Author: oldwhittingtonops

WE REMEMBER IN OCTOBER

We remember the men of Old Whittington who died in WW1 during October, who left the village never to return.

Charles Lievesley Died 3rd October 1918
Bertram Love Died 3rd October 1918

Joseph Norton Died 3rd October 1915

H Widdowson Died 5th October 1916

Percy Carlile Died 8th October 1916

Alexander Carlile Died 12th October 1916

John E Green Died 12th October 1917

John McGee Died 12th October 1918

Reginald Benton Died 18th October 1916

For the Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England’s foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

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WE REMEMBER TODAY

Today we remember three men from Old Whittington who never returned.

Harry Higginbottom died 100 years ago today on 26th September 1918 he was 21 years old and is commemorated Vis en Artois Memorial.

Horace Lewis died 26th September 1917 he was 19 years old and is commemorated on Tyne Cot memorial. His story can be read at https://oldwhittingtonops.com/lewis-horace/

Harry Taylor died 26th September 1917 he was 21 years old and is buried in New Irish Farm Cemetery.

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TODAY WE REMEMBER TWO MEN FROM OLD WHITTINGTON WHO DIED ON 15TH SEPTEMBER 1916.

William Henry Bestwick  aged 29 years

Charles Gordon Hemstock ages 24 years

Both men are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial France.

I have already completed my research into the life of Charles Hemstock and it can be found at https://oldwhittingtonops.com/hemstock-charles-gordon/

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WE REMEMBER IN SEPTEMBER

Men of Old Whittington who died between 1914-1918.

Norman Dennison 3 September 1916

Fred Harle 4 September 1916

Wm Hy Bestwick 15 September 1916

C G Hemstock 15 September 1916

W Hy Reynold 16 September 1916

George Straw 18 September 1918

Fredk Walker 18 September 1918

Kenneth Eveleigh 19 September 1918

Christopher Loomes 25 September 1918

Hy Higginbottom 26 September 1918

Horace Lewis 26 September 1917

Harry Taylor 26 September 1917

H Pollendine 27 September 1916

Wm Leslie Gaunt 28 September 1917

Harry Adams 30 September 1917

WE SHALL KEEP THE FAITH (Moira Michael Nov 1918)

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honour of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.

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