Burnley Borough Police

• Town Hall
  Burnley Magistrates Court
  Manchester Road
  Burnley
  Burnley
  Lancashire
  BB11 9SA
  England
  
  OS Grid Ref: SD 83970 32386
  Denomination: Undefined

• First World War (1914-1918)
  Total names on memorial: 8
  Served and returned: 0
  Died: 8
  Exact count: yes
  Information shown: Police rank and collar number, forename and surname, Regiment, manner of death
  Order of information: Grouped by manner of death, and then in ascending order of collar number
• Second World War (1939-1945)
  Total names on memorial: 3
  Served and returned: 0
  Died: 3
  Exact count: yes
  Information shown: Rank, forename, surname, military unit in which served
  Order of information: Undefined

• Board
  Measurements: height c 1800mm, width c 900mm
  Materials: Wood - Oak
• Plaque
  Measurements: Undefined
  Materials: Bronze

• This memorial is not currently listed. Find out how to nominate this memorial for inclusion on the National Heritage List for England
• More about listing and the protection of historic places can be found on the Historic England website
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Comments: Paid for by members of the Burnley Borough Police Force.

• Burnley News 13/8/1921 (page 7) published an image of the memorial, with the caption: "BURNLEY POLICE WAR MEMORIAL. A reproduction of the memorial which will shortly be erected in the Central Courtroom in memory of the members of the Burnley Borough Police Force, who gave their lives on active service during the Great War. The memorial is of solid oak, and the beautiful design which is headed with the Borough Coat of Arms, surrounded by laurel leaves, has been elaborately carved in deep relief". www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000699/19210813/135/0007?browse=true
• Results of the research undertaken by Nick Mattock of the Lancashire Constabulary Force History Team during the WW1 Centenary, re the former officers from all the Lancashire Police Forces who died in that conflict, can be found at livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/community/1092
• Burnley Borough Express, 8/3/1947 (page 3) printed a photo of the WW2 plaque, with a report of its unveiling in the Recreation Room of Police HQ on 6th March. (The photograph clearly showed the plaque as being a separate entity at that point, and commented that the WW1 Board was still in the Large Court, so the amalgamation of the two memorials into one must evidently have occurred at some later date). The report of the unveiling of the WW2 plaque read: In a short, but impressive ceremony on Thursday evening, at police headquarters, the Burnley Chief Constable (Mr. W. Green) unveiled a tablet placed on the wall of the recreation room to perpetuate the memory of three members of the Force who died in the second world war. A large number of members of all branches of the Force, together with relatives of the fallen, were present. The tablet is inscribed: "To the memory of members of the Burnley Police Force who paid the supreme sacrifice in the second world war 1939-1945. Flying Officer Harold Kidd, RAF, Sub-Lieut. Robert Wilding, Fleet Air Arm. L/Cpl. James Tyson, C.M.P They died that we might live." It has been subscribed for by all members of the Force. All the three men commemorated were police constables. Before the unveiling, the tablet was covered with a Union Jack, and a short service was conducted by the Rev. D. H. Curtis, vicar of St. John's Church, Gannow, who was a chaplain to the Forces during the war. He said he considered it a privilege to be there as a padre who served throughout the war. It was easy on such occasions to "talk big" and say emotional and sentimental things, but he was not going to do that. When in the midst of their recreation they looked at that tablet they would remember that twice within living memory we had been challenged by forces of aggression and terror who wished to stamp out the things in which we believed. Twice, members of the Burnley Police Force with a host others had flung that challenge back where it belonged. In both wars there were members of the Force who were prepared to die for the things in which they believed and three of them in the last war gave their all for that for which their country stood. He did not think that those three men considered themselves heroes. They did the right as they saw it, and that memorial was an everlasting remembrance of them for which their colleagues could be proud and grateful. Unveiling the tablet, the Chief Constable said it would remain a symbol of service, sacrifice and devotion both in this generation and those who would follow after. A memorial tablet to the members of the Force who died in the first world war stands on the wall of the large court-room". www1.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000672/19470308/058/0003
• Burnley Express 14/8/1946 (page 2), in a retrospective headed "Our Topics 25 Years Ago", mentioned that "A HANDSOME memorial in carved oak in memory of members of the Burnley Borough Police Force who made the supreme sacrifice during the war is to be placed In the large court". (This was referring back to the installation of the WW1 Board in 1921). www1.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000672/19460814/038/0002
• Burnley News 12/11/1921 (page 16) reported at length on the dedication of the Burnley Borough Police Memorial by the Bishop of Burnley (Dr Henn) in the large court at the Town Hall the previous day. Among those present were Burnley's Chief Constable W.H. Smith (who " wore his son's V.C. and Belgian decoration as well as his own medals"), the Chief Constable of Accrington, and relatives of the Fallen; "Members of the police force, wearing their war decorations, were accommodated in the dock and in the seats at either side". The report stated that: " POLICE MEMORIAL UNVEILED. A handsome oak memorial tablet, which contains the names of the eight members of the Burnley Police Force who sacrificed their lives during the war, and which has been placed on the wall in the large court room at the Town Hall, was unveiled yesterday afternoon by Alderman J. A. Heaton, J.P., chairman of the Watch Committee. The service was an impressive one, and necessitated an unusual transformation being made in the general arrangements and appearance of the court"... "THE FORCE'S PROUD RECORD. The Chief Constable, referring to the war record of the force, said that nearly 40 per cent of the force displayed their loyalty by joining His Majesty's Forces, and more would have done so had it been permitted to further deplete the strength of the force. Many members in their various military units gained high honours arid promotion. Three gained the Military Medal: one the Meritorious Service Medal; and one the Belgian Order of Leopold II. Two were mentioned in despatches; three were promoted to commissioned rank; and 37 to non-commissioned rank. The highest honour, the noble sacrifice of their lives, was reserved for those whose names were inscribed upon the memorial. "It was the example of those lives which made their memory precious to the land they loved." " They have put on immortality, and being dead they live." www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000699/19211112/229/0016?browse=true
• Burnley News 22/10/1921 (page 9) reported: "Police Memorial. The Burnley Police Memorial, a photograph of which recently appeared in the "Burnley News," has now been fixed in the Burnley Borough Police Court on the wall behind the Press box. Arrangements for the unveiling are not complete, but it is hoped that the ceremony will take place on November 11th, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice". www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000699/19211022/178/0009?browse=true