Bottesford War Memorials - St Mary's Church

Inscriptions and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission "Casualty Details"

Those people who died in the First and Second World Wars from the Parish of Bottesford (which includes the nearby hamlets of Easthorpe,and Normanton) are commemorated on two memorial plaques in St Mary’s Church, Bottesford, mounted one above the other on the wall of the south aisle of the Church. The plaques, made of Hopton Wood Stone, a fine limestone resembling marble, display the names and service units of the men, together with their insignia.

In addition, the Memorial plaque mounted on the wall of the south transept at St Mary’s commemorates the men of 207 Squadron RAF who were based at Bottesford Airfield in 1941 and 1942.

We also include a picture of the Bottesford’s Millennium Garden War Memorial.

Please “click” on each person’s name to view their Commonwealth War Graves Commission casualty details.  To return to the Bottesford Living History site please go back to the previous page on your web browser.

Links for the 2nd World War men are to the CWGC pages from where certificates can be downloaded. Biographies of some of the 2nd World War men are in preparation and will be added at this page link.

* Charles Baines latterly served with the East Lancashire Regiment, 2nd Battalion (30035). Formerly he was in the Leicestershire Regiment (33371) as listed on the Bottesford War Memorial.

The two memorials are inscribed as follows:

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1914  – To the glory of God – 1918

And in grateful & loving memory of those who gave their lives for their King & Country of the 186 Bottesford men who served in the Great War.

Royal Navy

G. Alfred Calcraft

Lincolnshire Yeomanry

A. Bernard Hickson

Leicestershire Regt.

Albert Asher

Charles Baines *

Cyril Barrand

Frederick Darby

Frank Pacey

J. Herbert G. Skinner

Frederick Shaw

 

Sherwood Foresters

Walter Hardy D.C.M.

Montague J.V. Jackson

Arthur Mayfield

Clifford Miller

Lincoln Regt.

T. Harold Cooper

J. William Edwards

Durham L.I.

Philip Sutton

Worcestershire Regt.

Joseph W. Matthews

Royal West Kent Regiment

E. Hughes Holmes

North Stafford Regt.

William Palmer

South Stafford Regt.

H. Walter S. Hatton

Yorkshire Regt.

Charles Alliss

Royal Field Artillery

Robert Dolman

Machine Gun Corps

Edgar C. Raithby

J. Richard Robinson

 

Canadian Regt.

Charles A. Bend. M. M.

Arthur Gilding

Charles Pacey

R. Turlington N Page

Frank Raithby D. C. M 

“They were a wall unto us both by night and day.”

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1939 – To the glory of God – 1945

And in grateful and loving memory of those from this Parish who gave their lives for King and Country and freedom in the Second World War

Royal Navy

Philip Brewster

F. Bertram Turner

Sherwood Rangers

Frederick K. Bend

Royal Lincolnshire Regiment

Herbert Canham

Royal Leicestershire  Regiment

Walter Jesson

Gloucestershire Regiment

Ian L. Mould

Royal Air Force

Colin Reeves

Royal Warwickshire Regiment

Richard E. Walford

“Their name liveth evermore”

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Also Thomas W Skinner who served in the Leicestershire Regiment and then the Labour Corps.

This page was added on 29/10/2007.

Comments about this page

  • The Second World War Memorial in Bottesford Church was designed by Stanley Blackmore, son of the Rector.

    In his memoir, ‘Gone but not Forgotten’, Stanley Blackmore recalls his schoolboy years at Bottesford Rectory during the war and describes in detail the planning, design and arrangements for erecting the Bottesford W.W. II memorial. The designs are included in the illustrations at the end of the book. This is an abridged extract:

    ‘During the last years of the fighting it was decided to set up a War Memorial Committee …to erect a memorial plaque in the church…The War Memorial Fund raised a substantial sum … enough to afford the new building which was to be called The Memorial Hall.

    In 1948 the Committee met again …to discuss the Memorial Plaque for the church, and I was extremely touched when they invited me to design this…especially as I was …only in the third year of a seven year architectural course…

    In Bottesford Church, the memorial plaque for the Great War was an unusually fine example, with a large, single limestone slab on which were engraved the names of all those who had died; with their regimental badges, cast in bronze …within a beautifully carved decorative alabaster frame. I proposed that the new plaque should employ the same to materials…

    Also, that bronze badges should again be included, and made by the same firm, The Dryad Metal Company of Leicester….

    Finally it was proposed that two bronze brackets should be mounted, one on each side of the combined memorial, to carry the British Legion Standard and the Union Flag- the latter having been donated to the church by a Major Wright, who had served in the Far East and had been a prisoner of war of the Japanese …

    Then on October 31st 1950 …a special service was held in Bottesford Church …by the Bishop of Leicester. The main subject of his address was based upon the five notes of: Remembrance, Reverence, Re-affirmation, Resolution and Recollection. This service of dedication and especially the Bishop’s words struck a chord which will long vibrate in the minds of all who were present.’

    Stanley Blackmore, (2004) Gone, but not Forgotten : a Leicestershire schoolboy’s recollections of life during World War Two. Woodfield: Bognor Regis.

    By Kate Pugh (05/11/2007)
  • Although it is now in Bottesford Parish, Muston has a separate war memorial. None of the Muston names appear on the Bottesford Memorial. We have just recorded the Muston names, though they are barely legible and the ‘uknown’ site lists it as ‘at risk’. The list is now on the website, but there are some names we have not been able to trace. We would appreciate help in finding the missing details. Leicestershire are starting a War Memorials Project. The article in ‘Branchline’ for Spring 2009 (Leics County Council) shows a pristine Muston memorial, so I assume they have plans to restore it. I hope it won’t look quite so brand new as it does in the picture.

    By Kate Pugh (11/04/2009)
  • Can anyone shed any light on the following? At the request of the Marshall family of East Bridgford, I have been researching 20137 R H Marshall of the 9th (Service) Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters and during this research I have come across a recorded death on 26/9/1916 for Private 10521 Harold Walker of Bottesford, Notts – he is buried at Ovillers Military Cemetery on the Somme in grave I.E.39. It is clearly stated that Harold was from Bottesford and yet his name does not appear on the Bottesford 1914 – 18 Memorial. Does anyone know of this man?

    By Jonathan D'Hooghe (17/11/2010)
  • Private 17988 Clifford Miller of the 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters was the youngest son of John and Mary Miller of Bottesford. He moved with his mother to Ilkeston Derbyshire and lived with his Aunt and Uncle George and Annie Burchell as shown on the 1891 Census (aged 3), living at 111 Norman Street, Ilkeston. He became a miner working for the Mapperley Colliery Company, Derbyshire. He was K.I.A. with N.K.G. 1st July 1916 aged 28. His name is on the THIEPVAL MEMORIAL Pier and Face 10C, 10D and 11A. He was also one of the 66 men who worked at the colliery company and were killed in the First World War. His name along with his fallen colleagues is listed on the company War Memorial. Place at the gates of St Wilfrid’s Church gates next to the village main memorial. On Saturday July 12th 2014 all the men listed on the memorials will be remembered as part of the First World War Anniversary. Relatives and friends of the men are invited to place a wreath or Poppy Cross at 1-40 p.m. This is also part of the Village Well Dressing weekend. Roger Wood (West Hallam) (Derbyshire)

    By Roger Wood (26/04/2014)
  • Thank you very much for the details about Clifford Miller and the information about the Memorial Ceremony at Ilkeston on the 12th January. We will publicise this event as part of the Bottesford Parish WW1 Centenary and include the biographical details in the commemorative volume we are preparing as part of that project.

    By David Middleton (26/04/2014)

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