Crosby Angel WW1 Memorial, Scunthorpe Lincolnshire

An Introduction submitted by Pat Smith (Smith Chat Member 67-PATSMITH)
about the Book and Website

“The Crosby Angel – A Community’s War Memorial”
Location: Crosby Primary School, Frodingham Road,
Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England

A new book, published in October 2008 about a War Memorial.
The Crosby Angel, a W.W.I. memorial, situated in the corner of the playground of Crosby Primary School was the brainchild of George Taylor, headteacher of the school from 1908 to 1933. How he encouraged the pupils to raise the money for the memorial, and the dedicated contribution he made to the life of the community of Crosby makes a fascinating read.

So too are the stories of the 59 men remembered on the memorial. All the men had connections with Crosby, 9 were old boys of the school, others lived in the parish or had strong connections with it. Many interesting stories about these men have been researched and are the backbone of the book.

The two brothers who went down on the same ship, torpedoed by the infamous German submarine the U9. Men, most of them only in their early twenties, losing their lives in all spheres of the war, at sea, at Gallipoli and on the Western Front.

Lives of Crosby men were lost at many of the major battles, including Ypres, the Somme and Arras. Letters two of the men wrote from the trenches survive and are included. They describe their conditions and experiences in the trenches and their feelings about their situation and their future.

The well illustrated book also describes the Crosby the men grew up in and knew. It tells of the events that overtook those left at home the rationing, the making of war materials, the Zeppelin attacks and the never ending news of the young men who would never return.

Copies of this limited edition publication, which has been seven years in the making and written by a small dedicated group of local researchers is available from local outlets. Proceeds from the sale of the book will, after printing costs have been met, be donated entirely to the restoration/renovation of the Crosby Angel Memorial.

Contact details: Patricia Smith, Secretary "Friends of the Crosby Angel"
E-mail: p.s m i t h 5 5 [at] n t l w o r l d [dot] c o m
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Thank you very much Pat for sending in this information about this fascinating new book, and the web-site, which includes some wonderful old photographs. I'm sure that many of our other members present and future, will be interested to know about it.

Additional notes to our other members and guests.....
there is even more interesting information about the book, the Angel Memorial itself, and the names of the 59 commemorated men of Crosby Parish, at Pat's Website
>> The Crosby Angel – A Community’s War Memorial >>

Amongst the names that are listed on the site, of those commemorated,
there is one George William SMITH
Noted here because someone somewhere at some time in the future, might be researching his Smith family and looking for more information about George.

Thanks again Pat for the information, wave

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Carole, Smith Project/Smith Chat Admin
Nothing is too small to know, and nothing too big to attempt (William Van Horne)