Historian digs out heroic secrets of cemetery tainted by link to Ripper

But now the endeavours of an amateur historian have revealed a very different side to Bingley Cemetery's somewhat murky past, uncovering terrible wartime tales of crash landings and trench fever, of brave flying aces and mysterious accidents in southern Africa.

Struggling to find work after being made redundant earlier this year, 39-year-old Bingley resident Andrew Bolt has refused to become "one of those unemployed people who just sits around".

Instead he has thrown himself into a personal project to immortalise the fallen men and women who became wartime heroes to the Bingley community many decades ago, but are now largely forgotten.

"It's about remembering these people," he said. "It's a very poignant time at the moment with what's happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"If you look back at wars of the past, you couldn't tell me the names of anybody involved in those campaigns except the leaders. We've got chaps now coming back who have been killed in action, but who will be remembered in 100 years' time? For me it's the people who take part that matter."

Inspired by walks past the rows of solemn graves in his local cemetery, Mr Bolt has photographed and catalogued the names of 70 local people killed during the First and Second World Wars.

But it is his subsequent research work into their lives, using internet tools such as the website ancestry.com, which has uncovered a raft of stories of valour and terrible loss.

One of the most striking tales is that of Captain James Dewhirst, a First World War flying ace who lived in nearby Clyde Street.

Part of the RAF's 45th squadron, 25-year-old Captain Dewhirst saw action flying Sopwith Camel fighter planes over Italy and France. He is credited with shooting down seven enemy fighters over seven-months in 1918, including three in a single morning during a fearsome air battle over Mt Verena on June 19, 1918. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Great Britain and the Cross of War by France for his bravery.

"It really is one for the Boy's Own annual," Mr Bolt said. "At the same time it's awful that he's had to shoot these people down. But to think the lad came from humble beginnings around these parts and then ended up doing all this..."

Captain Dewhirst's gravestone shows he died in 1928 in an accident in South Africa.

"There are websites about this guy on the internet, but they didn't seem to know what had happened to him in the end," Mr Bolt said. "So by finding this grave we've finished the story, in a way."

The youngest victim of war in the cemetery is Thomas Whitley, an RAF cadet from Cottingley Bridge who was killed in action aged 18 – just three-and-a-half months before the end of the First World War.

Another grave belongs to Sergeant Charles Rowley, who died at his parents' home in Eldwick after contracting 'trench fever' in the mud of the western front in 1917.

Second World War heroes are also remembered, including a member of Halifax Bomber Squadron killed in action over Kiel, and a flight navigator killed in a crash landing at Norkfolk during a night training mission.

Mr Bolt has compiled his photographs and findings into a 10-minute film on YouTube.

"YouTube is used for all sorts of silly things," he said. "This might be a good purpose for it. People researching their family history can look at the video and see a record of the war graves at the cemetery."

And might his work also change the way some people view Bingley Cemetery?

"I don't know if you'd say it's got a tainted reputation, but a lot of locals do remember it as the cemetery where Peter Sutcliffe worked as a grave-digger," Mr Bolt said. "That's the dark side of its history, I suppose. I'm trying to find another side as well."

FALLEN HEROES BURIED IN BINGLEY

n Captain James Dewhirst (left): Sopwith Camel WW1 flying ace, died years after the war in South Africa.

n Sapper George Lee: Contractor's foreman, died from gas inhalation and wounds in France, 1918.

n Sergeant Dennis Atkinson: Member of Halifax bomber squadron, killed in action over Kiel in1945.

n Donald Foulds: Pilot under training, killed on service in Southern Rhodesia, 1942.

n Private Kathleen Gaunt: Killed in German bombing raid at Great Yarmouth in 1943 at a seaside hotel.

n Lance Corporal Edward McDowell: 35-year-old eldest son of Thornton couple. Japanese PoW. Buried at sea.

n Geoffrey Mander: 22-year-old flying officer and navigator killed in a

night training mission over Norfolk.

n Margaret Keddie: Daughter of Andrew and Sybil Keddie, killed in enemy action in Singapore, 1942.

n Sergeant Charles Rowley: Died in 1919 aged 25 after

contracting 'trench fever'.