THIS week Times Past takes a closer look at the wooden cross in the grounds of St Peter's Church in Formby.
Although a cross in a church is not in itself unusual, this structure is a little different. Recovered from the trenches of France, it marks the names of the soldiers from the 12th King's ( Liverpool Regiment ) who died at Ginchy in 1916.
And as Remembrance Sunday begins to fade from our collective memory for another year, perhaps now is the time to take a closer look at some of the names on it. They are Kenneth Lotherington Hutchings, Arthur Ernest Thompson, George Eric Thompson, John Smethurst, Thomas Power Corish, Robert Davison, Herbert Harman Dunn and Harry Edwards. All the men's bodies were destroyed by German shelling, so the cross is an important record of their lives.
And two of the fallen heroes were living in Formby before the war. Lieutenant Hutchings was at South View on Old Town Lane in Freshfield. He was commissioned in to the The King's on September 12 1914, and killed on September 3 1916. His name is also recorded on the epic Thiepval memorial in France.
And George Thompson came from a Formby family who lived at Parkfield on Freshfield Road. George was educated at Rugby and Harrow, and was a member of Northern Cricket Club and West Lancashire Golf Club. He enlisted in to The King's on August 31 1914 and was killed on September 3 1916, aged 20, after 7 weeks on the front. His name is also commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, and at Northern Cricket Club in Great Crosby.
Fr Paul Ormerod of St Peter's said:"The cross is important because it records the names of local men and a Liverpool Regiment."

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