Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Norman Gorick, World War Two Norman Gorick NORMAN GORICK Fg.Off. RAF.VR d. 31 January 1943 aged 21 124505 RAF Dishforth opened in September 1936 and at the start of World War 2 it became part of 4 Group, Bomber Command. The base was primarily used for recruit training. At 0212 hrs. on 31 January 1943, a Vickers Wellington Mark X, serial number HE173, took off from Dishforth on a night training exercise. At that period, Dishforth was home to Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons, a part of RAF Bomber Command. There was a crew of four on the Wellington - pilot F/O Norman Gorick, aged 21; navigator F/O George Wood (26), RCAF, of Canada, Fl/Sgt. William Mossop, aged 24, air gunner who was also the wireless operator; and Sgt. J. Welsh, an air gunner. Within one minute of take-off, the aircraft caught fire and crashed just one mile to the NW of the airfield, near Lingham Lane Farm. The only survivor was Sgt. J. Welsh, who was the rear gunner. This accident was the first loss of an aircraft from 428 squadron since its formation, 428 squadron had been formed on 7 November 1942 and later acquired the nickname the "Ghost" squadron, since none of the original squadron members survived. NORMAN GORICK was the son of William and Edith Rachel Gorick, of 449 Worsley Road, Winton. He had attended Eccles Grammar School as a pupil, and was a keen sportsman, playing football for the school team and cricket at Winton Cricket Club. After leaving school he started work with the Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd. At the outbreak of the war, he joined the Home Guard and was in No.5 Platoon of "A" Company of the 42nd Lancaster Battalion. Soon after, in June 1941, he enlisted in the RAF.VR. He went to California, USA, to train as a pilot. Whilst at the flying school, he was awarded the Gold Star Merit Award and was awarded his wings in April 1942. He received his commission as a Pilot Officer in the RAF.VR on 1 May 1942. He returned to the UK in June 1942 and it is reported that he began operational duties immediately. On 1 November 1942, he was promoted to Flying Officer. Norman Gorick is commemorated on the Worsley Methodist Church War Memorial, a church he had attended. When that church closed in 2011, the memorial board was transferred to the parish Church of St.Mark, Worsley, where it is now affixed to the inside of the south wall. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. John Rowson, World War Two John Rowson JOHN ROWSON Pte. RAOC d.3/6/1941 aged 20 925722 JOHN ROWSON was a member of the 4th Div Workshops, Royal Army Ordnance Corps. He was the son of Peter and Margaret (née Knight) Rowson of Walkden. They had married at St.Mark's on 21 April 1919. The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. It dealt only with the supply and maintenance of weaponry, munitions and other military equipment. Baptism: 22 Dec 1920 St Mark, Worsley, Lancs. John Rowson - [Child] of Peter Rowson & Margaret Born: 5 Nov 1920 Abode: 244 Lumber Lane Worsley Occupation: Colliery Worker Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the World War One graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester , WW1, Author Paul Speakman, Benjamin GRATRIX, Harry SHELDON, Robert AMBLER, William PARKER, Herbert TOFT, William GOODALL, Fred W SLINGER, Evelyn Geoffrey LORD, Herbert MOORES, Thomas YATES, Ross BARNES, Arthur RATCLIFFE World War One Graves The below are casualties of World War One buried at St Mark's. Robert Ambler Evelyn Geoffrey Lord Fred Wilby Slinger Ross Barnes Herbert Moores Herbert Toft William Goodall William Parker Thomas Yates Benjamin Gratrix Harry Sheldon Arthur Ratcliffe Home

Herbert Moores , World War One , WW1 Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester UK Herbert Moores HERBERT MOORES Sgt. 18th Bn Manchester Regiment d. 18 July 1916 aged 32 Herbert Moores attested (ie. declared himself willing to serve) on 4th September 1914, aged 30, just five weeks after the outbreak of war. He was appointed Lance Corporal on 5th November 1914 and Corporal on 5th June 1915. Posted to France on 8th August 1915, he was later promoted to Lance Sergeant on 3rd December 1915 and Sergeant on 8 March 1916. Herbert was involved in the Battle of the Somme and he was wounded on 10th July 1916 in the attack on Trones Wood . He was transported back to England three days later on the 13th July on the S. S. Asturias. He died from a gunshot wound to his back at the 1st Western General Hospital, Liverpool. His effects were recorded as 2 one pound notes 2 fifty franc notes 2 twenty franc notes 3 five franc notes 1 note book 6 photos 1 steel mirror in case 4 communion cards private papers 1 note case. Herbert was born in Swinton to James and Jane Moores on 5 April 1884 and was baptised at Holy Rood on 1 June by G. F. Dearden. In 1911, he was living as a single man, aged 26, with his parents at Hazlehurst Cottage, Worsley. His occupation was listed as Municipal Clerk at Manchester Council. Ten years earlier, in 1901, he was 16 and was a