The Warboys War Memorial has village members who lost their lives in both the 1914/1918 and the 1939/1945 world wars and Korea 1951.
The decision to build a War Memorial was taken at a meeting of Warboys Parish Council held on 13th January 1921. There was a sum of nearly £340 available which had been collected in the village in 1918 and 1919, firstly for “Our Prisoner of War Fund” and after the Armistice for The Red Cross. For various reasons the money had not been used for either and was still available.
The Memorial was to be placed on an enclosed piece of land in front of The Endowed School which belonged to Warboys Anglican Church.
The Church gave their permission and a monumental mason from St. Ives, Mr Marsters was instructed to provide the memorial, design number 2, at a cost of £300. It was to be .9 feet 6 inches high and 5 feet wide at the base and made of best silver grey Cornish Granite. The whole surmounted with coping and a cross. 52 names were to be inscribed on it in imperishable lead and also an inscription reading:
ERECTED IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THE MEN OF WARBOYS WHO FOUGHT AND DIED IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
How the 52 names were chosen is not recorded.
At a meeting on 7th July 1921 it was agreed to unveil the Memorial two weeks later on 21st July at 7 pm. The Town Crier was sent around the village to notify people of the event.
Arrangements were made for children to sing in a choir, a harmonium to be borrowed from the Wesleyan church to be played by the Anglican Church organist, an Order of Service to be printed and a wreath ordered. Two buglers were sent by Captain Lake from Huntingdon. The curate from the Anglican Church officiated with assistance from the Baptist and Methodist ministers.
The War Memorial was unveiled at a service of dedication on Thursday 21st July 1921. by The Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire Mr Howard Coote. The service was well attended and there was a large pile of flowers heaped around the base of the memorial.
In his address The Lord Lieutenant spoke of the sacrifice these men had made and urged that “We should strive to live worthily of them who had died.”
All the men listed (which includes seven sets of brothers) would have been known to each other as family, friends or neighbours. Most of them had attended the local schools and then worked as labourers in either the brickyard or on a farm.
All the men, except for Robin Saunders who was a pilot, were in the army.
Forty-seven of the men are buried in War Grave Cemeteries or remembered on Memorials in France or Belgium. One is remembered in Tehran, one in Malta and one in Greece. Two have official War Graves in Warboys Church Cemetery as also do two other men Thomas Amps and Sydney Cooper but their names are not on the War Memorial. Sydney Cooper’s name was missed off by mistake and it was promised it would be added later.
On the 15th July 2014, to commemorate the centenary of WW1, the War Memorial was rededicated and a new memorial seat dedicated The names of Sydney Cooper and Thomas Amps were inscribed on this; so after nearly 100 years the mistake has been rectified.
The final meeting of the War Memorial Committee was on 14 October 1921 where it was announced that the final cost was 322 pounds, 5 shillings and 11 pence. which is about £13,500 in today’s value.
After WW2 six more names were added and another one in 1951 from the Korean War.
More information on the men who are named on the Memorial can be found below.
Websites:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ancestry.com
Roll of Honour – Martin Edwards
Hunts Cyclist Battalion – Martyn Smith
Find My Past
The Genaelogist
Regimental Websites
The National Archives
The Long Long Trail
Army Service Numbers
Imperial War Museum
Wikipedia
www.curme.co.uk
www.johndclare.net
Pat Cryer
People:
Huntingdon Archive
Pidley Church, Church Warden: Kevin Doyle
Nigel Graham
Joan Cole
Penny Noble
Marlene and Lionel Payne
Family members of the Hodson and Norman families
Audrey Manchett
Books and Articles:
‘The History of the Queen Victoria Rifles’
‘A short History of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry 1741 to 1922’ by R B Crosse
‘The 33rd Division 1915 to 1919’ by G S Hutchinson
Hunts Post
‘A History of No.10 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service in WW1’ by Mike Westrop
© Written by Mary Tringham April 2017.