War Memorial
The
first meeting of Week St. Marys War Memorial Committee took place
on the 28th of April 1919. By June the 25th
1919 a sum of £109 had been raised by public subscription and the
granite cross had been ordered. On October 27th the
decision to prepare the site was taken and materials were ordered
for the foundations. Further moneys were raised by a public tea;
Price 1/- (one shilling), followed by a magic lantern show on
Palestine; Admission 6d (sixpence).
The war memorial was unveiled by Sir George Croydon Marks MP for the
Launceston Division on
Saturday
6th
of December 1919
(Parliamentary divisions have been reorganised and renamed several
times since). Prayers were lead by the rector, Rev. Charles Thomas
Witmell; a lesson was read by Rev.T Rud and followed by a hymn. A
tea followed in the Council School to which all service men had free
invitations. After the tea Sir George gave a lecture on the League
of Nations to a crowded audience.
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Notice no railings
or posts around the Memorial,
dating this photograph between 1968 and 1970
(see below)
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At that time the fund contained a total of £134/11/6
(£134 pounds, 11 shillings and 6 pence). The memorial cross
was supplied by The Bodmin Granite Company Ltd, and invoiced on the
9th of December 1919 for £123/10/4 (£123 pounds, 10
shillings and 4 pence).
In October 1946 the balance of the Victory Day Celebrations £15/6/3
was passed on to the 1939-45 War Memorial Fund. In April 1947, £7
was spent on cleaning and painting the memorial and in May 1948 £8/5/0
was spent having the names of the fallen added to the memorial.
At some time after the initial erection of the war memorial the
maintenance and upkeep was taken on by the Week St. Mary Branch of
the Royal British Legion and this they did until the
nineteen-sixties. By this time the railings had deteriorated and in
November 1964 the Week St. Mary Branch of the Royal British Legion
wrote to the Parish Council to say that they were no longer able to
be responsible for the memorial.
In
November 1967 responsibility of the War Memorial had been taken on
by the Parish Council. Week St. Mary Royal British Legion passed the
money in the war memorial fund onto the parish council. In February
1968 the old railings were removed at a cost of £5 less £1/15/0
for the scrap value of the old railings. In March 1970, £50 had
been raised towards the new posts and chains which cost £55/9/0 to
install.
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Those
who gave their lives are remembered annually on Remembrance Sunday when
the brief, but poignant service, concludes with the laying of a wreath and
the sounding of the Last Post.
WORLD WAR
I
***********
Private Ernest James HIGGINS (Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry)
Died: 18/09/1917
- Aged: 19 - Son of William and Susanna Higgins, of Week St. Mary.
Private
W. J. COLES (Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry)
Died: 23/05/1919
- Age unknown
Private
John KINSMAN (Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry)
Died: 2/10/1916
- Aged: 19 - Son of Richard and Mary Kinsman, of Kitleigh, Week St. Mary.
Private
Sidney LAWRENCE (Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry)
Died: 10/09/1914
- Age unknown
Lance
Corporal Hartley Owen ORCHARD (Military Police)
Died: 21/11/1918
- Aged: 21 - Son of Thomas and Mary Ann Orchard, of Carey House, Week St. Mary.
Sapper
George Frederick Wright REED (Royal Engineers)
Died: 1/12/1915
- Aged: 36 - Husband of Alice Moyse Reed, of Week Green, Week St. Mary.
Private
James ROGERS (Devonshire Regiment)
Died: 4/11/1917
- Aged: 21 - Son of John and Mary Mason Rogers, of Week St. Mary.
Private
William John COLES (Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry)
Died: 18/09/1918
- Aged: 23 - Son of John and Emily Coles of Parsonage Green, Week St. Mary.
WORLD WAR
II
************
Private Wilfred Richard Pengelly ROWLAND (Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry)
Died: 30/11/1943
- Aged: 21 - Son of Albert and Hilda Rowland, of Week St. Mary.
Sergeant
Eustace Henry ORCHARD (Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve)
Died: 15/03/1944
- Aged: 23 - Husband of Doris Mary Orchard, of Week St. Mary.
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For information on
the War dead, search the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission website
Royal British
Legion website
SSAFA (Soldiers,
Sailors, Airmen and Families Association)
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