I wrote about the repatriation of men who were still in Schweidnitz and Holzminden POW camps in Germany, now Poland at the end of WWI in 1923 for Remembrance Day.
As we commemorate another Remembrance Day in 2024, I thought it would be nice to reflect on what was happening in towns around England, Scotland, Ireland, and Australia at the end of the war and in coming years.
Patriotic groups and charities had raised funds throughout
the war and vast funds were raised to support the war effort. Now after the
war, many families, children, widows, mothers, siblings, were still mourning
their losses. Plenty more would have been celebrating the return of their loved
ones and soldiers returning experienced a myriad of feelings.
People needed a place to gather or remember on days like Remembrance Days held
on 11th November each year. Ideally this would be a place that commemorated
names of those who served or died because of their service.
As things were returning to near normal, town folks set
about designing and constructing outdoor memorials or indoor Rolls of Honour in
churches and public places. The various civic bodies, volunteer groups and
local councils were involved with getting this all together. Plenty of raffles
and make-and-bake stalls were held to fundraise for their town's memorials.
Post-war funds were required for the erection of the memorials as well as the
assisting war veterans and their families in the rehabilitation and the like.
It may have taken years to fund and build these gathering places of
commemoration of loss and to celebrate the glory of heroism.
So one such town was Newhaven, Sussex. This where the Ford family lived after
the war and the loss of their son Alfred Samuel.
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| Newhaven Transport Memorial |
The first memorial in the town be unveiled after the war opened on the 11th of August 1920 was the Newhaven Transport Memorial. The memorial occupied a prominent position in full view of vessels passing in and out of the port. It was designed by C.T. Hooper, the town of Newhaven's surveyor. It was erected to commemorate the officers and men of the Merchant Navy who lost their lives sailing to and from the port of Newhaven, a major supply port during World War One.
The second memorial to be unveiled was The Newhaven Town Memorial also designed by C.T. Hooper. It was opened on the 4th of October 1921, a month prior to the third Remembrance Day ceremony. It was originally erected at the junction of Chapel St, South St and Fort Rds. Later it was moved to its present position at the Sussex Memorial Gardens in South Way Lewes East Sussex and is the location of the annual Remembrance Day ceremonies each year.
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| Newhaven Town Memorial |
In the crowd on that day - 4th of October 1921, a month prior to the Third Remembrance Day ceremony were my husband’s great grandmother Alice Mockford (previously Ford), mother of Alfred Samuel Ford KIA, her son Joseph Ford and daughter-in-law to be Charlotte Hilton.
Part of its design is a fully enclosed wheel cross mounted on a tapering column on a square plinth and base.
On the memorial is a plaque that says:
“Their name liveth forevermore. This memorial is erected to the glorious memory of the men of Newhaven who gave their lives in service of their King and Country during the Great War 1914 to 1919. An additional plaque says “Also to their comrades who fell 1939-1945.”
It commemorates the men of Newhaven who gave their lives during WWI. Amongst the 120 names listed on the memorial is Alfred Samual Ford.
A third memorial is a Roll of Honour in the interior of St Michael's Church of England, in Newhaven This also included Alfred Samuel Ford's name. It carries the words
“To the glory and undying memory of the under mentioned men of this Parish who gave their lives for King and Country, and in grateful appreciation of those who took part in the Great War 1914-1919.”
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| Alfred Samuel's Military Medal |
Remembering Alfred Samuel Ford
Alfred 1885-1916 was the third child of Alice and George Ford -Killed in Action 30/6/1916. He had received a Military Medal. He had enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment 39th Division and was killed at the Rue de Bois aged 32. He was also commemorated on the Loos Memorial. see blog Alfred Samuel Ford
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| 1919 Remembrance Day Newhaven c Colin Holden |
On a lighter note, with the return of the men, towns had plenty to
celebrate and much to make up for in lost time and happiness.
Here is a little article from The Stage Archive July 1919. I love the idea of a peace-spectacular procession perambulating in the town of Portsmouth in July 1919. This was to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. A Bank Holiday was declared and the people of England marked the proper end of the war and celebrated with jubilation in London and all over the country.
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| Portsmouth Revels -The Stage Archives 24/7/1919 |
One of my vaudeville music hall relatives Cornelius McBride was volunteering his services under the stage name of Power and Benden. Can't you picture this day of revelry in Portsmouth where colourfully decorated cars rolled down the street to crowds of townsfolk who had just come from the grips of war. Returned servicemen were entertained at the Hippodrome, stages were erected in the main park and entertainment was provided to the demobilised soldiers, sailors, and their families.
Despite the rain, I bet this was a weekend all and sundry remembered for years.
Lest we forget...
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