1. Soil soaked in the blood of Middleton men

Middleton Guardian, Thursday 4 October 2007
"MEN stumbled forward through mud and slime. At every step they sank over the boot-tops in sodden soil; not a few sank waist-deep in the yawning, water-filled shell holes - but they staggered on with the grim persistency which is the outstanding attribute of the average Englishman and the source of wonder to foreign nations." This appalling, but chest-swelling, scene is painted by Major Chesnutt-Chesney, officer commanding the Middleton company of the 2/6th Lancashire Fusiliers who attacked the infamous Passchendaele Ridge on the morning of October 9, 1917.

2. Mud, blood and hopeless bravery

Middleton Guardian, Thursday 6 September 2007
"I AM very sorry to be the one to write to you on the subject I have to do, but in this case I think it is my duty. Your Tom was killed in the advance. He was very well liked and cheerful as anyone." 'Tom' was Private Thomas Worsley, of Oldham Road, killed in action with the Middleton territorials on September 6, 1917 - 90 years to this very day.