A HIDDEN page of history has been uncovered during the restoration of a war memorial.

The discovery has turned members of Daneshouse Working Men's Club, Nicholl Street, Burnley, into amateur detectives to find out more about a mystery man named on the memorial.

A roll of honour of club members who died during the Great War was discovered behind a plaque commemorating those who fell in both World Wars when the memorial, which holds pride of place at the club, was renovated by the North West Museums Service.

Among the names of soldiers who died in the First World War was that of William Rey and the memorial also included a photograph of him.

But no record of the lost soldier has been found and now club members are on a mission to try and trace his history.

Local historian Mike Townend, who works at Towneley Hall, Burnley, was called in to help establish the military history of those mentioned on the memorial.

"The memorial is a wooden frame which holds the plaque containing the names of the soldiers and there is also glass at the sides covering photographs of some of the men," explained Mike. "The top plaque features names of men who died in the First and Second World Wars but beneath it was one from just the First World War. No-one knew it was there.

"One of the names is William Rey who fought in the First World War with the East Lancashire Regiment.

"We've looked in official and unofficial documents but we can't find any trace of him. He obviously came from Lancashire and had a connection with the club. We would like to find out more."

The renovated wooden memorial will be officially re-dedicated during a service on Armistice Sunday.

Anyone who can shed light on William Rey is asked to contact club member Keith Park on 01282 838179.

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