Our 100th Commonwealth War Grave

PRIVATE Squire Haworth, who has lain in an unmarked grave the Western Cemetery for over 100 years, has finally been recognised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Our memorial to commemorate the Centenary of the end of the 1st World War to the servicemen buried in the western cemetery which was unveiled in July 2018

He will now have his own memorial, in Portland stone, and he will be the 100th member of the armed forces to be so recognised in the town’s old cemetery.

The honour is due to the diligence and determination of our Chairman Tony Foster, Tony who is also a well-known local historian came across the story of Private Haworth when researching the story of another Great War soldier and was intrigued, probably because of his unusual Christian name. After several month’s work, he persuaded the war graves executive that he should finally be recognised.

Tony did not realise at first that he would be the 100th Darwen lad in the cemetery to be granted the honour. Which is quite a landmark for the Friends of Darwen Cemetery and a fitting memorial for Pte Howorth.

Squire was born in Hacking Street, Darwen on January 29, 1891, the son of Squire Haworth and Mary. The family later moved to Hutchinson Court and by the time of the 1911 census they were living at 180 Duckworth Street. Squire was a reacher-in in a local cotton mill.

In April, 1915 he joined the East Lancashire Regiment and six weeks later he was posted to France. It was towards the end of the Second Battle of Ypres, the encounter in which the Germans first used poisonous gas as a weapon of mass destruction.

It was shortly after this battle that Squire started to complain of weakness and excessive thirst and his Army record shows he was suffering from diabetes. He was returned to England in February, 1916 and discharged on medical grounds the following month.

He returned to Darwen where he died in a diabetic coma in June. He was awarded two medals but his name wasn’t included in the CWGC’s Roll of Honour.

However, his home town did not forget him and his name was put on the elegant brass war memorial in Duckworth Street Congregational Church, now the Central United Reformed Church.

 

The memorial to those who fell in the world wars at the Central United Reformed Church. Squire’s name is towards the bottom of the first column.

It will take several months for burial details to be checked and verified, but a short ceremony is planned to mark the unveiling.

Meanwhile, the search for a photograph of Pte Haworth goes on, in the past we have been very successful in tracing photos of our war dead, as yet we haven’t made any headway with Squire.

FODC February 2020