Spotlight On war heroes


SPOTLIGHT ON . . . war heroes
The men who didn't return from war
December 2010	An appeal from the authors (updated January 2012)
Private Robert Sandland (right) - a war hero from Nantwich. The name of the other soldier is not known but he is a fellow soldier who is thought to have survived the war.
MORE than 1,000 men from the Nantwich and Crewe areas who were killed in the First World War will be commemorated in a book currently being prepared. It will be called "The Great War Chronicle of Crewe and Nantwich 1914-1918." The authors have been collecting the casualty photos for the past 11 years and are looking out for any that have so far slipped the net, especially images of men from the Nantwich area. The book is being prepared on behalf of Cheshire East Council and proceeds from the publication will go to local Royal British Legion branches. Among the Nantwich men to die was Private Robert Sandland, the great uncle of Mark Potts, one of the authors of the project, and whose name is commemorated on Nantwich War Memorial on The Square. Robert lived at 7 Bower's Row, Mill Street, and worked as a baker for Mrs Hassall in Hospital Street. He was killed in action at Givenchy in France, on June 8, 1918, aged just 19, following a German artillery barrage on the frontline trenches just as he was heading for billets. Mark Pott's co-author is Tony Marks.

Details of some soldiers still evade the authors

MARK Potts is trying to find details of the last surviving Crewe and Nantwich soldier to serve in the First World War.

In November 2011, Mark was still looking for details on the following soldiers: Edward A.Baker (Crewe), Albert Ball (Crewe), Albert Barnes (Nantwich), Harry Binnersley (Wybunbury), John Bisley (Nantwich), H.Breeze (Crewe), John Brookshaw (Shavington), B.Buckley (Crewe), W.E.Chamberlain (Acton), Edwin Cooke (Shavington), John Dodd (Crewe), Wilfred Hunt (Crewe), William Latham (Crewe), Alfred John Lovatt (Wybunbury), S.H.Matthews (Crewe), Harold Potts (Shavington), F.Powell (Crewe), Herbert Saunders (Nantwich), Charles Thomas (Shavington), Frank White (Coppenhall Lychgate), and F.Yates (Crewe).

As well as photographs and images of the men, and their details, Mark and his co-author are looking for pictures related to the First World War, especially street scenes of wartime Nantwich and the unveiling of the war memorial in 1921. He said: "I only have a second-hand copy of that event."

IF you have any photos of the fallen from the Nantwich and Crewe areas, please contact Mark Potts on 01270 560015 or e-mail him at mark@markpotts.wanadoo.co.uk

Spotlight On (No 1): The Hacienda | Spotlight On (No 2): Additional homes | First World War soldier