By SUZANNE ELSWORTH

A HOST of Warrington's old soldiers are heading for Belgium for a poignant step back in time to remember the town's heroes.

The ex-drummers of the 4th South Lancashire Regiment are making a Hooge Day pilgrimage to commemorate the 86th anniversary of the battle, which took place on June 16, 1915.

The four-day tour will visit the Menin Gate in Ypres, where a special Last Post ceremony will be held. The tour will also take in cemeteries and churches and a commemorative service at the Hooge Crater, where the battle took place.

Warrington men from the 1st/4th Battalion of the Prince of Wales Volunteers and the South Lancashire Regiment lost their lives on that day and many of them are remembered on the Menin Gate and in graveyards around the area.

Pilgrimage organiser Ron Hollingsworth said: "On the day of the battle, the 4th Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment advanced from their trenches near Hooge and met the enemy in a counter-attack.

"The battalion was acting as support to the 9th Infantry Brigade. The attack commenced at 3.05am with artillery fire, though practically all the casualties were caused by shell fire."

Ron is offering to take cards or tributes to those who died, on behalf of the men's relatives. He is also willing to take photographs of names on the Menin Gate or of graves. If you would like to arrange this, call him on 485593.

The full list of the men who died is: Pte Arthur Alldred, Cpl Richard Armstrong, Sgt William Bailey, Pte Percival Baker, Pte John E Bannister, Pte John Brimelow, Pte William Brown, Pte John H Carter, Pte Harry Cattell, Pte John T Coyne, Pte George Davies, Pte Henry Dodd, Pte Arthur Earley, Lieu Edmund Frost, Pte William Gibson, Sgt Thomas Gill, Pte Joseph Hambleton, Pte William Hollowell, Pte Walter Holmes, Cpl Sydney T Ince, Pte Henry Jackson, Pte Charles Knowles, Pte Albert Lightfoot, Pte John Littler, Pte Elijah Marsden, Pte Frank Middleton, Pte Arthur Monks, Cpl James Mooney, Pte Samuel Pierce, Pte Henry Plumpton, Pte John Ryder, Pte James Sharp, Pte Thomas Smith, Pte George Taylor, Pte Robert Taylor, Pte Harold Turner, Pte Frank Williams.