By Helen Fay
A West Leeds resident has just completed her latest book.
Genealogist and author Sharon Knott, of Farnley, has recently had her third book published by Blurb: ‘The Long Shadow of War – Hanson Boys Remembered.’
The titular subjects of the book are the 66 young men, former pupils of Hanson Boys Grammar School in Bradford (now Hanson Academy) who lost their lives in the Second World War.
Sharon initially became involved with the Hanson Academy in February 2024 after answering an appeal in the Telegraph and Argus issued by Brian Russell, the school’s Museum Curator and Design & Technology technician.
The call out was for genealogists and those experienced in research to help uncover the stories of former Hanson School pupils who had died in the First World War.
Sharon responded and joined a small team of genealogists tasked with this research.
“For the First World War, we had at least a foundation – a memorial plaque listing the casualties,” Sharon said.
“Even though the information was sparse, it gave us a place to begin. For the Second World War however, there was nothing. No plaque. No list. No starting point at all.”
Sharon asked curator Brian Russell what plans the museum had to mark the 80th anniversaries of Victory in Europe (8 May 2025) and Victory over Japan (15 August 2025).
When it became clear that nothing had been organised at that time, Sharon offered to undertake as much research as possible “so that the Academy could create a meaningful exhibition.”
During her research, Sharon found a newspaper article from 1948 in the Find My Past archives which mentioned that 53 former Hanson boys had died in the Second World War.
A breakthrough came when Brian found a leaver’s book covering 1930-1960 in the Academy’s stored archives. Sharon checked more than 1,100 former pupils against genealogical records and identified 50 wartime deaths.
Further painstaking searches in the Academy’s archives uncovered another reference to casualties.
Sharon said: “When combined with the newspaper findings and genealogical work, the total rose to 66 confirmed ex-Hanson boys who died in the Second World War. The 1948 newspaper claim of 53 was not only incorrect, but it understated the loss by 13 young men.”
Sharon’s book aims to restore those names never formally remembered by the school they once attended.
She added: “I wanted to return these young men’s names to the school’s story, and to ensure that eighty-one years on, they are remembered not as forgotten footnotes, but as individuals whose lives were cut short in the service of their country.”
The book does more than record the names of former Hanson pupils who were lost to war. There are also chapters relating the stories of those who returned and how their lives were affected.
The book also explores life at the school during the war years and the repercussions upon the school community. Copies of Sharon’s latest book, ‘The Long Shadow of War – Hanson Boys Remembered’ can be bought via four options:
- An instant PDF at £4.99
- Softcover book at £14.50.
- Hardcover edition at £20.50. All available from Blurb.
- Books are also available directly from Sharon on sharon_knott@btinternet.com.
Sharon’s previous two books on the Farnley War Memorial are also available on the Blurb site. Further information on the Hanson Academy museum can be found here.
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