THE sacrifice made by Alice Thomasson will be honoured in a monument to the fallen.
Alice a resident of Moses Gate who in 1917 determined that ‘she wanted to do her bit’ for the war effort was the only woman from Bolton to die in active service in World War One.
The Friends of Moses Gate received the green light from planners to create the monument at Moses Gate Triangle, junction of Egerton Street and Bolton Road.
The structure will be dedicated to those from the area who served in the two World Wars.
It will be developed on reclaimed land.
The friends group was formed after events in August 2017 caused the closure of Bolton Road and Egerton Street when a water main burst and damaged a railway bridge.
The area was cut off and subject to high intensity construction operations for a period of many months.
Residents of the area came together and organised themselves to make the best out of the situation and to ensure that the area affected by the works was reinstated to a condition that people could be proud of.
A plaque will be unveiled on the monument in honour of Alice, who enlisted in Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corp and was posted to Abbeville in France, she was killed three days later when a bomb fell on the British field hospital that she was working in.
The monument will consist of seven identically shaped stone blocks built on top of each other.
On top of the stone monument will be a decorative brass figure in the shape of a first world war soldier paying respects to fallen colleagues.
Three sides of the monument will have commemorative brass plaques screwed solidly to the monument which pays respects to the fallen of the Moses Gate area during the World Wars
These plaques were previously located in All Saints Church, Devon Street, Moses Gate until the Church was closed in 2000.
“The plaques were removed before the church was demolished and have been kept in a safe secure area.
Prior to its closure, All Saints Church had been the location that the people of Moses Gate would use to commemorate remembrance Sunday and other recognised dates of commemoration.”
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