War memorial

Everywhere you go in Britain there are war memorials, remembering those who gave their lives for their country, mostly during the two world wars but also in  other conflicts since then. My dad was in the Parachute Regiment; he was called up in 1939 just before he was twenty and he was demobbed in 1946… seven years. My grandfather Reg, served in both World Wars, and every time I see a memorial I think of the years they gave up and also of the men and women who died and did not return home to their families.

I was just wandering round St Paul’s Church, Walliscote Road, Weston-super-Mare, and came across this memorial board to men (and one woman) from World War 1.

I did a little research about these men; most of the ones I could identify signed up here  in Weston-super-Mare and some at other  towns in Somerset, and most of them signed up to Prince Albert’s Somerset Light Infantry, seven among the men I found. Two joined the Gloucester Regiment but then there was a wide spread of  other regiments:

•  Dorsetshire Regiment
• Royal Welsh Fusiliers
• Royal Dublin Fusiliers
• Hampshire Regiment
• Durham Light Infantry
• Princess Charlotte Of Wales (Royal Berkshire Regiment
• Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire And Derbyshire Regiment)
• Prince Of Wales Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)
• Duke Of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment
• Welsh Regiment

There were men of every rank, pirates, lance-corporals, corporals, sergeants…  I have yet to find out their ages, but it was a tragic loss for their families; in some cases relatives, maybe brothers or cousins, died in the conflict. Two men called Ruck Keen died, one was a chaplain; three Le Poer Trenches died and as I mentioned above, this is a memorial board in one small parish church in one small town in England.

1. C. Badman
2. H. Banwell
3. R.H. Basker
4. A.E. Bird
5. H.P. Bonsor
6. F.Buckley
7. R.K. Byers
8. J.K. Chiswell
9. G. Bryan Davies
10. B.E. Eastwood
11. L.Eastwood
12. W.J. Edwards
13. R.H.Edwards
14. E.S.Fairchild
15. H. Ferris
16. H.W.Brown
17. C.G.Griffiths
18. D.S.Harding
19. E.B.Harford
20. W.H.Henderson
21. T.Hodges
22. J.H.Horne
23. F.Harris
24. W.House
25. C.House
26. H.R.Jelly
27. S.M.Jones
28. R.E. Ruck Keene
29. P.King
30. J.F.Lee
31. C.E.Lundy
32. A.M.Mansbridge
33. W.H.Matthews
34. A.V.L.Measor
35. W.J.Merrit
36. J.D.Morley
37. J.S.Payne
38. F.L.Roe
39. J.L.Roe
40. H.T.Rendle.
41. L.Rushworth
42. C.S.Sidhall
43. S.W.Smith
44. C.C.Sparks
45. C.W.Todd
46. F. Le Poer Trench
47. H. Wickham Warlock
48. R.J.Yerbury
49. P.J.Thorn