CARNFORTH Town Council is marking the 76th anniversary of the ending of World War Two by commemorating its local war heroes, including one hero with a connection JFK.
The council have announced the publication of a special commemorative leaflet which shows the names of those men from Carnforth who gave their lives in the service of their country during conflict.
It also shows a contemporary map of the town with the places of residence of each of the men.
HERO: Thomas Jenkinson
Working from the names inscribed on the Carnforth War Memorial, local historian Steve Richmond, has researched the stories of each of the servicemen.
They include thirteen soldiers, four aviators and two sailors but as their biographies clearly demonstrate, they fought and died all over the world.
Commenting on the leaflet, Councillor Jim Grisenthwaite said: "The work that Steve Richmond has undertaken in researching the stories of each of these men illustrates the fact that while – to the passer by – they may just be names on a memorial, each of them lived a life, however brief, and they were loved and cherished by their families and their friends.
"They gave their lives so that we could be free and for that reason we should remember and honour the memory of all of them."
SAILOR: Herbert Dumbleton
This leaflet is the second in a series published by Carnforth Town Council and follows on from the highly acclaimed World War One Poppy Trail leaflet, which was also compiled by Steve Richmond, published to mark the centenary of the Armistice in 2018.
Able Seaman Edwin Edwards of the Royal Navy, a former railway porter, died in 1942 in an heroic naval action when his ship, the destroyer HMS Electra, was sunk during the battle of the Java Sea against the Japanese.
SOLDIER: Isaac Bennett
Squadron Leader Robert Bagguley joined the RAF at the age of 16. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in a daring daylight raid on a strategically important mine in Norway in March 1943 and was killed a few days later when returning from another raid in France.
Second Lieutenant Thomas Garth served with the King’s Own Royal Regiment and was killed in action in 1941 fighting against French forces in Syria at the little-known battle of Merdjayoun.
Infantryman Anthony Jackson of the US Army was born in Carnforth, the son of a local doctor and an American mother and was educated at Sedbergh School. He emigrated to the USA in 1940 and was drafted into the US Army in 1943. He died in the early stages of the battle of Luzon in the Philippines in February 1944 aged 19. He is buried, along with President JF Kennedy, in Arlington cemetery in Virginia, USA.
AMERICA: General McArthur wades ashore at Luzon
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