May 5, 2017 11.29 am This story is over 82 months old

Wood carvers to pay tribute to WWI lost fishermen of Boston

A tribute to the lost fishermen of Boston is being planned by a small team of wood carvers. Members of Boston and South Holland Wood Carvers will build an eight-feet-high oak monument to fishermen who sailed from Boston at the outbreak of the First World War and were killed or taken prisoner. The tribute to…
From left, Cllr Peter Bedford in Boston Stump with the model of the tribute to Boston’s lost fishermen, and wood carvers Dereck Harvey, Judi Kay, Iain Braid, Sandra Dickson, Daniel Hold and Colin Briggs

A tribute to the lost fishermen of Boston is being planned by a small team of wood carvers.

Members of Boston and South Holland Wood Carvers will build an eight-feet-high oak monument to fishermen who sailed from Boston at the outbreak of the First World War and were killed or taken prisoner.

The tribute to the lost fishermen will feature a three-cornered seat and interlinked carved panels on three or four sides of a rising tower with imagery reflective of the fishing industry and Boston’s maritime history.

The carvings will pay tribute to fisherman killer and captured during the way

The group explained that some of the fishermen were put to sea unaware that war had been declared and ten of 16 deep-sea trawlers from the port were sunk in the first month of the conflict.

Nine of the 16 belonged to the Boston Deep Sea Fishing Company.

At least 51 fishermen lost their lives and 53 more were held prisoners of war.


A work-in-progress scale model can be seen every Wednesday and Saturday between 10am and 1pm when the wood carvers are at work in St Botolph’s Church in Boston.

The idea of such a tribute was a joint idea after the group became aware of monuments to lost fishermen in Hull and Grimsby.

Wood carver Colin Briggs said: “If anything, our tribute is an anti-war monument, reflecting upon the hardships faced by both the fishermen and their families.”

Councillor Peter Bedford, Leader of Boston Borough Council, said: “This proposal will complement the new memorial in Memorial Gardens to mark the centenary of the First World War.”