SILKSWORTH AND TUNSTALL

In The Great War

Looking back to 1914 New Silksworth was a village . The number of men lost at that time must have been significant. When the injured and disabled and those lucky enough to return unscathed are added in, then a large chunk of the male population must have been involved. The London Colliery roll of Honour names over 750 men who worked at the colliery and served in the war. The resulting effects must have been massive.

The research has raised some interesting facts and stories. We assume that war is for young men and eighteen year olds were indeed lost, but soldiers in their late thirties and forties were also killed. Families lost more than one son. Next-door neighbours lost sons or husbands. The pattern of losses follows the great campaigns. The causalities of the Ypres and the Somme battles are grouped together followed by wounded men passing on and being buried at home. Not everyone is in France or Flanders they are spread throughout the world.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records every serviceman lost as having a war grave. Sadly many men have no known grave are recorded on huge memorials such as Theipval, Tyne Cot and the Menin gate. Sailors lost at sea are remembered on the Portsmouth memorial. The Commission records all commemorations as “war graves”. The emotive image of rows of identical white head stones stays with everybody who has seen them, in some cemeteries they seem endless. These cemeteries are worldwide, France and Belgium were not the only locations of the war. Silksworth men are buried in Egypt, Turkey (Gallipoli), Germany and in Britain. Those white stones are in cemeteries everywhere and the graves are tended by the Commission. St Mathews and St Leonard’s both have war graves of men who died at home from their injuries. The Commission’s list provides a wealth of information. There are other databases and archives that can be searched once armed with the more detailed war grave information obtained. These records flesh out the details. Unfortunately the actual service records of servicemen are poor. The archive was badly damaged in the London blitz and very few records remain.

I make it rule for myself that I only display details of men who have a confirmed link to Silksworth. That link may be tenuous. I hold back information on other soldiers until their link is confirmed.