During 2014, we’re commemorating the Centenary of the beginning of World War I in 1914.

For the past seven years Andrew Hesketh has been researching the role played in the Great War by the people of Abergele.

As a mark of respect to those who participated in  WWI, AbergelePost.com is publishing the names of the participants in installments, along with where they’re from and their regiment where known.

We can do this with special thanks to Andrew Hesketh for sharing his research. Andrew describes how he came to do this and  writes:

“I have been researching the men and women of Abergele & district who participated in the  Great War 1914-1918 since c.2007. My ‘list’ of participants now well exceeds 1,000 and this is backed up by plenty of archival and research information, as well as visits to certain battlefields.

“About three or four years ago I read in the local press that the Council were planning towards the centenary of 2014, and that a central pillar of their plan would be based around potentially adding ‘missing’ names to memorial at St. Michael’s.”

Andrew sees his work as an organic project:

“Would any readers be able to add any information, trivial or otherwise, to my research into local men and women of the Great War period? I would be particularly pleased to see photographs of local men who participated. I am also struggling to match up some war-era addresses with their actual location in Abergele! Naturally I would share, in return, any information I have collected.”

We’ll be publishing Andrew’s list – split up into four installments – over the coming weeks, and timing the final installment to go live on the morning exactly 100 years after the Great War began on 28 July 1914.

AbergelePost has been working with Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan on a multi-media project which will aim to pay special tribute to those who took part in the War. More news about that over the coming weeks.