some years ago a letter in the Lancashire Evening Post asked why there was no memorial to the Preston Pals. It sparked local businessman Andrew Mather into action and on 22 July 2012, exactly 96 years less one day after D Company (the Preston Pals), 7th Loyals, suffered grievously in their first action at Bazentin-le-Petit, a memorial to their memory was unveiled on the platform at Preston Station from which they departed to war. The Museum provided enthusiastic support to the project, especially via our late, much-lamented Friend Joe Hodgson, without whose encyclopaedic knowledge the Memorial would never have come to fruition.

The Memorial

Preston businessman Andrew Mather, the driving force behind the creation of the memorial, outlines the history of the project.

Colonel Steve Davies, Deputy Colonel (Lancashire) of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, and Lord Shuttleworth, Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, examine the memorial after the unveiling.