During This Month in History

Since the launch of this Website last July, we have featured 'During this Month in History' as part our commitment to 'Remembrance, Awareness and Responsibility'. On each occasion we have remembered the known men of Tattenhall and its immediate District who died in both The Great War and WWII.

Research undertaken by Terri Hull and Yvonne Keeping has uncovered the detailed stories of at least 30 young men, the names of whom appear on the Tattenhall War Memorial, in St Alban's Churchyard or on private family graves and, of course, who are remembered in corners of foreign fields as close to where they fell as was reasonably possible.

This month we feature Lance Corporal James Edwin Breen.

James Edwin Breen was the son of John and Maria Breen of Castle View, Tattenhall. His father's occupation was listed as 'Domestic Gardener'. In the 1911 Census (the last taken before the onset of War in 1914), James Edwin Breen is listed at home with his parents and his brother and three sisters (Percy, May, Eleanor and Margaret) Whilst he is listed as 'Edwin' on the 1911 Census, he was certainly baptised 'James Edwin Breen'; Tattenhall Baptismal Records confirming his baptism on 18 April 1897.

James Edwin Breen joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and he rose to Lance Corporal in rank. He died on 20 June 1917 at the age of just 20. He is remembered on the Tattenhall War Memorial and at Mendinghem Military Cemetery which lies NW of Ypres in Flanders Fields.

Mendinghem was a Casualty Clearing Station. Other clearing stations were established in the area in readiness for the Allied offensive.

If you have any further information regarding Lance Corporal James Edwin Breen or others that we have featured during the last year, then please contact Terri or Yvonne through the 'Contact Us' button at the top of the Home Page. Similarly, you might wish to visit the Tattenhall Local History Website at www.tattenhallhistory.co.uk