The Memorial

Artist's impression of the statue and plinth

The original idea for a soldier in full kit has been modified.

Local WW1 Historian and authority on the Chorley Pals, John Garwood, pointed out that the men actually went over the top with their rifles “at the port”. The original design shows rifle and bayonet in the advance position whereas “at the port” means across the chest. The Pals were told to walk across No Man’s Land as they would not meet any resistance from the Germans who would have been overwhelmed by the artillery bombardment that lasted virtually for the whole of June 1916.

The sculptor Peter Hodgkinson agreed with Trustees that there should be some dynamic to the statue and it will be on a base resembling sandbags at the top of a trench parapet.

Updates on the progress of the statue are featured regularly on the Latest News page as well as here: