The Jacksdale War Memorial stands at the very centre of the village near the junction of Main Road and Wagstaff Lane, on a triangle of ground immediately in front of the former Co-Operative Supermarket. It is situated in the busiest part of the village, which many local people pass by on an almost daily basis. The memorial has stood in that spot for some 80 years, silent witness to our daily lives and the village beyond, which have in that time, both changed almost beyond recognition.
 

When the Memorial was erected in 1921, Jacksdale was a thriving industrial community. Most of the housing and even the local school and church were little more than 20 years old, built to cater for a rapidly growing community. The soldier, high on top of the memorial and crafted in white Sicilian, carrara marble, gazed out towards some, 17 viaducts which sprawled through the village, carrying trains to the nearby Codnor Park and Ironville Railway Station. Across the fields, the Erewash Canal was in full use, pumping coal, steel, limestone and other mineral ores, along well kept, leafy waterways to supply the Empire with much needed raw materials. There was noise, smog, grime and sulphur and men spilling out of pits having survived another back breaking day in the bowels of the earth. In these 'Good Old Days' times were hard, yet somehow, this community managed to find enough funds to erect a memorial of impressive quality, dedicated to their fellow villagers, the sons, fathers and brothers of Jacksdale, Pye Hill and Westwood who sacrificed their lives and would never again return to the 'Village of their Hearts.'

In 1959, during a storm, the soldier, atop the memorial came crashing to the ground and symbolically, in the years which followed, the village was to witness the fall and destruction of much of its local industry. The Jacksdale railway station was closed and later demolished, along with its viaducts. The Portland Wharf had already been filled in and the Forge at Codnor Park closed. Even Jacksdale Street, the very first street to be built in the village, followed the soldier to his grave. So decline had come and over the years bit deep into the fortunes of those who had made their living from the heavy industry of this area.

This is the story of the Memorial, silent witness to our industrial rise and fall, and also the story of the people involved in its first unveiling and of those, who in more recent years, recognised its worth to our community and took action to restore it before the ravages of time and weather took their ultimate toll. Hopefully, the story will not end here. As we now start to research the life stories of those servicemen named who made the ultimate sacrifice in the two world wars, a rich canvas of village life over the last 80 years will start to unfold. And perhaps, one day, a new soldier will grace the top of our memorial, keeping silent watch over this now green and leafy village and knowing, as we do, that "By their sacrifice we live".