Burnley News 13/8/1921 (page 7) published an image of the memorial, with the caption: "BURNLEY POLICE WAR MEMORIAL. A reproduction of the memorial which will shortly be erected in the Central Courtroom in memory of the members of the Burnley Borough Police Force, who gave their lives on active service during the Great War. The memorial is of solid oak, and the beautiful design which is headed with the Borough Coat of Arms, surrounded by laurel leaves, has been elaborately carved in deep relief". https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000699/19210813/135/0007?browse=true

Burnley News 22/10/1921 (page 9) reported: "Police Memorial. The Burnley Police Memorial, a photograph of which recently appeared in the "Burnley News," has now been fixed in the Burnley Borough Police Court on the wall behind the Press box. Arrangements for the unveiling are not complete, but it is hoped that the ceremony will take place on November 11th, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice". https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000699/19211022/178/0009?browse=true

Burnley News 12/11/1921 (page 16) reported at length on the dedication of the Burnley Borough Police Memorial by the Bishop of Burnley (Dr Henn) in the large court at the Town Hall the previous day. Among those present were Burnley's Chief Constable W.H. Smith (who " wore his son's V.C. and Belgian decoration as well as his own medals"), the Chief Constable of Accrington, and relatives of the Fallen; "Members of the police force, wearing their war decorations, were accommodated in the dock and in the seats at either side". The report stated that: " POLICE MEMORIAL UNVEILED. A handsome oak memorial tablet, which contains the names of the eight members of the Burnley Police Force who sacrificed their lives during the war, and which has been placed on the wall in the large court room at the Town Hall, was unveiled yesterday afternoon by Alderman J. A. Heaton, J.P., chairman of the Watch Committee. The service was an impressive one, and necessitated an unusual transformation being made in the general arrangements and appearance of the court"... "THE FORCE'S PROUD RECORD. The Chief Constable, referring to the war record of the force, said that nearly 40 per cent of the force displayed their loyalty by joining His Majesty's Forces, and more would have done so had it been permitted to further deplete the strength of the force. Many members in their various military units gained high honours arid promotion. Three gained the Military Medal: one the Meritorious Service Medal; and one the Belgian Order of Leopold II. Two were mentioned in despatches; three were promoted to commissioned rank; and 37 to non-commissioned rank. The highest honour, the noble sacrifice of their lives, was reserved for those whose names were inscribed upon the memorial. "It was the example of those lives which made their memory precious to the land they loved." " They have put on immortality, and being dead they live." https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000699/19211112/229/0016?browse=true

Burnley Express 14/8/1946 (page 2), in a retrospective headed "Our Topics 25 Years Ago", mentioned that "A HANDSOME memorial in carved oak in memory of members of the Burnley Borough Police Force who made the supreme sacrifice during the war is to be placed In the large court". (This was referring back to the installation of the WW1 Board in 1921). https://www1.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000672/19460814/038/0002

