Blackburn Museum Remembrance YouTube Series

Blackburn Museum has a new Remembrance series for its YouTube channel.

The topic of Remembrance is often popular with schools and children at this time of year. But, since the pandemic has forced many of us to stay home while we remember those who lost their lives, the series is a chance for everyone to discover interesting local stories from the region relating to Remembrance.

Museum curator of the unique series, and education officer, Stephen Irwin said:

“I hope residents will find the stories as interesting as I did. I love that we’ve been able to share the sometimes often overlooked memorials and give them a chance to shine. In particular the ‘Served and Died’ war memorial includes people who went to war and came back, giving us a better picture of the whole mill community.”

Series overview

Episode 1

As Remembrance Day approaches we take a look at one of our First World War memorials, a ‘Served and Died’ war memorial from Greenfield Mill in Darwen, Lancashire. This memorial is on display in Blackburn Museum and we take a look at names of the men and women named on it before looking in more detail at the lives of the ten men named on the memorial who lost their lives.

Episode 2

When World War One began, a Blackburn school teacher had to choose between his religious beliefs or his Country. We look at how some Conscientious Objectors responded when Britain went to war in 1914 and take a look at the little known role of the Friends Ambulance Units serving with the French Army in World War One.

Episode 3

A map from the Museum’s collections brings us as close as we can get to the final moments of World War One. Colonel Dixon’s papers are a treasure trove of rare documents from World War One. We take a close look at one map in particular; this map was a puzzle at first glance but turned out to be a remarkable glimpse into the final moments of the war.

The Council has also created a Remembrance video working with servicemen past and present from The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the Cathedral’s Dean and both the Blackburn and Darwen branches of the Royal British Legion to create its own act of remembrance, with several generations joining together to commemorate our fallen heroes. Talented bugle player Abbie Naylor is performing the background track, with her rendition of the poignant Last Post.