War had a devastating effect on the small population of Halewood and the First World War took the lives of many well known young men of the neighbourhood. The most tragic story affected the Rector, Reverend Francis Plummer, who lost three of his seven sons.
The war memorial was erected in front of the church door in 1921. Before that, two proposals had been aired, but fell through;
'The first suggestion for a War Memorial was that a recreation ground for men and boys should be secured, but all efforts to obtain a suitable piece proved fruitless. The cost of building and maintaining a Village Institute was felt to be too great, so it was proposed to provide a Lych Gate for the Church, with an inscription bearing the names of those who had fallen in the War. Any money remaining should be devoted to the benefit of blinded or otherwise disabled soldiers. The proposal of the lych gate ultimately fell through'.
A short time later definite plans were made for the memorial;
'The Parochial Church Council decided in February, 1921, that a simple stone memorial should be erected in front of the Church, bearing the names of the 19 men of the parish who had lost their lives in the War. The choice of the design was left to Mr. Thomas Hale and Mr. Thomas Lunt. After examining several photographs, they found in the premises of Messrs. Thomas Stubbs and Sons a memorial in white marble which appealed to them strongly. A similar red granite monument, including the inscription and names in raised leaden letters, would cost £135. The parish should not be canvassed for donations and none were to exceed three guineas. Thus they would be more spontaneous and come from the parishioners generally. By September, £155/13/0 had been received, so a framed list, snowing particulars of each man, was placed in the church porch. This additional memorial was designed and executed by two of the parishioners, Mr. Walter Pickavance and Mr. David Crosby. A balance of £21/10/10 was divided equally between St. Dunstan's Fund for blinded soldiers and the Lord Roberts Memorial Fund to provide workshops for disabled soldiers and sailors. The outside monument was unveiled by the Bishop of Warrington on the evening of 2/th July, 1921'.
A further twenty eight names were added of those who were killed in the Second World War. Ann and Frederick Miller did not die fighting in World War II, but were local doctors who were killed during a bombing raid near the church whilst trying to shelter.
In 1999 the memorial was fully restored. Missing letters were replaced and all inscriptions were repainted. The granite was cleaned with acid and a new concrete base was inserted under the memorial and the area re-turfed.
The names that have been highlighted have been traced to their final resting place. Click the name on the memorial list below to access their record on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.
