You might describe this post as a work in progress. I do not have a photo of a soldier from WWI like the one in this week's prompt.
I know that my father and at least one of his brothers took part in that 'war to end all wars.' I know this because of the Roll in the porch to St Mary's Church in the Rutland village of Ketton.
To see who others are remembering march over to Sepia-Saturday-211,
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| Roll of those who served in His Majesty's forces in the War of 1914-1918 |
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| Enlarged section |
My uncle Stan (Scotney HCS) was a Sergeant in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry; the first brigade fought at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. I do not know whether my uncle was there, but he would have been 21 at the time. Stan never married and died in the early 1960s. He left me £149 in his will which we used to buy our first car.
My father, Charles William Arthur Scotney, was a Private in the Army Service Corps (ASC). Born in 1897 he would have been 17 when the war started. I'm sorry to say that is all I know at this time as I have still to find his (or his brother's) war records.
There are no photos of him that have survived from his life. The ASC was the Corps responsible for getting supplies to the armies. A lot of the transport in those days was drawn by mules or horses. My grandfather had been a saddler and harness maker by trade and I know that my father had learnt the skills from him. I like to think that he would have been able to put these to use when in the ASC.
If you look back at the Roll in Ketton church you will see names in a different colour at the top. These are the 38 men who did not return. Counting names on the Roll cannot be completed from the photo but I estimate about 150 survived the bloodshed.
As far as I know there is no war memorial in Kirklevington, the village where I now live. The village is quite small with a population of 1295 in 2001. However is does have a village hall.
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| Kirklevington and Castlelevington Memorial Hall |
The hall was opened and dedicated in December 1954 as a war memorial to those who died in the two world wars. The structure at the front has since been replaced by a new building in 1983.
The town of Yarm, about three miles away, has some special events scheduled for 2014 as part of the commemorations of WWI.
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| Yarm War Memorial |
When you look at the inscriptions this is what you can see.
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| Yarm War Memorial - those lost in WWI (The Great War) |
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| Lives lost in WWI |
I have counted 56 names in these two photos. The population in Yarm in 1914 was 500/600 people. (8674 in 2001). On Remembrance Day this year it is intended to display a wall of poppies on the town's buildings projected over a map of Yarm showing each of the soldiers names and where they lived.
I just might be there, with a camera at the ready.
To see who others are remembering march over to Sepia-Saturday-211,
20 comments:
My father was much too young for WWI and my grandfathers were too old. My father was in the Army during WWII, but wasn't involved in the fighting.
On the Ketton role it's sad to see the names of those who did not return - most probably young men who might have had a promising future had it not been for the war. But thankfully, many did return - hopefully to fulfill their future dreams once the horror of the war passed, if it did.
Kudos for remembering.
Too often we forget the sacrifices of so many of our fathers.
I know my grandfathers served, but where and what as I haven't a clue. My father served in WWII as an instructor training RAF pilots. He was stationed in what was then Rhodesia for 3 years. When he came back he was in transport commend.
The whole thing about having no photos - well my Nana decided she didn't want to keep anymore of those old useless photos so either binned or burned them. Argghhh! But she missed one or two. My Dad found one in an old wallet of an ancestor. Everything else was pretty much destroyed though!
Nothing glorious about it, not really; nothing glorious about losing so many young people...
oh yes the poppies...this reminds me they started way back then as remembrance. Many suffered, I think I recently read 34 million casualties, of those 17 million deaths. That is a lot for that time for any time really. The old family photos, so many destroyed..that's why I treasure what I have.
I've never seen a roll with all the village serving member listed before. What a fascinating piece of history. Comforting to see the dead are the smaller proportion of the roll.
You may not have ancestral photographs,but I still found your tribute moving. You mentioned not tracing service records. A lot were destroyed in bombing in the Second World War and of my seven great uncles who served, I have only found one service record - of George Danson - the youngest - who was killed in 1916.
The Remembrance Day project sounds very interesting. Hope you will get a picture.
The Memorials, particularly in small country towns, are very moving and a place for contemplation. On the other hand where they have built a Memorial Hall, particularly in small country towns, they have a memorial which through its ongoing activities is saying You might be dead but you are still with us. I like the halls with the polished wooden board on the wall with the gilt names of those who died in the war looking down on the Barn Dance and The Pride of Erin and the Scouts and the Guides and the emergency community meeting for the bushfire and the wedding reception and all its other uses.
That’s a fine example of a village war memorial. It’s so important that they and the rolls of honour are kept to remind us of the loss of a generation of young men and women. How sad that you don’t have any photos at all of your father.
This past summer while traveling on our holiday in England and Scotland, I stopped at several similar small village memorials to the soldiers who were lost in the Great War. The names on these stones remind us of an era when village and family lives were more closely linked, and tragically were changed almost overnight by this horrible conflict.
The war machine feeds on the young,
sadly...
Hoping you'll go see those ceremonies and comeback with many pictures.
Sad that you have no photos of your father and have not found his war record, which might have contained a photo. One of my grandfathers served in WW1 and my brother has his medals but we have no photos of him in uniform. I do have a few pages of a diary he wrote at the end of the war in Europe, which makes interesting reading, and my cousin also recorded an interview with him about his war experiences, although he did not reveal very much.
I've read 3 blogs and all 3 mention the Battle of Somme. It's a fine tribute that your town celebrates not just those who died but those who served and survived too.
A fine tradition, listing the names of our heroes in public places. Sad that sometimes it is all there is.
I like the idea of using the war memorial list of names to bring out the scale of the impact on what were small towns and villages.
The Impact Must Have Been Even Greater In Small Communities.A Terrible Waste .We Should Never Forget .
Maybe they didn't want the photos of themselves in uniform because it reminded them of the horror of the war.
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