The Remembered Ones of the Great War from the Alton Villages, Volume 1: Bentworth to Farringdon
Published by the Alton and Villages Local History Forum in 2014, 74 pages. A4 size booklet (N7305)
From the foreword: Several years ago, a group of people interested in the history of Alton and the surrounding villages got together and formed the Alton and Villages Local History Forum. Meeting two or three times a year, we exchange information and organise a biannual Local History Day.
Having heard that Tony Cross was researching the men who are named on the Alton Cairn, we decided that we would publish the names of those who appear on the village memorials together with information about them. The villages are arranged in alphabetical order and each has a picture of its memorial, its own introduction and then their men - also in alphabetical order. Where possible, each of the Fallen has been given the same amount of space whether private or general although there are some for whom information is sparse.
World War I was the first conflict for which there were memorials in most towns and villages. These gave communities a focus for commemorating their dead as it had been decided early in the war that no one would be brought back to England for burial. When first buried abroad, the graves were marked with wooden crosses and families could ask for these when the permanent stones were erected. Some can be seen in churches and Chawton set aside an area for them in its burial ground. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission collected the bodies together for reburial in their cemeteries and the names of those with no known grave were inscribed on memorials - one of which we have been allowed to picture at the end of this volume.
Local war memorials come in all shapes and sizes - from the large (often based on Sir Reginald Blomfield's 'Cross of Sacrifice') to a small plaque in a church. Local committees were formed to choose the design (possibly from a commercial catalogue), raise the money and decide on those who would be commemorated. Not an easy task as this took place after the war when many families had moved on.
When planning the book, it was decided to list only those who are actually on each memorial although mention may be made in a village's text of others who also gave their lives in the Great War. After nearly 100 years, it is not possible to know why certain people were honoured and others not. In some cases it has been very difficult to find a connection between a name and the village - did the parents live there? did the wife live there? was the family working there during the war? The contents of this booklet include:
Bentworth
Binsted
Chawton
East Tisted
East Worldham
Farringdon
Please note if you're interested in this booklet, we also have the second volume listed seperately (as well as both volumes together if you want to buy both at the same time!)
The condition of the booklet is generally very good. The covers are clean and tidy, the spiral bound spine is intact, and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound.