ethiopia until 1947 or so.

Paul was born in Africa and his family remained there until 1972 and eventually settled in Lincolnshire but Paul is proud of his Lancashire and Leyland roots.

You can read an article Paul wrote about his dad's WW2 experience over at the BBC People's War website

Other members of Paul's family also served the Leyland community. One of his grandfather's older brothers was Fred "Pop" Jackson who was headmaster of Balshaw's School in the 1920s -Paul's dad Allan Jackson was a pupil there at the same time.

Great Grandfather, Levi Jackson, also a teacher, taught at St James' School Moss Side and was also a Councillor on Leyland Urban Council at some time-around 1909 representing St James' Ward.

Paul's great grandfather on his grandmother's side was Thomas Williams and he was a chief inspector of police possibly based at Chapel Brow police station.

A big thank you to Paul for providing a slice of Leyland history and to the Jackson family for service to Leyland.

While Remembrance ceremonies and services took place across the Borough and around the county, scenes from Preston's ceremony at the Cenotaph was featured on the North West part of the BBC's Politics Show.

The BBC have a special page at www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance to commemorate 90 years of remembrance where you can read and contribute history and stories of WW1 and the Guardian began a 7 day series of free booklets telling the history of WW1 including original commentary, testimony and photographs. Read Part One and Part Two. Also coming soon on BBC's iplayer, 'A Woman in Love and War: Vera Brittain', a dramatisation of the life of Vera Brittain, a young woman who survived the First World War. She lost many loved ones and worked as a volunteer nurse both at home and at the Front.