Mayor helps launch new book dedicated to the 'Great War'
The Mayor of Lancaster, Coun Roger Mace, recently attended the launch of a new book at a special event held at the City Museum.
Book cover
The book, "Great War Britain, Lancaster, Remembering 1914-18", was written by authors from the history department at Lancaster University, together with the curator of the King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum.
After praising the authors for compiling a fascinating panorama of events and memories detailing the impact of the war on Lancaster life and heritage, he commented that the book also brings together a tremendous selection of pictures to illustrate the text.
He said: "The events described took place a century ago but are not so distant that those of alive today are untouched by them. In my village a plaque was added to our Peace Stone only a few years ago to commemorate the fact that men from the village who left for war in the 1914-18 period all returned safely. Men from Lancaster itself were not so lucky - as is set out in the pages of this book - and some of us will be well aware of grandfathers or great uncles who fought in the Great War - even though they may have disclosed little or nothing about their experiences during their lifetimes.
"When I came to live in the district some 40 years ago, there were still people around who could talk from first-hand experience of the terrors of the White Lund explosion and fire, as witnessed from the top of Gardeners Hill at Nether Kellet and there are still people in our district whose female relatives worked on the land or in the National Filling Factory while their menfolk were serving in the armed forces."
After expanding on the role of his predecessor, Coun William Briggs, who was Mayor of Lancaster throughout the War, from 1913 to 1919, and of Mary Briggs, his Mayoress, Coun Mace said: "I am pleased to participate in the launch of this book - a memorial that keeps alive for a new generation the events of a century ago and shows how our heritage has influenced the present and will influence our future."
In a private capacity, Roger Mace is currently Chairman of the Friends of the City Museum, a group of people dedicated to ensuring that the museum continues to be a vibrant source of information about Lancaster's past, a focus for its present, and an inspiration for its future.
Last updated: 11 September 2017