Pudsey Remembers: Lost and Found War Memorials Part 3
Pudsey Cenotaph and its surprising secrets
Pudsey Cenotaph. Every November we gather at our stunning central memorial to remember those who gave their lives in service.
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| Service during the early 1980's from an original slide photo by Tom Harrison |
But this familiar landmark has a fascinating history, including an ancient chapel, a mysterious coffin and a bronze statue with a twin.
The Memorial
Standing at the junction of Chapeltown and Carlisle Road, Pudsey Cenotaph was paid for by public subscription and unveiled on 10th September 1922.
Costing £5,000 and standing 35 feet tall, the Portland stone monument was designed by Brierley & Rutherford of York. Its magnificent bronze soldier, representing the West Yorkshire Regiment, was created by Henry Poole of London. It's believed that this is a self portrait of Henry himself, who had worked in the Government's camouflage design studio during the Great War.
And here's something you might not know – our soldier has a twin. A similar casting of Poole's soldier in the same pose, stands on Evesham War Memorial in Worcestershire, unveiled the previous year.
Surprising secrets:
The Cenotaph is built atop the foundations of the demolished ancient Chapel of Ease. See:
https://thepudsey.blog/2021/11/damons-history-tales-from-the-ancient-chapel-of-ease/
The ancient Chapel was demolished in a single drunken night supposedly by navvies encouraged with 190 pints of beer. The graveyard that was left quickly became a magnet for fly tipping.
The proposal for a public memorial where our War dead could be remembered was being planned as early as 1916. The current site at Chapeltown was favoured.
Whilst building the Cenotaph, the workmen uncovered a lead coffin buried in the crypt - this was recovered and is still underneath the plinth...The workmen also uncovered human remains left over from the graveyard clearance.
Cenotaph means "empty tomb" in Greek and ours has the prerequisite void that makes it a true Cenotaph rather than just a Memorial. However the void in Pudsey Cenotaph was filled with the found human remains. This also qualifies our Cenotaph as an Ossuary (a memorial bone store).
WW1 statistics: The Commonwealth fatality rate was approx 10%. Pudsey suffered over 20% killed or died from the effects of Service. The true number can never be counted.
333 names were added and unveiled. This quickly became 341 when 8 men listed as missing were officially declared dead (see the additional small plaque).
The public unveiling was a huge ceremony even bigger than our modern Remembrance Sunday, hundreds of wreaths were laid and had to be displayed on the local bowling greens.
The unveiling of the four plaques was carried out by four children of the fallen, including Willie Jowett and Ivy Ackroyd.
The first Armistice Day Service (11th November) was organised by the Revrend William Tomlinson Forster in 1927.
80 names were added after the Second World War including the only woman named.
The last major clean of the Cenotaph was undertaken in 2014 for the WW1 Centenary. It is owned and maintained by Leeds City Council and is listed by the War Memorials Trust.
In 2018 the 341 WW1 names became 448 with the addition of the Missing Names new plaque, for the Armistice Centenary.
There are still a handful of unidentified names on the plaques; see the website.
Most of these remembered are young people, and sadly we don't know much about their lives because they only had a short time on this Earth.
The People Behind the Names
Aircraftwoman 1st Class Dorothy Whiteley – Pudsey's Only Female Casualty
Of all the names commemorated on the Cenotaph, Dorothy's is particularly important.
Aged just 22, Dorothy lived at 20 Garfield Place, Swinnow Road and served with the Royal Air Force's 199 Squadron, based at RAF Lakenheath, part of Bomber Command as part of the Women's Auxillary Air Force.
She became dangerously ill on November 5th 1944 and was admitted to the RAF Hospital, Ely, where she sadly died of a rare form of miliary tuberculosis. Dorothy is buried with her parents Lewis and Maude, in Pudsey Cemetery.
Remarkably, Dorothy is the only woman named amongst the Cenotaph's 421 casualties.
Her story also reminds us that women were serving their country in uniform, frequently far from home, and their contribution deserves equal recognition.
Second Lieutenant Major William Booth – England Cricketer and Soldier
Born in Lowtown in 1886 to the family of grocers now more famous for Booth's Yard, Major Booth was already a sporting celebrity before the war.
A brilliant Yorkshire cricketer who represented Pudsey St. Lawrence CC, Yorkshire CCC and England, he was one of the country's leading bowlers before volunteering for the Leeds Pals.
On 1st July 1916, during the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, Booth was fatally wounded.
His body remained on the battlefield until the following spring, when it was only identified by an MCC cigarette case in his pocket. His sister Annie kept his room as he left it always hopeful that he would come home.
He is buried at CWGC Serre Road Cemetery No. 1 in France.
Where Are All the Names?
Rather than reproduce all their names here, you can explore my research, casualty biographies and photographs at:
https://www.pudseycenotaph.com/
Because our Cenotaph isn't simply about the lives that were lost.
**It's about remembering the lives they lived.**
Next: Part 4 – The Missing Names Project
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**Sources and thanks:** Pudsey Roll of Honour (1926); Pudsey & Stanningley Times; Pudsey Cenotaph research archive; Pudsey Cemetery records; Pudsey & District Civic Society. Special acknowledgement to the late Margaret Ford for her painstaking transcription of Pudsey's war memorials.
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