Harrogate historian's urgent plea to track down missing stories on town’s war memorial

The Grade II-listed war memorial in the town centre was first unveiled on September 1, 1923 in Prospect Square.

At the heart of the anniversary will be a remarkable heritage project organised by volunteer members of the Harrogate War Memorial Project Group which aims to trace the personal stories of everyone named on the town’s 60ft tall stone-built obelisk located between Cambridge Road, Cambridge Crescent and Parliament Street..

The results of the research, being steered by historian Graham Roberts, will feature in a multi-media exhibition called “More than a name on a Memorial” at West Park United Reformed Church from September 1 to Remembrance Sunday.

But Mr Roberts says, despite everyone’s efforts, there are still a significant number of names on the Harrogate war memorial whose stories remain unknown.

He is now looking for help in tracking the details of the following people on the war memorial from World War One and World War Two.

1914-18

ATKINS, F

ATKINSON, J A

BROCKBANK, E

BROWN, R

BURKINSHAW, G

BURTON, L

CARRICK, T

CHAPLIN, ED

CHARLES, E

CLARKE, WH

CLARKE, WJ

DOBSON, T

DOYLE, J

GIBSON, D

HARRIS, J

HORNBY, H

KITCHEN, J

LAMBERT, S

LONG, RW

MATHERS, H

MORRELL, N

MUDD, P

MURGATROYD, A

RAMSAY, W

REYNARD, E

ROBERTS, B

SIGSTON, B

SIMPSON, R

SMITH, B

SPILBURY, LC

SPINKS, JE

STOTT, F

THOMPSON, CE

WADE, R

WALKER, GE

WEEKS, W

WILKINSON, G

WILKINSON, H

WILKINSON, TW

WILSON, GN

WRAY, F

WRAY, R

YATES, C

1939-45

BUNN, JT

HALL, J

Please contact [email protected] if you are able to help.

The “More than a name on a Memorial” event at West Park United Reformed Church is being designed and constructed by local resident Terry Williams who was responsible for the hugely successful exhibition The Story of Harrogate’s Railways held at Harrogate Rail Station.

If anyone has any relevant photographs, please email to [email protected] or visit in person