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STORIES OF ST ALBAN'S SECOND WORLD WAR DEAD SERVICE PERSONNEL

Between 1939 and 1945, the world found itself ravaged by war for the second time in the Twentieth Century. Frequently described as the most destructive war in history, the exact number of people who lost their lives in World War 2 is unknown; estimates of between fifty and sixty million civilians and service personnel are often quoted.

Prior to the outbreak of World War 2, memories of the reckless destruction of The Great War still hung over Britain. The British Armed Forces were made up almost entirely by volunteers and considerable investment was made to increase their size as the grip of Nazism grew in Germany. The British Army - including reservists - increased in size from just over one million personnel at the outbreak of war to three and a half million having served by the end of the war.

It is not surprising that Macclesfield felt the impact of the world being at war again. Although it was the only English mill town not to be bombed by the German Luftwaffe, many Maxonian men and women lost their lives in the armed forces.

In St Alban's, we remember the souls of nineteen parishioners - eighteen men and one woman - who died in one of the armed services. Amongst our service personnel there are three brothers, a submariner, a man killed during the sinking of HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow, a pilot of weather flights across the North Sea and a sailor who lost his life when his ship was sunk in the English Channel. There are many fascinating stores to be found on this website about our parishioners who lost their lives in World War 2.



Over the coming months, the stories our deceased World War 2 service personnel will be shared on this website. If you would like to contribute any information you have about someone named on our memorial, please email Ann, amdz2@yahoo.co.uk

We hope that the outcomes of this research will eventually be published as a booklet.

Please note, unless otherwise credited, all photographs and images on this website have been taken or created by Ann Dalzell.

This website honours the WWII casualities of St Alban's Catholic Church, Chester Road, Macclesfield
www.stalbanmacc.org.uk
www.iwm.org.uk

St Alban's WWI war dead website