11 November 2022
The third in a series of local history lectures as part of the Bicentenary celebrations for the present building at St Michael's Parish Church, Kirkham, was delivered in church on Wednesday 9 November by former KGS Head of Latin, Sue Long.
Timed to coincide with Remembrance Week, Mrs Long spoke on Kirkham in times of Conflict, the story of the sufferings and heroism of the people of Kirkham and district over the centuries.
As well as the very heavy death toll in the two world wars, she told stories from the English Civil War the Napoleonic Wars, which involved the people of Kirkham and district in so many ways. Common to all is not only the toll among the men fighting for their country, but also the sorrow and deprivation endured by their families.
She also covered the huge role played by RAF Kirkham, now HMP Kirkham Prison, as a training and demobilisation centre in the Second World War, and the tragic story of the Freckleton Air Disaster in August 1944.
Kirkham Grammar School, whose origins and history are so intrinsically linked to that of St Michael's Church, features in many of the stories, some well-known like the death of Old Kirkhamian Henry Rishton Buck in the Battle of Waterloo, or the heroism of George Cross recipient Matthew Osborne in the Second World War. Less well known are tales like the heartbreaking story of KGS Science teacher Paul Schweikher, who was hounded out of his job and his adopted home in Kirkham at the start of the First World War on account of his German nationality.
The lecture and accompanying slides will be made available on the Church's You Tube Channel in the near future.
Pictured are Mrs Long delivering her lecture and Father Richard Dashwood holding the sword of Henry Rishton Buck, which was loaned to the church for the evening by KGS.
Fr Richard is pictured in front of the memorial to Rishton Buck in the church.