Men of Worth honours those who gave their lives for our freedom during wartime

John’s story, along with so many others, could easily have faded into history, as those who knew and loved him passed away. But his life and times have been brought into focus for a new generation, thanks to the work of volunteers from a project which is determined to ensure the stories of the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom are never forgotten. The Men of Worth Project aims to provide a biography of everyone from the Worth Valley who served their country.

Men of Worth director Andy Wade described John’s story as one of the most moving he had encountered.

"John excelled at school and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Science, going on to teach for the Church Missionary Society at a college in Jerusalem,’’ Mr Wade said. “He returned home when war broke out, to enlist with his friends in the church bible class and he was the driving force for their group enlistment.

"A natural leader, he became a sergeant in a very short space of time and had been noted for an officer's commission. In August 1915, shortly after arriving at Suvla Bay on the Gallipoli peninsula, he was shot and killed in a battle leading his men over the top. At least three of his comrades wrote home of their shock at his death, his school teacher was moved to write a poem about him, and his former headmaster spoke eloquently of his potential, which had been cut short in the war.

"He was just 25 but had already achieved so much in his life and I'm sure he would have gone on to greater things had he survived. This is the kind of story repeated over and over again, but the effect he seems to have had on others, highlights his death as particularly tragic for me.”

Men of Worth, which is run by Mr Wade and fellow directors Ian Walkden and Helen Wade, was founded with the goal of recording all of the Worth Valley’s war graves and memorials.

Mr Wade recalled: “As a former serviceman – I spent six years in the RAF – I was always closely interested in Remembrance. In 2001 I decided to find out more about the 44 names on Oakworth's Great War Memorial and the 11 names on our Second World War memorial. This was spurred on after Remembrance Day 2000, when I overheard someone say: ‘It's just a list of names on a stone, nobody knows who they are any more.”’

"I first thought this was a really disrespectful comment, but after consideration I realised that they were right,’’ he recalled. “I had no idea who these men were and I just wanted to find out more about them if I could. After all, what is the point of remembrance if we don't even remember who they actually were?

“The name 'Men of Worth' came about because the research naturally expanded into more local villages and eventually we had to decide on geographical limits, so we settled on Keighley and the Worth Valley. These people were mostly from the Worth Valley and I thought that their sacrifice was 'worthy.' Keighley's motto is 'By Worth' so everything fitted together rather neatly.”

He believes it’s vital to tell the stories of everyone who served.

“These people gave their lives in the cause of freedom and the least we can do is record and remember what happened and try to understand why they did it,’’ said Mr Wade. “Hopefully we can learn from the mistakes of the past. Although we began with names on our local war memorial, we include all those who served, because their contribution is an important part of understanding the effect of war on our communities.”

To expand the research, “Women of Worth” has been created as an aligned group, which is accessing Red Cross nursing and Women's Land Army records. Men of Worth is also carrying out research into local conscientious objectors and their treatment.

Mr Wade added: “A recent generous grant from Keighley Town Council will help greatly with our ability to promote and exhibit our work publicly, as we can now afford more display equipment for this purpose. Also, a smaller grant from Bradford Council has enabled us to purchase a special voice recorder, to begin interviewing people for an oral history archive.”

“For many years it has just been myself and my colleague Ian Walkden doing the work, but we have had half a dozen people join us in the last couple of years, which has lightened the load considerably and we expect others who have expressed an interest to come forward.

"Being honoured with The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2021 has raised our profile considerably and people are looking at what we do, and have come forward as a result of that. Others have done small amounts of digital research for us and we've never even met them because they live abroad or in other parts of the UK. We have a list of more than 100 people on the website who have supported us over the years.”

Mr Wade is determined to ensure the men and women who did their duty during wartime are more than just names on a memorial. Their stories show ordinary people really can topple tyrants.

Find out more about the work of the Men of Worth Project, which is a Community Interest Company, by visiting https://www.menofworth.org.uk/about/