THEIR names don't mean anything until you know their stories.

From 1914 to 1918 more than 1,000 men from Widnes were killed in the First World War - over 800 of these are commemorated at the town's cenotaph.

Some of them were judged heroes.

Sapper William Liggins from 92 Dickson Street won the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

The medal citation says: "He bandaged two men after extricating them from a dug-out after they had been buried during a heavy bombardment. They were again buried, he again rescued them and got them to safety and took them to a dressing station."

The son of Mr and Mrs Liggins of Runcorn, he had a sweetheart named Lily. He was hit by a small piece of shrapnel in the chest at 1.40am on March 18, 1918, and died 10 minutes later, aged 22.

Some were ordinary family men.

Sgt William Pile, pictured, was from Ferndale Terrace in Widnes and married Gertrude Hopkins from 10 Cooper Street.

A 34-year-old butcher, he was killed in house to house fighting in an attack on the fortified village of Neuvilly, near Le Cateau, less than a month before the end of the war on October 12, 1918.

Others fought in Iraq, as Widnes men do today.

Private Samuel Tomlinson of 78 Dock Street, West Bank, was posted to Basra before being killed in a three-day battle on the slopes of Gallipoli.

And others did not even exist. 'Private E Carter' is only on the memorial because of a misprint.

The phantom soldier's near namesake, Private Clarence Carter, is perhaps typical of the men.

A 22-year-old shop assistant from 18 Saxon Terrace, he was one of nearly 20,000 men killed on the first day of the Battle of The Somme, July 1, 1916.

He died as the volunteer soldiers of Lord Kitchener's New Army walked into torrential machine gun fire after being told the fortified German positions had already been shelled out of existence.

These personal details are all taken from the local history book, I Don't Want To Be A Sunbeam, which is now out of print.

It was written by Harry Jones of Midland Street, who spent four years researching the details of those killed.

Thanks to his diligence, in this 90th anniversary year of the start of the war, they can be remembered as more than names on a plaque.