Corporation Clerk, living then at 2 Hazlehurst Road with his family. His father James had married Jane Cordwell, 25, a Mill Hand, of King St., Irlams o'th' Height on 17 June 1880 at St. John the Evangelist, Pendlebury. Sergeant Herbert Moores, of Hazelhurst Cottage, Moorside, and one of the City "Pals", has died in hospital at Fazackerley, near Liverpool, from wounds he received during the second part of the great advance. The actual day on which he was wounded is not yet known, but it was between the 7th and 12th inst. He arrived at Liverpool on Saturday evening and the members of his family have been to see him. One of his brothers was present when he died on Tuesday evening. Sergeant Moores was in the desperate struggle for Trones Wood, and was hit, it is thought, by a sniper. One of this deadly class of shots had killed four of their men, and Sgt. Moores had moved to the flank to try and locate them, but he was immediately hit and fell into a shell hole. On another occasion he informed his relatives, he was with an officer and 20 men entrenching in the wood when shells fell like snowflakes and only eight of the party came through safely. Before being brought to England he underwent an operation in one of the field hospitals. He had several wounds and a second operation would have been performed at Fazackerley , but he was too weak. Sgt. Moores enlisted in the 3rd City Pals Battalion (Manchester Regiment) in August 1914, and went out to France last November. He was very well-known in Moorside. He was a prominent member of the Holy Rood Church choir, and also a member of the Conservative Club. A popular member of the Holy Rood Cricket club, he had for several seasons done good sevice as a fast bowler. Before enlisting, he was on the Town Clerk's staff at the Manchester Town Hall. His body will be brought home for interment. The funeral, which is expected to be of a military character, will take place on Saturday afternoon at Worsley Church, after a special service at Holy Rood Church. (Local newspaper) Information regarding his regiments involvement at the Battle of the Somme can be found here Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

William Parker , World War One , WW1 Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester UK William Parker WILLIAM PARKER Gunner Royal Marine Artillery 8th Bn d. 14th May 1921 aged 24 RMA/14560 In March 2016, the church received an enquiry from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (C.W.G.C.), asking for confirmation and verification of the burial of William Parker in the churchyard. This we were happy to provide and therefore his name has been added to their roll of casualties. His grave number is NP 40. Prior to this, his name was remembered at the Brookwood Memorial. THE BROOKWOOD 1914-1918 MEMORIAL is a memorial to the missing and commemorates casualties with no known grave. The majority of the casualties commemorated by this memorial are servicemen and women from the land forces of the United Kingdom, who subsequently died in the care of their families. They were not commemorated by the Commission at the time but, through the efforts of relatives and research groups, including the “In From The Cold” Project, these casualties have since been found. There are still many cases to be resolved and the memorial therefore allows for further names to be added. Unusually and because of the varied circumstances surrounding many of these casualties, investigative work continues and this may lead to the identification of their burial locations. Whenever a casualty’s grave is located and verified, commemoration will move to the burial site and thus some of the entries on the memorial will no longer be required. As a result and when memorial panels are replaced, these entries will be removed. In addition, the Brookwood 1914-18 Memorial commemorates some land and air forces casualties who were lost at sea. These casualties would normally be commemorated on the Hollybrook Memorial in Southampton, but the memorial panels there are now full and so their commemoration has been added to this memorial. [by courtesy of www.cwgc.org ] William Parker was born on 17 January 1897. In the 1911 census, William Parker (aged 13) was living with his parents, William and Alice, and siblings Mary (17), Alice (14) and Richard (6), at 185 Worsley Road, Winton. William was a student at school and his father was a cashier on a steam ship. They had been at the same address ten years earlier, in the 1901 census. A timeline of his service record shows: 1915 Mar 8. Enlisted 1915 Sep 13. To Gunner 2nd Class 1915 Sep 14. To Gunner 1916 Jan 28 To HMS Malaya 1920 Mar 12. Back to Base 1920 Jun 2. Post to 8 RM for service in Ireland 1921 May 14 died. 2 Royal marine artillery gunners abducted , shot dead and dumped in a local quarry. His father was William Parker of Mulquack Terrace, 285 Worsley Rd, Swinton, Manchester In May 1921, five men of the Royal Marines were killed by 'Irish rebels' in Ireland. It may surprise some to learn that all five of these men are entitled to be commemorated by