Greater Accrington Heroes.

[RainbowSix]

So your determined to keep the information all to yourself, sat on a shelf doing no one any good.

OK if that's what you want, if you don't want others to be able to have accurate information and to leave them to the inaccurate info that's on the sites you mention then so be it, totally your choice.

I think it's a shame though.

[Morecambe Ex Pat]

I am at a loss as to why a lot of time effort and no doubt expense went towards research which will never be published into the public domain. All those errors will still be there long after we are all gone, I think we owe it to the lads who gave their lives for us, to ensure the documents marking their sacrifice are at least accurate.

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by Morecambe Ex Pat

I am at a loss as to why a lot of time effort and no doubt expense went towards research which will never be published into the public domain. All those errors will still be there long after we are all gone, I think we owe it to the lads who gave their lives for us, to ensure the documents marking their sacrifice are at least accurate.

I once went to Pen and Swords the publishers of Bills books on the Pals, they told me its not saleable very few will buy a book like that for just one name, you may sell a couple to military museums, and may be a couple of libraries, but we need to print and sell 300 ciopies to break even, and a books like that will never make it.
I took on the task because to me a bloke with out a hobby is gonna die an early death, and I've always had hobbies since I were a kid, sat ont kerb edge carving Spitfires an Huricanes out of lumps of fire wood, Its a hobby and keeps me occupied, just as I'm at present with all the 11th East Lancs medal cards sorting them out making them presentable with their full name rank and number.

[RainbowSix]

This is the very reason why something like this would IMHO be best published online.

There are organizations that would do this for you from the data that you have, you have said you did it on a computer, well that puts it in an electronic format that can be converted into whatever form is needed to make a copyrighted web based document.

Of course there is always the possibility that bits of data will be pinched by others, that's why going with a big organization is best as they have the ability to get it removed from other sites if copyright is breached.

No one uses paper versions these days, it's all electronic.

Walter, please don't think that we are having a go at you about this, we salute your hard work however some of us also think that if it were us - we would damn well make sure that others had access to this work too. Share it, take the credit. Then anyone that does copy it their host can be pointed to the correct copyrighted site so they are removed.

Well done on it, just please consider thinking outside the box a little more, don't just rely on experiences from ages ago and consider the relatives of the hundreds of the Accrington lads that you have data on.

I know what I would be doing with this, I wuld be sharing the knowledge.

[RainbowSix]

Originally Posted by Retlaw

I'm at present with all the 11th East Lancs medal cards sorting them out making them presentable with their full name rank and number.

Presentable to who or what? your shelves?

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by RainbowSix

Presentable to who or what? your shelves?

Many thanks for your quote, you are just one of many who have preached to me about what I should do with my hobby, would it be the same if I'd made an index of knitting patterns, I fail to see how it matters to you what I do with what is after all mine,
As for the Medal Cards, I've told John in the Library they are for the William (Bill) Turner collection, and will help John with queries, though when you know there are over 4000 men who served in the 11th, where are all the descendants, none of them are clamouring. most of those asking int Libray and Haworth would love to clain an Accy Pal, and get really upset when told they are not. One woman got real mad at me when they put my banner up on Broadway, I was stood there and she pointed and said thats my Grandad, I asked his name, sorry he is not on that picture, he didnt serve with them.

[Morecambe Ex Pat]

I don't really think people are preaching to you Walter, they probably think, like us, that it is a great shame that such diligent work should be kept locked away from future researchers. I am sure the people you have helped trace ancestors on here are very grateful for your assistance but how are future generations going to find their information.

There is a small army of people currently entering data into the national BMD indexes. They are doing this both as a hobby and to assist future generations with their research. Without that index and other sources, we would not have been able to carry out a lot of our research.

[cashman]

Thing is simple to me, the dirty tricks thats been played on Walter by various people, which some of these tricks have been mentioned by him on here, i can fully understand hom taking this position, its fine for those who dont know or dont remember to pontificate.

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by cashman

pontificate.

Shocked & stunned! My gast is flabbered! Pontificate?? From you Cashy?? You've been sneakin' peeks in a dictionary on the quiet haven't you, you owd dog!

[Margaret Pilkington]

I can understand entirely that Walter has been let down before.
It is entirely up to him what he chooses to do with this information, but like others I feel that it is a shame that people who want to know if their grandad or uncle was among these brave lads may have a fruitless search. They may be led astray by the misinformation that Walter tells us is out there masquerading as fact. They may never get the truth.
There must be some way to allow access to the information, while keeping the research safe.
In the end there is only one person who can decide right now. That is Walter.

