The Chesterfield FC War Memorial is to be re-dedicated on Monday, April 14
The memorial was established in the Memorial Garden adjacent to the SMH Group Stadium in 2014. At that point there were 16 men named on the memorial. Work done since has established that another five people who were players or officials at the club died in the wars of the last century:
Private Albert Nuttall, The King’s (Liverpool Regiment), who was a director of the club, died at Passchendaele in 1917.
Corporal George Woolley, The Royal Engineers 177th Tunnelling Company, was a goalkeeper in four League games in 1901. He was killed at Hooge near Ypres in 1917.
Private Albert Cooper, 7th London Regiment, who played one first-team game in 1917, died after being wounded at Maricourt on the Somme the following year.
Gunner Leslie Baxter, 35th Light AA Regiment Royal Artillery, played two seasons of reserve football. He died in a prisoner of war camp in what was then Burma in 1943.
Private John Dennis, 200th Company Labour Corps, who played eight games in 1895 during the club’s Sheffield League days. He was killed at the Battle of the Ancre in 1918.
The plaque on the memorial stone will be replaced to add these five brave men to their team-mates and comrades in arms. All will also be described on the information wall besides the memorial.
The date for the re-dedication has been chosen as it marks the 80th anniversary of the death of Sergeant Allan Sliman, 75th (New Zealand) Squadron RAF, who played more than 250 for the club and was captain when we won the championship in 1936.
The ceremony will commence at 6.30pm and is open to all to attend. It will be followed by a dinner in the club lounges from 7.30pm, where the men commemorated and the work around heritage and project supporting former service people will be highlighted. Tickets for the dinner event will be available shortly.