A BOOK has been launched in memory of Ribble Valley soldiers killed during the two world wars.

John Jackson, of Mellor Brook, has written an historical account of local heroes who gave their lives for their country.

Balderstone Remembers has been researched and compiled by Mr Jackson and is a poignant epitaph to the 30 men from Balderstone, Mellor Brook and Osbaldeston, whose inscriptions can be seen on a memorial board inside St Leonard's Church, Balderstone.

Painstakingly researched with the help of friends and contacts, the 72-page paperback, complete with photographs of the young fighters, shares the experiences and tragedies of the men from a small corner of Lancashire who 'marched towards their fate.'

Amongst many other things, the book describes how one young gunner witnessed the first tank battle, while an airman survived a skirmish with the Red Baron's Flying Circus. It tells how one private died in a Prisoner of War camp, while another succumbed to a poisoned bullet.

Mr Jackson, 58, a local historian and former test engineer for GEC in Clayton-le-Moors, was urged to trace the stories of the young men by the church's vicar, the Rev John Ashforth, who felt remembering the war heroes during Remembrance Sunday services was not enough.

Mr Jackson, who paid tribute to his wife Christine, secretary for the village's parish magazine, for all the understanding she showed during his 10 months of research, as well as his friend Chris Hargreaves who edited the work, and the long list of people who aided his efforts, added: "It was something I really enjoyed doing, possibly because I am interested in local history, though I preferred the research side to the writing side. It was the first time I had written anything like that." He is now toying with the possibility of writing a book on what lies beneath the British Aerospace aerodrome, at Samlesbury, where houses and roads were cleared so it could be built.

Balderstone Remembers is available from Mellor Brook Post Office or St Leonard's Church, priced at £5.