Burnley Express and News, Tuesday October 30th 2007
Stories of medals from Great War
By Dominic Collis.
A medal information day is being held to mark the end of a major First World War battle which claiimed the lives of more than 250 Burnley men.
The3 90th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Passchendaele will be commemorated at Towneley Hall on Sunday, jointly organised by the hall's historian Mr Mike Townend and the East Lancashire Medals and Militaria Society.
It will provide information for local families to find out about their Burnley relatives who have served in the uniformed services in all conflicts and about the medals they were awarded.
This free event will b held in the lecture room at Towneley Hall from 1p.m. to 4p.m. and some of the Towneley Hall medal collection and medals held by the society's members will be on display.
It is part of the Towneley Hall "It's Your Choice" exhibition opened on Saturday and runs until Christmas. Items from the Towneley Hall collections will be on display which have been selected by local people who have explained the reasons behind their choice.
Some are familiar items and others items which have only been seen once.
The Battle of Passchendaele, often known as "3rd Battle of Ypres", is remembered as being the most horrific battle of the First World War because of the muddy conditions and heavy casualties of around 310,000 for the British forces in the carnage of the battle between July 31st and November 6th 1917. Many of these men have no known grave and are remembered on the Menin Gate and Tyne Cot Memorials.
The Medal Society has a large database and collection of more than 10,000 photographs taken from local newspapers - much of the information can be seen on the website
http://www.burnleyinthegreatwar.info/ which has links to other websites featuring Burnley men.
Further information may be obtained from Mike Townend at Towneley Hall or Denis Otter on 451342
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