A POIGNANT montage of photographs showing the faces of young men from Turton killed in their prime in the First World War could be the only one of its kind in the country.

The 144 photographs, some faded with age, are being studied by the charity Friends of War Memorials.

They say there is nothing like it -- even in the Imperial War Museum in London.

The photos were rescued from being thrown out by Michael Williams, the former caretaker at the Barlow Institute in Edgworth, a quarter of a century ago.

He found them in a skip following a clear out along with diaries from the Barlow Institute.

Mr Williams took the photos to two elderly women in Edgworth who managed to identify all the men except one unknown soldier.

They were then mounted in a huge frame to provide the record of the brave men from Turton who died on the battlefields of France and Belgium.

It had been hanging at the institute until redecorating started last year.

They are now kept in storage under covers so they can be preserved from light damage.

North Turton Parish Council is to ask Blackburn Council to pay for restoration work and a new display cabinet.

Maggie Goodall from Friends of War Memorials which aims to look after our war memorials said: "There are other pictorial memorials but we have never seen anything on this scale. It is very impressive."

Only one photograph has information next to it -- a report of the 20-year-old soldier's death.

The others simply have the names next to the photograph.

But the names themselves tell deeply moving stories.

Five young men all with the surname of Entwistle are shown as are five members of the Knowles family.

There appear to be two sets of twins, Jim and Billy Warhurst and Charles and Bill Tootell, who also died.

Even the family which built the Barlow institute lost one of their sons -- Robert Barlow.

Many of the dead are shown proudly wearing their military uniforms including a sailor and a mounted horse guard.

Cllr Jean Rigby, who represents North Turton and Tockholes at Blackburn Council, said: "This is a remarkable tribute to the sacrifice made by the people of Turton in the First World War. It is part of our heritage. People who have left the village come back and ask to see it to trace their ancestors.

"The fact that it may well be a unique record of that war makes it all the more precious."

She wanted to see it put back on display as soon as possible