Burnley Borough Express, 8/3/1947 (page 3) printed a photo of the WW2 plaque, with a report of its unveiling in the Recreation Room of Police HQ on 6th March. (The photograph clearly showed the plaque as being a separate entity at that point, and commented that the WW1 Board was still in the Large Court, so the amalgamation of the two memorials into one must evidently have occurred at some later date). The report of the unveiling of the WW2 plaque read: In a short, but impressive ceremony on Thursday evening, at police headquarters, the Burnley Chief Constable (Mr. W. Green) unveiled a tablet placed on the wall of the recreation room to perpetuate the memory of three members of the Force who died in the second world war. A large number of members of all branches of the Force, together with relatives of the fallen, were present. The tablet is inscribed: "To the memory of members of the Burnley Police Force who paid the supreme sacrifice in the second world war 1939-1945. Flying Officer Harold Kidd, RAF, Sub-Lieut. Robert Wilding, Fleet Air Arm. L/Cpl. James Tyson, C.M.P They died that we might live." It has been subscribed for by all members of the Force. All the three men commemorated were police constables. Before the unveiling, the tablet was covered with a Union Jack, and a short service was conducted by the Rev. D. H. Curtis, vicar of St. John's Church, Gannow, who was a chaplain to the Forces during the war. He said he considered it a privilege to be there as a padre who served throughout the war. It was easy on such occasions to "talk big" and say emotional and sentimental things, but he was not going to do that. When in the midst of their recreation they looked at that tablet they would remember that twice within living memory we had been challenged by forces of aggression and terror who wished to stamp out the things in which we believed. Twice, members of the Burnley Police Force with a host others had flung that challenge back where it belonged. In both wars there were members of the Force who were prepared to die for the things in which they believed and three of them in the last war gave their all for that for which their country stood. He did not think that those three men considered themselves heroes. They did the right as they saw it, and that memorial was an everlasting remembrance of them for which their colleagues could be proud and grateful. Unveiling the tablet, the Chief Constable said it would remain a symbol of service, sacrifice and devotion both in this generation and those who would follow after. A memorial tablet to the members of the Force who died in the first world war stands on the wall of the large court-room". https://www1.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000672/19470308/058/0003

Results of the research undertaken by Nick Mattock of the Lancashire Constabulary Force History Team during the WW1 Centenary, re the former officers from all the Lancashire Police Forces who died in that conflict, can be found at https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/community/1092

Lancashire Evening Post - Monday 28 November 1955 (page 8) reported: 'Burnley police move to new H.Q.  Burnley Police Force begin this week in their new £400,000 headquarters on the site of the Old Cattle Market. All day yesterday, files and equipment were transferred from the old H.Q. - the basement of the Town Hall - to the new building, less than 300 yards away. They officially took over the headquarters, opened by the Home Secretary (Major Lloyd George) in October, at 10 o'clock last night. The building contains magistrates and juvenile courts, a coroners court, a police administration block and probation offices, and magistrates' clerk's accommodation. Burnley magistrates will sit in the new building for the first time on Wednesday'. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000712/19551128/204/0008

Undated Burnley newspaper clipping (c 1956) printed a photo of the memorial (captioned: 'The Mayor, the Bishop and the Chief Constable examining the modernised and renovated memorials following the re-dedication service'), and reported: 'MEMORIALS RE-DEDICATED. In a short but impressive ceremony in the foyer of Burnley's new police headquarters, on Thursday afternoon, the Bishop of Burnley (Rt. Rev. G. E. Holderness) re-dedicated two police memorials inscribed with the names of members of the borough force who died in the two World Wars. The memorials, which were in separate rooms in the former police station, have been renovated by the Corporation Works Department. The 1914-18 memorial, which was a large oak tablet fixed on the wall of the old Magistrates' Court room, has been transformed into a beautiful light colour to blend with the internal decoration of the new building, and the smaller Second World War tablet has been inlaid into the lower part of it. The service of re-dedication was attended by the Mayor (Alderman Mrs M A Battle), the Town Clerk (Mr C V Thornley) and Mrs Thornley, Mr Thurston Dugdale J.P., the Magistrates' Clerk (Mr Thomas Noone), the Chief Constable (Mr R A Noble) and the Deputy Chief Constable (Mr P Young).Watching were many inspectors, sergeants and constables, some of whom had served both on the police force and in the Armed Services with the three former policemen who were killed in the Second World War. Also in attendance was Mrs Doris Tyson, widow of one of the men, L.Cpl James Tyson, who was killed during the evacuation from Dunkirk. Formerly a Burnley woman, Mrs Tyson had travelled from Blackpool to attend the service. The sister of Lieut, Robert Wilding, Fleet Air Arm, Mrs Mary Whalley, of Revidge road, Blackburn, was the only other relative present at the re-dedication....' [The report, which included further brief details of the service, stated that it ended with 'the National Anthem and the Blessing'].