St
John's Church, Ainsdale
St
John's Church, Ainsdale
Church Tour - Reredos
This
dates from 1922 and was given by Mr and Mrs R Shaw in memory of Captain Robert
Shaw, a sidesman, who had died at Ypres in 1917. It was recently renovated after
a donation from Captain Shaw's nephew. Click on the picture for a larger version.
The following was written by Ian Knifton, a member of St. John's, for the Parish Magazine and is reproduced with permission.
CAPT. ROBERT SHAW died 1917
Almost every Sunday I find myself reading the inscription near the altar:
To the Glory of God, and in loving memory of Robert Shaw BA, Capt. 7th K.L.R. who fell in action near Ypres 1917.
I have always been interested in military history and especially the Great War, and some months ago I decided to undertake some research about Captain Shaw.
Robert Shaw was the son of Robert and Annie Shaw of Ainsdale. He married Margaret Phyllis Dod of a Buckingham Avenue, Sefton Park, Liverpool. It appears Capt. Shaw was a pre-war territorial, and possibly went to France with the 7th Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment on 7th March 1915. At the age of 25, he was killed in action on 20th September 1917 at Iberian Farm near Ypres, Belgium and is buried at Dochy Farm New British Cemetery. This cemetery is about 4 kilometres south-east of the village of Langemarck on the road to Zonnebeke. The battle in which Capt. Shaw was killed was the 3rd Ypres. The Great War History of The King's Regiment describes in graphic detail the sort of conditions faced:
'The 1/7th King's, right battalion of the 165th Brigade.., had formed up in four waves at zero on the 20th September (5.40a.m.) our barrage opened on the enemy's front line... almost immediately the enemy opened with a 4.2 in. and 5.9 in. barrage, which fell on our front line..., at zero the leading waves of the battalion advanced as close under the barrage as possible... almost immediately violent machine-gun fire broke out from Kaynorth, Iberian and Hill 35, and the King's men suffered casualties.... progress was terribly difficult, No Man's land was literally a mass of shell-holes, mostly full of water.... the ground was deep in viscous mud which clung to the boots of the attackers.... the first waves were held up by Iberian and Kaynorth which comprised of concrete dug outs.... the enemy's cross machine-gun fire was heavy... being on higher ground the most bitter fighting took place around the strong point Iberian. It was not until 6.45a.m. ... that it was finally stormed.'
In September 1994, along with my father and uncle, I visited some battle sites and cemeteries in both France and Belgium - my great-grandfather who died in 1919 and is buried in St. Omer; two great uncles - both brothers who were killed near Loos in 1915; one commemorated in a grave, the other who amongst thousands of others has no known grave, It was awe-inspiring to see some of the cemeteries - one could not fail to be moved by the scenes - immaculately kept, some with only 20 or so graves; others like Tyne Cot near Ypres with over 12,000. The figures almost become meaningless; over 56,000 names on the Menin Gate Memorial to those whose bodies were never found. This is just one of many. The Last Post is played by a bugler every evening at the Menin Gate. It is a stark reminder that we must never forget the ultimate sacrifice made by so many in both World Wars and subsequent conflicts.
The sense of loss is best summed up in Laurence Binyon's poem, 'For the Fallen' first published in The Times on 21st September 1914
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
If anyone has any further information on the men and women from Southport who served in the 1914-18 War, I would be very happy to hear from them.
If anyone does have any information of interest to Ian we will pass on your details if you use the feedback page or email pellis@iee.org
Page Last Updated: December 1, 2002
