Remembrance
Remembrance
Remembrance – the act of remembering and showing respect for someone who has died or a past event: a memory of something that happened in the past. (Cambridge English Dictionary)
Victories have been celebrated over the years by most cultures. The triumphal arches of the Roman Empire were continued in the Nineteenth Century in Paris and London. Only Cairns and rough stones marked the resting place of the fallen from battles in this country, if at all.
The Individuals remembered on special plaques in churches were usually from wealthy families. The ordinary soldiers were not remembered.
Following the Crimean War a few North East Memorials were dedicated to individuals and Regiments. Newspaper coverage was in still in its infancy, details of major battles were covered but few references have been found to those who died.
The later Victorian age saw the development of large Municipal Cemeteries with ornate headstones and outdoor memorials in towns to the Great and the Good.
By the time of the South African War 1899-1902, reporters sent messages back to the home country daily, telling a better educated public the news of the battles and details of the soldiers who died. At the conclusion of the war a number of memorials were raised in the area, usually including the names of the fallen and in some cases those who served.
Houghton le Spring : Image courtesy of Lonely Tower Film & Media
Barnard Castle : Image courtesy of Lonely Tower Film & Media
The Great War in 1914 brought a new challenge. The battlefields were just over the Channel and modern transport made the repatriation of the fallen relatively easy. Some bodies, mainly the sons from wealthy families were brought home at the family’s expenses in the early months of the War.
However, it was decided by the War Office that all the fallen would be buried where they fell, whatever their rank, and the burial place marked. Later it was decided that all the identifiable fallen should have the same headstone whatever their rank or circumstances. After the War finished the names of those who had died but their bodies were missing were inscribed on special memorials such as the ones at Thiepval, the Menin Gate and Arras.
From the outset of the War the local newspapers carried details of those who had enlisted. As time went by the same newspapers also included the names of the fallen, the wounded and the missing.
By the end of 1915 there were a few memorial tablets, once again placed by the wealthy in churches. The idea of recording the names of those serving was taken up by local people – Vicars, Priests, Headmasters and Employers. Rolls of Honour were published in North East Newspapers from 1915.
Small simple shrines to remember the fallen and serving were set up in South Shields also in 1915. Soon many of the streets there had their own shrines with names, photos, flowers and messages.
This was a ground swell reaction to the deaths from small close communities. This continued to the end of the War. The North East region has a number of Rolls of Honour carrying the year 1914 with no end date. The fallen were marked with a cross or a star or a box drawn round the name. Later these Rolls of Honour were the basis of the permanent memorials.
The War continued for over four years and some communities were fund raising most of these years for a memorial to remember their dead. In 1918 a number of War Memorial schemes came to fruition with the dedication of Winlaton, Swalwell and Birtley memorials months before the end of the War.
The Armistice on November 11th 1918 meant that the task of remembering the local dead could start in earnest, although officially the war was not over until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in July 1919. This is reflected on some memorials.
Not all Memorials are in the open. Some places had created Memorials to serve the living: hospitals, village halls, playing fields. Other choices were church furnishings, birdbaths, rolls of honour, boats, plaques, bells, annuities, libraries, school prizes, clocks, houses, gardens, individual trees – the variety is astonishing!
Part of the process of overcoming bereavement is burying your dead, saying your personal farewells and going to the graveside as and when the need is felt, or on special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. With the war dead buried abroad, this was impossible and local War Memorials took the place of graves and became a focus for Remembrance by the community and by individual families.
Few working class families would have been able to travel to France. In the 1920s the Royal British Legion organised Battlefield Tours and we have photographs of family members with the original Grave Markers, but these are not common.
Churches, Chapels, Schools and Businesses set up Committees and the often difficult task of collecting the details of the Fallen began. It was easier in smaller communities. When Hartlepool and West Hartlepool produced a preliminary Book of Remembrance, it was discovered that both towns had streets of the same name.
The Cenotaph in London and the Unknown Warrior’s tomb in Westminster Abbey focused the collective mind of the nation on Remembrance. But even this was too far for some people to visit.
The years 1919-1922 were the years when most of the smaller indoor memorials were dedicated and unveiled.
In 1923 the Government 1923 Act allowed local authorities to levy a small rate – no more than 1d in the £ – towards costs and maintenance, a power they still hold but by this time most smaller communities already had their War Memorial.
We have records of memorials spasmodically dedicated through the late 1920s and even the 1930s.
When the Second World War in 1939 started there was a different atmosphere. There were no lists of the Volunteers – most men and women were conscripted. There were newspaper reports of the main battles but, compared with the World War One newspapers the information was sparse and gave few personal details. Civilian War Deaths were reported in couched terms and only later accounts and local knowledge told the real story.
Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan in 1945 brought the conflict to an end. Committees were set up as before but there seemed little heart for new memorials. The War to End All Wars had not been successful and after six more years of the Second World War the communities were tired and worn out.
In some places the dates 1939-45 and names were added to existing memorials but it is noticeable that a number of communities do not have a World War Two presence. Many North East areas had civilian casualties and these are occasionally included on local War Memorials. Some even have the names of people from elsewhere who were killed when visiting.
The years following 1945 saw many War Memorials disappear. The development of city centres, the closure of long established businesses and schools and opening of brand new modern buildings meant that these reminders of past conflicts were removed. We have heard of some which were stored away, or even sold abroad, but these are a very small percentage of the numbers destroyed.
The various conflicts between 1945 and 1982 such as Korea and Aden are mentioned on some War Memorials but few of those killed in Northern Ireland can be found listed on local War Memorials.
The Falklands War in 1982, with the power of multi Media coverage, brought the horrors of war to a new generation, as did the Gulf War and the War in Afghanistan in more recent years. We have been reminded as a country of the cost of conflict. The names of some of these soldiers have been added to local memorials.
The success of the National Arboretum at Alrewas demonstrates the perceived need for the Country to remember its dead. The Forces’ Memorial records names of the fallen since 1947.
Because of the passage of time, people with personal knowledge of those named on World War 1 memorials have themselves passed into history. The last serving soldier died in 2009.
The role of memorials has evolved and they now also represent the suffering of all – the fallen, the serving men and their families. Their descendants still have very powerful feelings about what their forebears endured. Nobody visits a Commonwealth War Cemetery and comes away unmoved.
The Commemoration of the First World War 2014-2018, highlighted local War Memorials. The numbers attending Remembrance Day services increased and the general public looked at their Memorials with new eyes. Family historians discovered that they had long forgotten relatives named on local War Memorials. Television programmes and special National Services marked significant dates over the four years.
In the days before the South African War (1899 – 1902), when Britain was full of arrogance and Empire, at the time of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called “Recessional” which warned that pride comes before a fall. It contains the words which sum up the role of our war memorials today: “Lest We Forget”.
God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle-line,
Beneath whose awful Hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Captains and the Kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word—
Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!
