A motion put forward by the Chairman of Barnoldswick Town Council to give the Freedom of the Town to soldiers in the Yorkshire Regiment has been passed unanimously by councillors.
Coun. Ken Hartley felt it was right the freedom was given to Yorkshire Regiment soldiers given Barnoldswick’s long history with the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Fellow councillors on Barnoldswick Town Council agreed and passed the motion at the special council meeting on Wednesday night.
Coun. Hartley states that after the planned rededication ceremony to be held at Barnoldswick’s War Memorial on Sunday, September 8th, 123 names out of the 317 in total will have died serving under Yorkshire-based regiments.
The five regiments which make up today’s Yorkshire Regiment are the Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment, the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, the Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire, the Green Howards and the East Yorkshire Regiment.
A copy of the resolution will be signed by Coun. Hartley and Richard Nelson, Town Clerk to Barnoldswick Town Council, and presented to the regiment immediately before September 8th.
Currently, servicemen in the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment have the Freedom of Pendle and Coun. Hartley feels adding Yorkshire Regiment to Barnoldswick would bring things in to line.
He said: “Firstly I obviously think it’s very important that we do remember our heritage.
“Over the years there has been a significant contribution from people in the town to the armed forces.
“The occasion of adding new names completes a fairly extensive rework of the memorial itself.
“It seems to me therefore in rededicating ourselves to work for peace as opposed to war that it’s important to remember the significance and those townsfolk who gave their lives in service of this country.”
The addition of 46 new names, 34 from World War One and 12 from World War Two, will cap almost two years work by the Barnoldswick War Memorial Group.
Those Barlickers who lost their lives in the HMHS Rohilla tragedy in 1914 will be remembered too.
Peter Thompson, from the war memorial group, believes all deserve remembering and highlighted Barnoldswick’s military commitment saying: “Thirty three per cent of the male population in Barnoldswick went to war in World War One. Of that, just over a third came home.”
The day is to be intertwined with Barnoldswick’s heritage weekend and a full list of the weekend’s events will be published nearer the time.