30 October 2026
Barnsley has always understood the importance of Remembrance. For generations, men and women from our town have answered our country’s call. Some returned to their families and their lives here. Others never came home.
Among them were three brothers: Ernest, Fred and Charles Walker.
All three served with the Barnsley Pals, the two battalions raised from local men to fight in the First World War.
On 1 July 1916, all three were killed at Serre on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Their family’s terrible loss was part of a devastating day for our town. In just a matter of hours, the 1st Barnsley Pals suffered 275 casualties and the 2nd suffered 270, with hundreds of local men killed, wounded, or missing.
Yet Barnsley’s sacrifice in the First World War went beyond the Pals. Men from our town served across the Armed Forces, including some who had once taken to the pitch at Oakwell.
Wilfred Bartrop was one of them. He helped Barnsley win the FA Cup in 1912. Six years later, he had swapped football for military service. He was killed in Belgium on 7 November 1918 – just four days before the Armistice.
It was in the aftermath of the First World War that our modern tradition of Remembrance began, as communities across the country sought to honour those who had served and remember those who never returned. More than a century later, it has grown to encompass every generation that has served and sacrificed for our country.
Many more from our town would serve in the conflicts that followed.
One was Sergeant David Taylor Horsfall, who attended Barnsley Grammar School and took part in the Dambusters raid in 1943, before being tragically killed on the return flight.
Another was Sergeant Ian McKay, who was born in our borough and served with 3 PARA in the Falklands. He was killed at Mount Longdon in 1982 and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his extraordinary bravery.
More recently, Barnsley lost two of its heroes in Afghanistan. Captain Martin Driver and Private Matthew Thornton both lost their lives while serving our country and helping to protect others.
These are just a handful of names from generations of Barnsley men and women who have served our country.
Like very many in our town, I have had the privilege of serving, including in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. When we remember those who served before us, we also think of the people we served alongside – and hope that, many decades from now, their names and sacrifice will still be remembered.
That is why Remembrance matters. It reaches far beyond any one war or any one generation. However, much time passes, those who served and sacrificed for our country must not be forgotten.
So, when Barnsley stands together in Remembrance, we will remember the Walker brothers and the Barnsley Pals who fought and died in the First World War. We will also remember all those who, in every generation since, have stepped forward to serve our country: those who came home, those who still serve today, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
We will remember them.