war memorial - Press Release
war memorial - Press Release
New Bronze Plaques to be installed on the Yeovil War Memorial to Mark the Centenary of the End of the First World War
As many of you will know, since 2014 I have been researching all the Yeovil men who died in the First World War, with each man having his own page in Yeovil's Virtual Museum website. In this time I have discovered 53 Yeovil-born men and five men who came to live in Yeovil, who all died in the war, but whose names are not recorded on the memorial. Additionally I discovered over fifty spelling mistakes in the original listings on the memorial in the Borough. I have been working with the Town Council and Jack Sweet to get the new names added and the corrections made in time for the 100th anniversary of the 11 November 1918 armistice.
The following is a press release issued by the Town Council on 28 February 2018.
New Bronze Plaques to be installed on the Yeovil War Memorial to Mark the Centenary of the End of the First World War
As many people will be aware, 2018 is the centenary of the end of the First World War. Yeovil Town Council, who owns the War Memorial in the centre of Yeovil, is proposing to mark the occasion by having the stone cleaned and replacing the bronze plaques bearing the ‘Roll of Honour’. This will allow the correction where necessary of the existing names, and the addition of 53 names of soldiers who were born in Yeovil and subsequently died as a direct result of the First World War. This includes Private Ernest Horler who was ‘shot at dawn’, but pardoned by the Government in 2007.
The revised list of names on the ‘Roll of Honour’ has been compiled as a result of careful and detailed research by local historians Bob Osborn (creator of the website ‘The A-to-Z of Yeovil’s History’, www.yeovilhistory.info), and Jack Sweet. The Town Council is very grateful for their contribution to the project. Originally, the names listed on the War Memorial were inscribed in the stone, and were as a result of local people putting forward names for inclusion in the ‘Roll of Honour’ following an advertisement in the Western Gazette in 1919 (see Gallery below). Unfortunately, many soldiers were overlooked and their names were not included.
Since this time bronze plaques have been added, not only because the original inscriptions became eroded, but also to accommodate additional names following requests from family members in subsequent years. Nevertheless, it has become apparent through research (including the 1911 Census, the Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s website, the National Newspaper Archive, etc) that the names of a further 53 men who were born in Yeovil and died as a direct result of the First World War do not appear on the Memorial. Therefore, the Town Council has drawn up a comprehensive list of names to be included in the Roll of Honour on the new plaques. In doing this, it has also come to light that there are many errors to the existing names, and the new plaques provide the opportunity to correct these. The War Memorial is a Grade II listed building, and therefore an application for listed building consent has been submitted to South Somerset District Council. The proposals include the cleaning of the Memorial before the new plaques are installed. If listed building consent is granted, the Town Council intends to re-dedicate the Memorial on Armistice Day later this year.
Rob Stickland,
Chair of the
Buildings and
Civic Matters
Committee, said
“The cleaning of
the Borough War
Memorial and the
installation of
the new plaques
for Armistice
Day 2018, is a
fitting tribute
to all those men
and women of
Yeovil who lost
their lives in
both World Wars,
and the addition
of the new names
will ensure the
sacrifice of all
will not be
forgotten, as
well as marking
the Centenary”.
During the
course of this
project, it has
also come to
light that there
are two men who
were born in the
(then) village
of Preston
Plucknett who
are not included
in the ‘Roll of
Honour’ on the
Preston
Plucknett War
Memorial. Yeovil
Town Council
also owns this
Memorial, and
has therefore
arranged for the
names of these
two additional
men to be added
before Armistice
Day this year.
For my individual pages on those Yeovil men who fell in the First World War - click here.
For details and photographs of the War Memorial in the Borough - click here.
gallery
The requirements for adding a name to Yeovil's War memorial was issued by the Town Council. Sadly nearly 60 names were, for whatever reason, not included. Each has (or will have) a page on this website in their memory.
From my
collection
A postcard of the original dedication of the War Memorial, 14 July 1921.
