In 1914 - 1919 and again in 1939 - 1945 the men of our closely-knit villages of Clayton le Woods and Whittle le Woods would pay the ultimate price for protecting their country.

100 years later the names on the stone are still there, and in recent times a few more names have been added.

We often walk past the memorial, even visiting on Remembrance Day.

We see familiar names of calico printers and weavers from our local mills, shopkeepers, a police constable, and many more trades.

Some died of illnesses such as the Spanish flu on their return home, others from training accidents in barracks, gallantly on the battlefield, or as a prisoner of war.

The evidence of all the men's brief family and military history is continuously researched and profiled.  

After expanding the website to include a 1939 - 1945 section, recently I have added the Returned from Duty sections which try to gather as many names as I can find of the men who were too ill, demobilized, Injured, or too young!

Those who lived deserve to be remembered just as much as those who died

Other pages like Medals and Awards and Decorations and the Publications, Future Projects and Exhibitions and Life on the Homefront pages have also been added.

As of 2021, I have added two new pages The County Feuds 1315 - 1323 and 1700 to 1914.

They were added because whilst sifting through the pages for WW1 and WW2 local men I came across earlier records and decided to create some new pages.

If possible are you able to contribute pictures and information on these names on my website?

Thank you so much for visiting the website and please feel free to comment.

John Melling

May 2021

Please read the following important statement

All information is researched and published (with some special permissions) by John Melling

***Please contact me if you would like to use any of the information to prevent Copyright and Plagiarism issues.

***Please contact me if you would like to use any of the information so as to prevent Copyright and Plagiarism issues.

Copyright © John Melling, Clayton and Whittle at War 2014-2022