The only infantry battalion to be raised from the town of Bolton during the Great War was the 5th Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, a part of the Territorial Force. The 5th Loyals who eventually had four entities, the 1/5th, 2/5th, 3/5th and 4/5th fought with outstanding bravery, suffering heavy losses on the Western Front.

At Queen’s Park, a mile or so from the centre of town is a very well-kept cenotaph that contains over 1,000 names of those who fell with the 5th – also known as the ‘Bolton Rifles’. The main town cenotaph to all those who fell from Bolton and another to the Royal Artillery are situated directly in the town centre.

As time has moved on the cenotaph bearing this huge amount of individually named casualties to the Bolton Rifles hasn’t received the attention it deserves, probably because of the location and a lack of awareness of what is represented as the modern age progresses.

At Passchendaele on October 26 1917, the 2/5th Loyals went through hell, a few weeks later at Cambrai the 1/5th suffered a similar fate - the original Bolton Rifles were decimated, what was left of this proud battalion had to be almost completely reinforced.

We can’t allow those 1,000 men to be overlooked, simply because their cenotaph is not on the ‘beaten track’. Now, after a formal case appeal by the Foundation and with the full approval and co-operation of Bolton Council we have helped to determine that an annual full dedicated service to honour these men will take place. The date of this will commence with the 107th anniversary of the Bolton Rifles heroic stand at Passchendaele on October 26 2024.

The James Garnett Foundation will strive to bring about local awareness throughout the year of this event and utilise (wherever we are given the opportunity) our historic knowledge to provide educational resource to all regarding the sacrifices made by the men of the Bolton Rifles. To enable this we can provide talks, lectures and the demonstration of genuine artefacts that have personal significance to some of these brave men. Contact us for any enquiries you have regarding this very significant matter.