One hundred years ago World War One started.

On July 28, 1914, one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist , Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War .

In the four years which followed more than 16 million people lost their lives in what was one of the deadliest conflicts in human history.

And more than 1,000 of those recorded deaths were people from Macclesfield and Wilmslow.

Among them was Albert Schofield from Bollington.

Albert Schofield, from Bollington, died in service during the First World War. He is pictured in 1913.

He emigrated to Canada for a new life in 1913 only to be called up to fight in France in February 1915. He was shot dead by a sniper on October 7, 2015. He was 21 years old.

 

The data team from our sister paper the Manchester Evening News' has put together a gadget which allows you to search the full records of more than one million casualties of World War One.

You can search by any combination of first name  -or initial, surname, street or town/city. 

You don't have to fill in all the boxes - you can fill as many or as few as you like.

The database allows you, for example, to search for people with the same name as you, who came from the same town or city; or just to see who died from the street where you live.

However, be aware that not all names match with a particular street and using names will provide the most accurate results.

The information comes from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who kindly allowed us to share the astonishingly-rich data that they have painstakingly put together over the years.

We want to hear what you discovered from using our widget, as well as stories you already knew about.

Do you have letters, diaries or photographs from any relatives who were involved in the Great War?

Whether they were in active service, or in some supporting role at home or abroad, we would like to hear their stories.

Email the details and photos to macclesfieldexpress@menmedia.co.uk or visit our Facebook page.

To speak to a reporter, call 0161 211 2985.