the CWGC. Any man who died in military service from 4/8/1914 until 31/8/1921 qualifies for commemoration, as the final closure date for WW1 casualties was not until 31 August 1921 (the date the war was officially deemed to be ended by the signing of the peace treaties after the Armistice of 11 November 1918). THE MIDLETON MURDERS On May 14, at 8pm, two marines named Bernard Francis and William Parker were shot dead in the same neighbourhood while walking between Ballymaccura and East ferry. [Northern Whig, Antrim- 26 May 1921: in Midleton, County Cork] MURDER OF MEN FROM EASTNEY Two gunners in the Royal Marines Artillery stationed at East Ferry, near Midleton, Cork, were shot dead on Saturday night near Ballymakerry. This is believed to be their first attack against members of the RMA. The deceased men are 14710 Gunner Bernard Francis (B. Coy.) and 14560 Gunner William Parker (H. Coy.). They belonged to a battalion which was sent from Portsmouth to Ireland in June last for protective purposes. [Portsmouth Evening News: 16 May 1921] His name was inscribed on a memorial tablet in St. Michael and All Angels, Deal, Kent (a former church, once the garrison church to the Royal Marines Barracks), together with the names of 13 others who died on service in Northern Ireland between 1920 and 1922. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Harry Sheldon , World War One , WW1 Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester UK Harry Sheldon HARRY SHELDON Corporal Army Service Corps, 1st Army Anti-Aircraft Workshops d. 17 October 1918 age 30 M2/019643 Harry Sheldon was born on the 11th February 1888 and was baptised at St. Stephen's, Hulme, on the 4 March 1888, the son of John James Sheldon (a shipwright) and his wife, Lucy (née Kelly). They were living at 6 Park View, Hulme. By the time he was 13, in 1901, the family had moved to 9 Catherine Street, Winton. Harry had 4 brothers and 2 sisters. By 1911, he and the family were living at 3 Catherine Street, Winton. He was a blacksmith. He married Gertrude Lomax in the fourth quarter of 1918. A TRAGIC HOMECOMING The Winton soldier who died last week within a week of his wedding was Corpl. Harry Sheldon, and not Pte. J. Sheldon, as reported in our last issue. Deceased, who enlisted in the M. T. Section of the A. S. C. in November 1914, had been in France for 3 years and 9 months, and on October 6th came to his home, 3 Catherine Street, Winton. He was married on October 12th, and died on the 17th from pneumonia. The funeral took place on Tuesday of last week in the churchyard at Worsley, in which village he was born and lived for many years, attending the Church Schools as a boy. Deceased was 30 years of age, and before enlisting worked for the Manchester Ship Canal Company at Mode Wheel. His brother, Pte. J. Sheldon, also enlisted in the early days of the war, and has been invalided and discharged. The family are well-known in Worsley and the Eccles district, and deep sympathy is felt for them and for Sheldon's young widow, whose father died on the day her husband was buried. [Local newspaper] Harry Sheldon was buried in the churchyard on 22 October 1918. His grave number is A 335. His abode at the time of his death was Alfred Street Military Hospital, Harpurhey. The officiating minister was Frank Summers, Curate at St. James's, Hr. Broughton. The cause of death is not known but may have been because of illness or war related wounds in the UK. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. James Allen, World War Two JAMES ERIC ALLEN JAMES ERIC ALLEN Fg.Off. RAF.VR d. 7 December 1941 aged 28 106109 JAMES ERIC ALLEN was the son of William Henry and Sarah Agnes Allen (née Aston), his second wife, of Monton Green. He was born on 14 March 1913As a school boy, he attended Eccles Grammar School. He married Vera Margaret Gaskell in the early part of 1940 (Barton district). On 14 April 1941, R.A.F. Wellesbourne Mountford opened, 4 miles east of Stratford-upon-Avon, which became home to No. 22 Operational Training Unit RAF , flying Vickers Wellingtons and Avro Ansons for RAF Bomber Command . It was part of R.A.F. No.6 Group Bomber Command and remained an O.T.U. over the next four years, its purpose being to train British and Commonwealth aircrews, (pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, wireless operators and air gunners) day and night, and have them ready to move on to operational squadrons. As 22 O.T.U. grew in size, sadly the loss of aircraft and personnel rose accordingly. In total, some 90 aircraft were destroyed, with 80 airmen injured and 299 killed. Of these, 244 were Canadians. James Eric Allen came to Wellesbourne as a member of No.12 course, training to be a pilot on Wellingtons. Each course taught the basic skills over an eight-week period. Because of the intensity of the course, accidents started to occur more frequently. One such accident, typical of dozens that were to befall Wellesbourne, occurred on 7th December 1941. It was a Sunday evening and the Midlands was suddenly engulfed in severe snowstorms. Two aircraft were carrying out