A photograph from around 1959 of Union Street in Chorley where the Chorley Pals Memorial is located has come to light courtesy of Chorley Library.

The memorial was unveiled there in February 2010 and improvements were done to the site in August 2012 with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Chorley Council.

The First World War medals of Chorley Pal Edwin Walmsley have been donated by his family to the Chorley Pals Memorial charity.

They will go on display shortly in the Chorley Remembers ‘Remembrance Experience’ exhibition in the Coach House at Astley Hall.

Pte. 15865 Edwin Walmsley was wounded in the chest on the 1st July 1916 at the start of the Battle of the Somme.

Originally from Whittle-le-Woods, he was discharged from the Army in 1919 and died in the town in 1971.

The photograph shows him in the uniform of the Devonshire Regiment, being transferred there after recovering from his wounds.

Research by local WW1 historian & author Steve Williams ahead of a conference on the First World War in Preston this weekend, has revealed some fascinating facts and insight into the fate of the Chorley Pals Company.

Between September 1914 and June 1915, just over two hundred local men joined up to form a very close knit unit.

During the war, 54 of the original 221 were killed in action or died of wounds or illness, with 34 dying as a direct result of the attack on the Somme on the 1st July 1916.

A further eighty four of the original unit were wounded or were gassed in over four years of war; thirteen were discharged from the Army all together, with a further fifty were transferred to other units.

Five Chorley Pals were taken prisoner (all in 1918), with six men receiving gallantry awards – one, Corporal Esmond Nowell from Abbey Village, won the Distinguished Conduct Medal and a Military Medal within ten weeks on the Somme in 1916.

Just less than half of the original Chorley Pals were in the unit at the end the War. Three of the men who survived emigrated to North America whilst two, sadly, committed suicide in the 1940s.

The last surviving Chorley Pal died in October 1991, aged 93 years of age.

Commenting on the conference and research, Chorley Pals Memorial Secretary Steve Williams said: “I was really flattered to be asked to present a paper at the conference, which looks at Lancashire men in The Great War.

“Some of the statistics though are very sad, with one out of every four of the original Chorley Pals not surviving the war and just one in every three coming home supposedly unscathed.”

Over sixty delegates will attend the two day conference at the University of Central Lancashire and Steve’s theme is ‘Two years in the making (ten minutes in the destroying)’, reflecting the fate of many ‘Pals’ units on the 1st July 1916 – a day which saw nearly 20,000 men killed on the Somme.

The photo shows Private Stanley Holgate, who was wounded on the Somme, being eventually discharged out of the Chorley Pals and the Army the following year (his cap is covering his damaged hand).

Names of two men who fell in The Great War and World War Two have been added to the panels around the War Memorial in Astley Park.

Relatives of Seth Hargreaves and Eric Wright contacted our sister project Chorley Remembers asking for the names of their loved ones to be included, and after research by Project Manager Steve Williams, Chorley Council added them to the memorial in time for Remembrance Sunday.

Sergeant Seth Hargreaves joined up in Chorley on the 3rd September 1914 and eventually joined the 10th Battalion of the Loyal North Lancs. Regiment.

He was killed on the Somme battlefield on the 11th August 1916, aged 33; he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.

The War Dairy for his Battalion records that they were in action on the 11th August 1916 attacking German trenches at Bazentin-le-Petit. The action started at 2.00 am and ended with the capture of German trenches on the Martinpuich Road, five hours later at 7.00 am; one Officer and 20 other ranks were killed (one being Sgt. Hargreaves).

Family members, still in Chorley, recall being told that Seth was quiet short and jokingly wanted to be a jockey; he was photograph with a few of his mates captioned “Jockey Club”.

Sergeant Eric Wright joined the RAF in October 1941 and served as an Air Gunner on Halifax bombers in 78 Squadron based out on Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, being shot down over the Netherlands on the 12th June 1943.

He is buried in Terschelling cemetery, located on one of the Wadden Islands off the Dutch coast.

Born in 1924, he was educated at Balshaw’s Grammar School in Leyland, and went to work in the family wholesale grocery business W M Wright Ltd. in Lord Street, Chorley.

Chairman of Chorley Remembers, Lindsay Hoyle MP said: “It was brought to our attention there were two names that didn’t appear on the war memorial that should be there. We are delighted we were alerted and we have now included the names.”

He added: “it is important that everyone who serves on our behalf and pays the ultimate sacrifice is recognised in this way, and we encourage people to contact us and let us know.”

Chorley people saw the names on the War Memorial for the first time on Remembrance Sunday last year.

It now commemorates 740 men from the town who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars.

Funding for the work came from the Heritage Lottery Fund and from the Chorley Remembers Appeal Fund, set up by Trustees of the Chorley Pals Memorial in 2010.