A RESEARCH project has been launched to find out about the Ribble Valley soldiers who fell in the world wars ahead of a village’s memorial being unveiled.

Liz Wilkins, secretary of Ribchester War Memorial Association, is looking into the lives of men from the village who died to ‘bring their stories to life’.

Planning permission was recently granted for a new memorial in Ribchester after a campaign by residents.

The association raised more than £20,000 for the structure which is expected to be unveiled on August 3.

One of the soldiers Liz has researched into is Sgt James Pinder who died in 1917.

Sgt Pinder was born in 1889 in the White Bull in Ribchester and joined up the year he died with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and fought during the second battle of Passchendaele, where he was killed in action.

Liz, 38, is also hoping to identify the houses where the 23 men from both world wars lived so that they can be marked on the unveiling day.

The association, which is made up of Ribchester residents, has recently been given charity status and Liz is hoping that having more information behind the names on the memorial will have a greater impact.

Liz said: “Our chairman Roy Skilbeck has recently published a book on the men from the village which has been a great resource.

“I have tried to is expand on his work, using birth and marriage records, and tried to find as much detail as I can to bring these names to life.

“It’s very important to find out people’s stories as it will have a greater impact than just a name on a memorial.

For more information about the soldiers, visit www.facebook.com/ ribchesterwarmemorial?fref=ts