peterkennedy Posted 13 October , 2012 Share Posted 13 October , 2012 On a recent trip to Lydd I passed through Old Romney and saw St Clements Church from the road. Stopping to have a look I was surprised to find it open. Inside was what must be one of the most poignant war memorials in the country. A simple oak panel with three names from The Great War and one from the Second World War. Does anyone know of a village memorial with any less names? Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 13 October , 2012 Share Posted 13 October , 2012 Personally I'd say a memorial with hundreds of names is a lot sadder. Then again: seeing a memorial with three or four names you can feel the personal drama. With three or fourhundred names casualties turn into numbers. Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandie Hayes Posted 13 October , 2012 Share Posted 13 October , 2012 I can understand why you find this so moving. Sadly, the memorial probably reflects the size of the village population. The loss of 3 men from a small community would possibly be the equivalent to thousands from a large city. Each death devastating for the serviceman's family. The most moving memorial I've seen is that of a Soldier, standing tall in his kilt, at Crainlarich in Scotland. I remember looking at the list of names and then looking at the surrounding village, there must have been even fewer houses there in 1914. The population in 2001 was still only 185. It all seemed so small, tranquil and remote to be touched so much by the horrors in Belgium, France and beyond. With no radio or TV the war must have seemed a million miles from this highland community. Sandie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted 13 October , 2012 Share Posted 13 October , 2012 The little hamlet of Kings Sterndale, Derbyshire, only had a population of 87 males in 1911 - assuming about a quarter were of eligible age (?) they still lost 4 of their number in the Great War: Sergeant WALTER BENNETT M.M. Royal Field Artillery Driver JOHN DUGDALE, M.T. Royal Army Service Corps Trooper ERNEST MOSS, Derbyshire Yeomanry Private JOHN ROBERT RILEY, The Welsh Regiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandie Hayes Posted 13 October , 2012 Share Posted 13 October , 2012 "For those we knew and those we never met, from city, town and village. God bless those that did not return and lie in foreign fields .Your sacrifice is Our freedom." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hastings Posted 13 October , 2012 Share Posted 13 October , 2012 Evening all, Litlington in East Sussex has four men, two from each World War, on its memorial, plus a fifth not included on the memorial buried in the churchyard. Lots of little hamlets around Sussex have less than ten, sometimes not much above five (eg Little Horsted near me), but as Sandie says it reflects the population of these little villages and hamlets at the time and how great the impact must have been. Likewise Litlington seems as far removed from warfare as Crainlarich, Sandie, so I know what you mean. Cheers Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrtle Posted 13 October , 2012 Share Posted 13 October , 2012 The Memorial that I find particularly poignant is that of a small hamlet in Mid Wales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 14 October , 2012 Share Posted 14 October , 2012 The village where I live, East Preston in West Sussex on the south coast, had a population in 1914 of around 400 - and certainly no more than 450. As you can see below, 22 men died in the Great War. This has always seemed to me a lot for what was almost the smallest parish in Sussex, and always saddens me as I walk past. Some of the names are still found in the village. [by 1939 the population had risen to around 1,500 so the WW2 casualty list is perhaps more typical in size.] William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterkennedy Posted 14 October , 2012 Author Share Posted 14 October , 2012 Some great photos and comments. Any members live in one of the Thankful Villages? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 14 October , 2012 Share Posted 14 October , 2012 Some great photos and comments. Any members live in one of the Thankful Villages? East Wittering, a West Sussex village just fifteen miles west of East Preston, and perhaps the same sort of size i.e. 400 people (although I can't find any population figures on the internet) had no deaths in WW1, and is the only Sussex "Thankful Village" as far as I know. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandie Hayes Posted 14 October , 2012 Share Posted 14 October , 2012 The village where I live, East Preston in West Sussex on the south coast, had a population in 1914 of around 400 - and certainly no more than 450. As you can see below, 22 men died in the Great War. This has always seemed to me a lot for what was almost the smallest parish in Sussex, and always saddens me as I walk past. Some of the names are still found in the village. [by 1939 the population had risen to around 1,500 so the WW2 casualty list is perhaps more typical in size.] William This does seem very disproportionate to the size of the village. Sadly, it also looks as though the Boxall and Newman families lost 2 sons. I always think that, in a small village, everyone would have known the man and felt the loss. Myrtle, that little Welsh Roll of Honour is beautiful. It looks completely hand made and is still adorned with fresh flowers. A very personal tribute to the men of the village who did not return. Sandie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 15 October , 2012 Share Posted 15 October , 2012 Though not in the UK, this memorial commemorating the fallen of Waxweiler and environs in Germany is one of the ones that always brings a lump to my throat when checking the names simply because of the high numbers of brothers and father/son combos. Take , for example , the listing for Lauperath-Scheidchen (a tiny hamlet that, today, only has 118 inhabitants) - four dead, two surnames.See the Weires family there, then look at Waxweiler and see 'cousin Peter' also listed. Another family member, 'nephew Karl', was to die in the 1939-45 war. The Endres family from Waxweiler lost two sons in 1914-18. They went on to lose another three in 1939-45. The Wirtz family, who lost 8 members - men,women and children - , is another worthy of mention. Look at the names and the list of similar stories goes on (even some of the female and child members of some of the families were to later die in the bomb raid of January 1945...these are also listed)... a story that is replicated on many of the memorials of Germany, but this one was the first to make me sit up and think (which makes it worth a mention in itself!)... Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 15 October , 2012 Share Posted 15 October , 2012 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 15 October , 2012 Share Posted 15 October , 2012 A newly(ish) erected memorial that's local to me in the village of Barley, Lancashire (the heart of Lancashire Witch Country!) - population today ( village and outlying farms and hamlets) = 303 (about 250 in 1911 with a declining population until later in the century)... again, 3 names from WW1 and 1 from WW2... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandie Hayes Posted 15 October , 2012 Share Posted 15 October , 2012 Barley lost all 3 men in 1918. Ellis Edwin Cridland died of wounds in Boulogne, age 19. He was serving with the Machine Gun Corps. Rodney Pidwell, of the Manchester Regiment, died in St Asaph, he was only 18. Gerald White was 23 and served in the Monmouthshire Regiment. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial. Ellis Edwin Cridland's father, Mark, also served in WW1. Sydney Dugdale was lost at sea on Armistice Day 1943. He was 23 and serving on HMS President III. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 15 October , 2012 Share Posted 15 October , 2012 Sydney Dugdale was lost at sea on Armistice Day 1943. He was 23 and serving on HMS President III. President III was a shore establishment (a 'stone frigate') based at Bristol, Windsor and London during WW2 and was used as a training establishment for those serving on armed merchentmen. Dugdale therefore most likely died on one of these or a special service vessel - possibly the 'Billdora', 'Squally' or 'Westwick'. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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