circuits and landings. At 1830 hours, Wellington T2566 of 'B’ Flight was on finals, approaching runway 24 when the pupil pilot, P/O J. Lynas, aged nineteen, completely lost visual sight of the runway lights. He dramatically lost height and hit a row of trees in line with the flarepath. The aircraft burnt out in the ensuing crash by Heath Spinney on the Newbold road, killing P/O Lynas, P/Instructor Turner and WO/AG Sgt. Chancellor, and badly burning P/O Jackson and AG Sgt. Lane. Five minutes later, Wellington X9625 of 'A’ Flight was unable to line up with the runway due to the snow and, in trying to overshoot, caught the trees on Loxley Hill, finally crashing into the top of Red Hill, near Woodfield farm, quite close to the station wireless building. All four of the crew initially survived the crash, but sadly P/O J. E. Allen and W/O A. D. Cuthbert RCAF died later of their injuries. The other crew members were Sgt. J. H. Cox and AG Sgt. Allen. The death of James Eric was recorded in Stratford-upon-Avon in December 1941. His will, which was proved on 2 February 1942, shows that he lived at 'Berwyn', 1 Larch Avenue, Swinton. He had died on 7 December 1941 at Ettingley Farm, Loxley, Warwickshire. His estate was left to his wife, Vera Margaret. His name appears on the War Memorial Board from Eccles Grammar School which was re-dedicated in its new home in St. Paul's Church, Monton, at 10.45 on Remembrance Sunday, 13th November 2005 Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

St Marks Church, Worsley, Salford, Greater Manchester. Church of England Links Below are a list of links that may be of interest St Mark's Church Worsley Sir George Gilbert Scott Worsley Civic Trust Boothstown Village Website Salford Local History Forum Lt Thomas Crompton RHS Gardens Bridgewater The Bridgewater Canal Eccles and District History Society Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society Commonwealth War Graves Commission Historic England Home

Benjamin Gratrix , World War One , WW1 Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester UK Benjamin Gratrix BENJAMIN GRATRIX Private The Loyal N. Lancashire Regt. 6th Bn. d. 12 June 1920 aged 38 13775 Benjamin Gratrix was the son of George and Alice Gratrix. In 1891, he was aged 9 and living with his parents at 15 Edge Fold as a scholar. In 1901, he was aged 19 and still living with his parents, now at 10 Edge Fold. His occupation was waggoner in a coal mine. Benjamin was baptised at St. Mark's on 31 August 1882 by William H. Baynes. His parents were married also at St. Mark's on 31 December 1870 by St. Vincent Beechey. In 1911, he was a boarder at the home of Elizabeth Pickup at 74 Harriett Street, Walkden, and was 28 years of age. It is known that Benjamin served in the Balkans and that he was entitled to the 1915 trio of medals, the 1914-15 Star; the British War Medal; the Victory Medal Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Thoams Faulkner, World War Two THOMAS FAULKNER THOMAS FAULKNER Capt. East Lancs. Rgt. d.8/10/1943 aged 50 92661 THOMAS FAULKNER was the son of John and Priscilla (née Gorton) Faulkner. He was baptised at Stowell Memorial, Salford, on 16 November 1892 and his parents at that time were living at 18 Lord Byron Street, Weaste. They had been married at St. Mary's, Eccles, on 29 September 1886. Thomas was the husband of Marjorie Faulkner, of Worsley, and was living at 12 Pine Grove, Worsley. His father was living at 3 Grange Avenue, Monton, when he died on 27 June 1934. His effects were left to his widow, Priscilla. Marjorie was Marjorie Fisher, and they married in the 1/4 qtr. 1917 at West Derby. Thomas had 2 sons - John, born in 1923 at Barton; and Robert D. born 1925 at Barton. (Robert) Derek became a highly respected member of the parish church. Thomas died at the Moston Hall Military Hospital, Chester. In his will, he left his estate to his widow, Marjorie. He had enlisted into the Manchester Regiment RA and on his death he was in the infantry branch of the East Lancs. Regt. His name appears in the UK Army Roll of Honour, which is a listing of British Army casualties from World War II. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

St Mark's Worsley OS Maps from 1848 and 1894 Home

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Norman Jenkins, World War Two Norman George Jenkins NORMAN GEORGE JENKINS Sub-Lt. RNR d.4/12/1939 aged 24 NORMAN JENKINS was a Sub-Lieutenant in the RNR, on the auxiliary patrol yacht, Zaza. He was the son of Arthur Henry and Elizabeth Jenkins of Folkestone. In the burial records, his address was 81 Chart Road, Folkestone. His parents may well have been Arthur Henry Jenkins and Lizzie (née Lane) who were married at St.Dionis, Parsons Green, Fulham, in 1909. His father originated from the Folkestone area and by 1911 his parents were living at 80 Chart Road, Folkestone. Norman was born in early 1915, and his birth was registered in Elham District, Kent. It is not known how Norman Jenkins died or even why he came to be buried at St.Mark's. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back