Veterans turned detective to solve the mystery of a soldier whose name appeared on a World War II roll of honour but nothing was known about him.
All the other 110 names had full details of rank, age at time of death, place of death and whether they were married, but James Clark’s mention on the Haslingden memorial only listed his name with no more information.
Local members of ex-servicemen’s group Veterans In Communities (VIC) were tasked with trying to find more information about the soldier and so the investigation began. They discovered the Haslingden lad emigrated to Australia and fought with the Australian army in World War I but died shortly afterwards. They found his Commonwealth War grave is in Haslingden.
As part of the contract Catherine Smyth has with Veterans In Communities to provide press and PR a news story was written and was used in the Lancashire Telegraph. It was also published by About My Area.
Catherine Smyth also produces monthly newsletters for Veterans In Communities. Click here to see the latest one.