People are remembering the 100th anniversary of the First World War this weekend.
One of the most successful aspects of all the community-work being done to remember the conflict is that of trying to find all the country's war memorials, clean them up, and, in many cases, try to discover more about the men and women whose names are actually on the memorials.
It has not been easy to identify these dead just by their names, as collective memories have faded, and some official records are even missing - yet communities have been making concerted efforts to find out who these people were who left their villages and towns never to return alive.
Kinver War Memorial is an odd one. It is out on the heath, far from any residences, and one wonders why it was put there. But I am sure the local community groups are researching the names on it too.
This memorial reminds me of one in a quiet hamlet a few hours drive away from here- a number of names of war dead from that area. When you figure in the population at the time, every resident in the area would have known at least one of those six or seven men.
ReplyDeleteOne of my most enduring memories of living in the UK is walking the countryside and encountering all the WWI memorials, often with a few WWII names engraved on the other side as well. Some villages 'way out in the Highlands, where I lived, were nothing but a tiny post office/sundry shop, a police post, and a cenotaph. I tell you, it's impressive to stand there in the heather, with very little sign of habitation about, and see a dozen names of in front of you. Clearly just about every single young man in that "village".
ReplyDeleteThanks for the photo, and the memories.
Robin
Rusty Ring: Reflections of an Old-Timey Hermit
Yes, that expereince you describe must be very sobering indeed. And shocking.
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