One hundred and seven years since the end of World War One and eighty years after the end of World War Two the villagers of Sulgrave still gather to remember those who died in those wars and many other conflicts. Unlike most other villages, Sulgrave does not have an outdoor war memorial and the custom is now to assemble at 10.30 am on each Armistice Day on Castle Green, to observe the two minute’s silence at exactly 11.00 am in common with millions of others at home and abroad.
The names of the fallen are to be seen on the above plaque in the nearby village church.
See the next page for more photographs of the event together with more information about the casualties.
Click on “Read the rest of this entry”.
The two minute’s silence…..
….ended by the sounding of “Reveille”.
Wreaths are laid.
A note from Colin Wootton.
Now aged 87 and after a lifetime in the village, I find myself becoming very reflective on occasions such as Armistice Day. My wife Molly and I must have attended at least sixty such Sulgrave remembrance events together. As many of you will know, she is now permanently in a Care Home where she is comfortable and well cared for but totally unaware. I would like to thank all of those of you who asked me to give her your good wishes, which she will not understand but which mean a great deal to me.
As a teenager in the village I knew many veterans of both world wars. Some of those from the first war were still in their sixties and seventies and those from the second war still young men and women. They are all gone now. They were universally stoical in their acceptance of their often terrifying experiences. They said little of these but I would like to pass on a few chance remarks they made which have simply stayed with me. When I was a boy, a memorable figure in the village was Frank Middleton. He had lost a leg in the first war. Despite this he worked for the rest of his life as a gardener at Sulgrave Manor. Everyone he met as he limped to work got a cheerful smile. A more contented man it would have been difficult to meet. On one occasion I had the pleasure of discussing this with him. “Ah well, you see,” he said, “I only lost a leg – many of the other boys lost their lives!” He was totally unconscious of any sense of irony in his remark. I have never forgotten it. I can also report that he was able to play cricket for the village despite his immense disability.
Frank, standing, third from the left. Sulgrave Cricket Team in the 1920s.
My wife’s father was “called up” during the first world war as an eighteen year old and joined the Wiltshire Regiment. After some rudimentary training on Salisbury Plain his unit was sent to France. On arrival at the front he was told that the initials on his uniform “WILTS” meant “Will I live till Saturday”! Very soon many thousands of his colleagues didn’t live to see sunset let alone Saturday. His unit was then transferred to Gallipoli, where he was seriously injured, cut down by machine gun fire in a frontal attack and then his ankle broken by shrapnel. He was rescued by brave stretcher bearers during the night and was treated on board a hospital ship off the coast of Greece. His abiding memory seems to have been that when the Medical Officer came round he was ordered to lay to attention. When asked how he was he replied “Very well, sir” (as instructed!). “Jolly good, private,” said the MO, “soon have you back at the front”. He must surely have thought “but I assumed I was going home for my medals” but of course he said no such thing and I suppose it was all much as he expected. It says a lot for village cricket being able to accommodate a range of ages and abilities that he, too, recovered to play for many years.
Finally, one of my uncles, who survived one of those horrendous attacks on the Somme, simply remarked that “At the end of the day there wasn’t a single person left alive that I knew”.
When I took over this village website twenty years ago, one of the first things I did was to carry out some online research into the fates of the seventeen men and one woman on the church war memorial. The results of this can be seen here (and in a booklet in the church). I was particularly interested to learn about my uncle Harold Wootton (my dad’s eldest brother). He enlisted in the local Yeomanry, Ox and Bucks Light Infantry, and went off to France and Belgium right at the start of the Great War in 1914. He took part in the retreat from Mons and and the first defensive action at Ypres, where he was killed in October of that year. As recounted in the research I took my father, then in his eighties, to look for his grave and attend the Memorial Service in Ypres. Now I am of that age myself I remember the visit with affection. I only need to turn my head from where I am typing this to imagine Harold leaving the family home opposite (now known as “Wootton House”) with high hopes, only for the dreaded telegram arriving at the same door a few months later.
Individual memorial to Uncle Harold in Sulgrave Church.
See here for full details of Harold Wootton on the village website.
I am the last of the once numerous members of the Wootton family in Sulgrave and as such I was related to many of those on the war memorial. My maternal grandmother was Catherine Taylor whose cousin Lilian Taylor was one of the first members of the Women’s Royal Air Force, founded towards the end of 1918. She returned from France at that time, only to succumb to the dreadful widespread flu epidemic. A Commonwealth War Graves headstone marks her resting place in Sulgrave churchyard. See here for her story.
Finally, the above memorial, just inside the southern entrance gate to Sulgrave churchyard, has intrigued me for some years. Leslie Hancock is not mentioned in the list of casualties in the church. I did some online research and found the following:
“On 14 September 1942, the British Wellington IC HE116 was shot down by NF Hptm. Lent II/NJG 2 and crashed in the North Sea, NW of Terschelling. The aircraft had departed from Edgehill and targeted Bremen. All 6 crew members died. 1.DAVIES, STANLEY (21), Sergeant (no. 1381571), Wellington IC HE116, RAF, †14/09/1942, [Unit] Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve [Family] Son of Mr. and Mrs. Trevor Davies. Husband of Marvis Davies, of Caerau, Bridgend, Glamorgan, Memorial: Runnymede Memorial 2.HANCOCK, BERNARD LESLIE (20), Sergeant (no. 1191244), Wellington IC HE116, RAF, †14/09/1942, [Unit] Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve [Family] Son of Charles Thomas Hancock and Frances Sarah Hancock, of Castle Thorpe, Buckinghamshire. Husband of Hilda Hancock, Memorial: Runnymede Memorial 3.HOLUB, MICHAEL (25), Pilot Officer (no. J/10250), Wellington IC HE116, RCAF, †14/09/1942, [Unit] Royal Canadian Air Force [Family] Son of Jacob and Julia Holub, Memorial: Runnymede Memorial 4.PEDERSEN, WALTER, Flight Sergeant (no. R/98793), Wellington IC HE116, RCAF, †14/09/1942, [Unit] Royal Canadian Air Force [Family] Son of Marius and Bertha Pedersen, of Clanwilliam, Manitoba, Canada, Memorial: Terschelling (West-Terschelling) General Cemetery 5.PLOWRIGHT, ROBERT STEWART CRICHTON (34), Sergeant (no. 622703), Wellington IC HE116, RAF, †14/09/1942, [Unit] Royal Air Force [Family] Son of James Stewart Crichton Plowright and Elizabeth Plowright, of Baslow, Derbyshire. Husband of C. Plowright, Memorial: Schiermonnikoog (Vredenhof) Cemetery 6.STAY, RICHARD FRANCIS (19), Sergeant (no. 1318706), Wellington IC HE116, RAF, †14/09/1942, [Unit] Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve [Family] Son of Arthur and Florence M. Stay, of Lake, Isle of Wight, Memorial: Esbjerg (Fourfeld) Cemetery.
The airfield at Edgehill was a base for Wellington bombers during the years 1940 – 45. It is now known as Shenington Airfield and is the home of a Gliding Club.
If anyone has further information about Leslie Hancock I would be pleased to receive it.
Colin Wootton
Very nicely written article Colin, thank you for relating personal stories and bringing to mind the impact on families of war and conflict.
Best wishes to you, Molly and the family.