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Events
The next meeting of the Western Front Association takes place on Monday 23 September, 2019 at the Royal Air Force Association (RAFA) Club, Westby House, Golden Hill, Leyland, PR24 3NN at 7.30 for 8pm. Suggested donation is £4 - Non WFA members also welcome
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IMAGE: The Battle of the Scarpe. The tank "Iron Duke" moving through Arras on its way to the front, 10 April 1917. © IWM (Q 6418). IWM Non-Commercial License
The Battle of Arras - The Forgotten Film
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​The film is presented by Alastair Fraser from the Special Collections Dept of Durham University who will give an historical introduction and commentary of the film.

“The Battle of Arras" is the last and least known of what were called the "three big battle pictures" produced by British cine cameramen in the Great War. It has always been overshadowed by "The Battle of the Somme" and "The Battle of the Ancre" and was certainly not such a great commercial success but shows the British Army at an interesting stage in its development in the spring of 1917. Using the same investigative techniques used in the book "Ghosts on the Somme: filming the battle" Alastair Fraser will provide a commentary to the film revealing locations and individuals. The showing is preceded by a short presentation on the film and camera technology and introduces the cameramen who captured the footage, often at considerable personal risk.

Alastair Fraser was Early Printed Book Librarian at Durham University until his retirement in 2018. He has been involved in the excavation of sites on the old Western Front since the 1990's and is a member of No-man's-Land: the International Group for Great War Archaeology. He has a degree in History from Newcastle University and has lectured on the archaeology and history of the war to many organisations and universities, written numerous articles and co-authored the pioneering study "Ghosts on the Somme" which is a forensic examination of Malins' and MacDowell's film of the battle.
Past & Current Projects
Cuerden Hall & the Red Cross 1914-19
During the Great War, Cuerden Hall was used as an auxiliary military hospital. The hospital treated more than 700 injured soldiers. Many women and some men volunteered for service with the Red Cross and St. John Ambulance
IWM War Memorials Register
Many of the memorials listed on this website are either not on the register or their details need updating. WFA Leyland and Central Lancashire will undertake this work beginning in 2019
Tracing the Belgian Refugees
Tracing the Belgian Refugees is a digital humanities project funded by the AHRC and run by colleagues at the Universities of Leeds, Leuven and UCL, which traces and records Belgian refugees who came to the UK during the First World War. 
South Ribble WW1 Memorial
The South Ribble World War 1 Memorial was unveiled and dedicated on 11 Nov 2015. Charles O'Donnell and other historians traced the men on it. Video by RT Productions for South Ribble Council
Our Lives
Our Lives is a multimedia experience created by The Creative Network and South Ribble Borough Council. Charles O'Donnell of WFA Leyland & Central Lancashire was a contributor. Video by RT Productions for South Ribble Council
John McNamara VC Stone
On 2nd September 2018, on the eve of the one-hundredth anniversary of the events that were to win him the VC, the Corporal John McNamara VC paving stone was unveiled in his home village of Bamber Bridge (‘Brig’) near Preston, Lancashire. 
South Ribble in the Great War is a project of the Leyland & Central Lancashire branch of The Western Front Association (WFA). The WFA was formed in 1980 to maintain interest in the First World War (1914-1918). We work to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of all, from all sides, on all Fronts: on land, at sea, in the air and on the Home Front. The WFA is non-political and does not seek to glorify war. Text and images on this website are © 2018 Charles O'Donnell unless otherwise stated - see the full disclaimer. Please note that this work has been produced in partnership with South Ribble Borough Council but this website does not belong to them.
South Ribble in the Great War
© WFA Leyland & Central Lancashire 2018