VISITORS to the Haworth 1940s Weekend quizzed local military historians about more than just the Second World War.

They asked specialists from the Men of Worth Project about the First World War and even the Boer War.

The historians also spoke to local residents about how Haworth, Stanbury and Cross Roads could formally commemorate people who fell in their villages during the Second World War.

As in previous years, volunteers from the Project manned a stall in the village throughout the hugely-popular 1940s Weekend.

They showcased their research into men from the Haworth parish who fought and died during the dark days of the early 1940s.

They also hoped to pick up names and other information about Second World War servicemen who they had not previously come across.

Andy Wade, a leading light of the Men of Worth Project, said many people wanted to talk about relatives who had fought in the First World War, which has been the subject of extensive research by Men of Worth members.

He said one man brought pictures of a relative who he believed might have thought in the second Boer War, which ran from 1899 to 1902.

Men of Worth members were able to confirm this, because the photographs showed the Queen’s South Africa Medal and the King’s South Africa Medal, awarded by Victoria and Edward VII respectively.

Mr Wade added: “One or two people asked about the Second World War – they were uniform because their grandparents had been in the war.”

Mr Wade said that last year Men of Worth Project members had specifically asked people at the 1940s Weekend whether the three villages of Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury should officially commemorate their Second World War dead.

He said: “We had quite a lot of residents, 60 or 70 people, who said they were in favour of ‘something’ to commemorate the World War Two men.”

Mr Wade said the group did not carry out a similar consultation this year, but did chat with residents who would like some sort of public memorial in one or more of the villages, similar to that in Oakworth’s Holden Park.

He said: “We will pass the information on to the parish council and say that people seem to be broadly in favour of some sort of commemoration.

“We don’t want to interfere with parish council business. However. We don’t want to put pressure on them to spend money.”

Mr Wade said the Men of Worth Project had initially carried out its consultation after informal talks with a couple of individual councillors, and as a ‘thank you’ for the council helping fund the Men of Worth’s own research into the war stories of local men.

The Men of Worth Project volunteers are trying to build an archive of every person in the Keighley area who has fought in modern conflicts, not only the First and Second World Wars.

Much of their work focuses on the First World War, which is currently in its centenary years, and the fruits of that research is highlighted in a weekly Keighley News column about individual servicemen from the local area, on this page.

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