Honley resident Cyril Ford completed the painstaking task of researching the background of every name on the Honley War Memorial.
But Army veteran Mr Ford, 77, of Grasscroft Avenue, was then at a loss as to what to do with the pages of material from censuses, marriage and death registers and Commonwealth War Graves Commission reports.
The answer was to hand it over to the Honley Civic Society where the history group leader, Peter Marshall was similarly contemplating how to make best use of the many photographs in the society’s archives relating to the Great War.
With the centenary of the start of the war approaching fast, Peter delved into the local history files in the West Yorkshire Archives and Huddersfield Central Library, to come up with a suitable commemoration of how the village of Honley responded to that conflict.
The result is a fascinating 40-page book with over 70 illustrations from the period.
The letters and photographs of two Honley brothers serve as a reminder of the impact going to war and losing family members had on villagers.
Pte Harold Hinchliffe, 28, and Drummer Lewis Hinchliffe, were the sons of Alfred and Annie Hinchlfife, of Southgate. Harold joined the Duke of Wellington’s regiment wile his brother enlisted in the Prince of Wales’ Own Regiment. Harold was killed at the battle of Bullecourt in May 1917 while Lewis died in October that year.
Amongst the discoveries Peter made was the arrival of Belgian refugees in the village in 1914 and the creation of an Auxiliary Hospital which treated 600 wounded servicemen in the two years of its existence.
The hospital was set up at Far Banks House thanks to the efforts of Mrs Hilda Smailes and Mrs Margaret Sykes. They organised a huge amount of fundraising in the village and arranged for generous benefactors to pay monthly subscriptions to the hospital, which opened in November 2014.
The hospital was to remain open until December 1918 when it was restored to its original role as a Sunday School.
There was even a flying ace who was born in Honley. Sydney Tyndall Liversedge, who was born in Honley in 1897, was the pilot of a Sopwith Strutter. He shot down 13 enemy aircraft between April and October 1918 and went on to enjoy a long and satisfying career as a mechanical engineer before his death in Huddersfield in 1979.
“The book has been fascinating to research,” said Peter.
“The more we dug, the more we discovered.”
He praised Cyril Ford’s diligent work in uncovering the family background to each and every name on the Honley War Memorial – and there are over 80 from the first world war alone.
“Cyril’s work was the inspiration to ensuring we had a record of village life at the time”, he added.
The strong anti-war feeling in the village is also revealed in a section of the book on war resisters.
The book will be on sale at the Honley does t’Tour street market on July 5, at village shops in Honley, and Holmfirth Tourist Information centre, priced £7.50.
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