There is one site in Liverpool that links T.J. Hughes, Joe Fagan, and Michael Whitty, the founder of the Liverpool Daily Post – they are all buried at Anfield Cemetery.
The Grade II listed cemetery on Priory Road is roughly 110 acres with a French design, by Edward Kemp. Opened in 1863, the cemetery has three chapels and entrances, designed by the Liverpool architects Lucy and Littler.
Back when it was known as the Liverpool Corporation, the city council built a Blitz memorial at a cost of £4,400 in 1951. It was proposed by Alderman Alfred Ernest Shennan, who also designed the Abbey Cinema in Wavertree.
After more than 70 years in situ, deterioration has meant the popular viewing point has had to be cordoned off from the public. Stone tiles that were put in place have now been displaced with signs telling visitors they are unable to go near.
When it was first built, the memorial read, “Erected by the citizens of Liverpool to the memory of all those who gave their lives during the attacks from the air upon the city whom five hundred and fifty four are buried in this communal grave 1939-1945.”
In 1949, city architect Dr Ronald Bradbury was instructed to invite tenders for the work which the Liverpool Daily Post said presented a problem.
It said, “Existing conditions in the cemetery surrounding the communal grave, which is extremely long and narrow, limit the form the memorial can take.” The communal grave is 170 feet long and three feet wide.