Burnley Leisure create commemorative VE Day video depicting Burnley through the ages
With staff contributing archive family photos of their relatives, Burnley Leisure - a charitable trust which runs Prairie Sports Village, St Peter’s Leisure Centre, Padiham Leisure Centre, Towneley Golf Club, Burnley Mechanics theatre, and The Boathouse in Thompson Park - also had help from local history groups Hapton Heritage and Ye Olde Padiham in creating the video.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHighlighting the bravery, dedication, and spirit of local men and women who served at home and abroad during the Second World War, the images illustrate the variety of contributions to the war effort in east Lancashire, with the video depicting local servicemen in the East Lancashire Regiment, the Parachute Regiment, the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, and the Royal Navy.
Other images capture the drama, fear, and destruction of war through pictures of paratroopers jumping from aircraft, sailors hauling a crashed fighter plane from the sea, and men working on a mine-sweeping ship.
The parts played by locals in key historic events are also honoured in the video, which includes shots of William Thomas Morley, a young east Lancashire soldier who was part of the allied Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands in September 1944 in which many allied lives were lost. William thankfully survived and one happier photograph shows him marrying his wife, Lucy, after the war.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdPhotos of Major Leonard Berney, one of the first British troops to liberate the Belsen-Bergen concentration camp in northern Germany, and of Lancashire troops in India and Africa are also included, as are images demonstrating the vital role played by east Lancashire women including Nora Stanton of Burnley, who worked in agriculture for the Land Army.
Also local to Burnley, Elsie Alston was an ambulance driver with the Women’s Voluntary Service for Air Raid Precautions, which helped civilians during and after air raids with rest centres, food, first aid, and the evacuation of children. Further images depict the local Juvenile Gaieties Troupe, a dance group formed to lift people’s spirits, and Padiham Green Church Lads’ Brigade.
Burnley Leisure thanks staff who contributed family photographs and information to the video, as well as Kieron Ridehalgh and Ann Clark of Ye Olde Padiham and Jan Lakeland of Hapton Heritage.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdTo watch the video, go to https://burnleyleisure.co.uk/ve-day-75/A message from the Editor:
Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.
In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOur journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.
With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.
Thank you