Huddersfield's Greenhead Park war memorial - amazing photos of the 1924 unveiling

Nov 10 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

ALL eyes will be on Greenhead Park’s historic war memorial tomorrow.

The stone memorial, set in the stunning backdrop of the Belvedere, will host the Remembrance Day service for hundreds of people.

But it is unlikely the crowd will match those of April 26, 1924, when the memorial was unveiled.

It had been commissioned by the former Huddersfield Borough Council and the ceremony was hosted by the Mayor of Huddersfield, Alderman Joseph Berry.

Today his great grandson Norman Berry has unveiled historic pictures fro the family albums.

They show the huge crowds gathered for the dedication service and the civic and military dignitaries who were invited to the service.

Mr Berry, of Honley, said: “My great grandfather was the Mayor of Huddersfield in 1924/25 and it was an honour for him to preside over the event.

“His son, my grandfather Joseph Norman Berry, was also at the service and was able to take the photographs which the family has kept for many years.

“They show a large crowd surrounding the memorial and the approach to it, with ranks of uniformed soldiers at the foot of the steps.

“There is also evidence of a number of important and distinguished people and although none are identified, I believe they are high-ranking Army officers, and civic leaders such as the Town Clerk and the Chief Constable”.

They included General Sir Charles Harington Harington, who served in the Army for 46 years including the Boer War and the First World War.

He was invited to unveil the new memorial.

The memorial had been designed by Sir Charles Nicholson, one of the country’s most well-known and respected ecclesiastical architects, who was at the height of his career.

His work included Portsmouth Cathedral and part of St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.