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by DaveinGermany

Shocked & stunned! My gast is flabbered! Pontificate?? From you Cashy?? You've been sneakin' peeks in a dictionary on the quiet haven't you, you owd dog!

Oy thee DaveinGermany, leave my mate Cashy aluan he noes muer wurds than tha thinks, e dudnd alus savem fur Sundy's tha knoes.
Cahy fully understands my problem wi the x spurts (drips under pressure)
Margaret thanks for your responce I don't think future researachers will find any more info than I've, infact a lot om my sources such as Churches, clubs, pubs an Institiutions have vanished either discarded, lost or been stolen, before I could save them,Just think how many Schools, Institutes an Pubs Working Mens Clubs that were in existence in the old days that have vanished in the past 20 years, I did manged to photo most of them, others copied by hand, but I got em.

[Retlaw]

To name a few I couldn't get at, Wesley Chapel in Abbey St, Wesley Chapel in Union St, Oak St Congies, Woodnook Baptists, some of the more obscure religious houses in Avenue Parade & Whalley Rd.
One R-O-Hnr which has led me a dance is the Swedenborgs in Abbey St they have a R-O-Hr but reading it and the info, you would think the war would have been lost without them, luckly for me when I was on Ancestry I managed to download near 3000 sets of Servive Records and 1000's of Medal Cards, and they give a completely different picture. I also indexed all the 1918 Absent Voters lists, the powers that be would have us believe the soldiers themselves provided the information, what a laugh, there are 100's of errors, wrong servive numbers, wrong regiments, and even wrong addresses, I've also got 2 who died at the battle of the Somme in 1916, who filled in their forms, who filled in the forms for P.O.W's
jerry ?. Some of the worst tripe came from the Acc Gazette, sometimes 6 - 12 months late with casualty reports an then full of errors witb mens rank and number, luckily I was able to aquire most of the East Lancs Rolls when I worked at Fulwood, approx 32500 entries. All those errors in different sources is probably one of the reasons it took so long, checkin, checkin & more checking. Some of the other things I've had as well from people, My Grandad was a pal at the Somme, no such bloody thing, I'f all those had been Accrington Pals, the Pals could have savaged jerry to a standstill on there own.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Retlaw

Oy thee DaveinGermany, leave my mate Cashy aluan he noes muer wurds than tha thinks, e dudnd alus savem fur Sundy's tha knoes.
Cahy fully understands my problem wi the x spurts (drips under pressure)
Margaret thanks for your responce I don't think future researachers will find any more info than I've, infact a lot om my sources such as Churches, clubs, pubs an Institiutions have vanished either discarded, lost or been stolen, before I could save them,Just think how many Schools, Institutes an Pubs Working Mens Clubs that were in existence in the old days that have vanished in the past 20 years, I did manged to photo most of them, others copied by hand, but I got em.

Walter, when i read that post I could hear my grandad talking. He always spoke in broad dialect...so thank you for taking me back...shame I could not have spoken back to my grandad(there are lots of things he knew and I didn't...but didn't know I would ever want to know)..such is life.

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Walter, when i read that post I could hear my grandad talking. He always spoke in broad dialect...so thank you for taking me back...shame I could not have spoken back to my grandad(there are lots of things he knew and I didn't...but didn't know I would ever want to know)..such is life.

Hi Margaret, I know you don't like face book, in some ways I can see why, but our Alison set me up on it a few years back, I have my own page and talk to friends, I don't mean like them who collect all an sundry, just people I know personally, and its linked to Gary's site (Garinda) and only Greater Accrington (Hyndburn) stuff is dicussed, a heck of a lot of local history, I mostly write in dialect. and quite a few ladies areyund your generation enjoy it, like you thi con ear thur Dad or Grandad tawking, (thur mi Demdykes,) thurs a fuw us think I shud bi band, tu me is ses thi wurned born i Gods County, Lanky Land.
Cum un ev a luk, if tha dusnd lyk id, tha con alus wipe id off.
Si thi Freddy Kruger.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Walter, I am sure that your FB page would get quite a bit of traffic from those of us who remember the lanky dialect. I have great respect for you, but I will not be going on FB at any price. I think I might be allergic to it.
Keep up the good work.