THOUSANDS will gather across the county today to pay their respects to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country.
And the war memorial at Braunston has been given a much-needed makeover.
With the location of the memorial very close to the junction at the entrance to the village – where it suffers from car engine fumes – and its prominent position facing the full blast of the west wind, the memorial was beginning to look very grubby, and had even re-entered the War Memorials Trust’s list of those at risk.
It is the second time in recent years it has received a spruce up thanks to sponsorship from Braunston Marina. The first was a major restoration in the summer of 2014 in the build up to the centenary of First World War.
The latest restoration was on a more modest scale – largely a clean-up of the stonework by local stone mason specialists Boden & Ward of Flore, with repointing by skilled stonemason Steve Hancock. The icing on the cake was the repainting the lead-lettering to the memorial, now largely indecipherable on the south and west facing sides.
The memorial was built in about 1922, to commemorate the 31 Braunston villagers who did not return from the First World War – almost twice the number of several other local villages of a similar size.
In the case of the canal and farming village, of the 31 men who died, 19 of them did so as soldiers in France and Belgium. Two more died in the Salonika, northern Greece, one in Syria, and one in Mesopotamia, in what is today Iraq. Two died serving at sea with the Royal Navy. The service records of six of the men have not been found.
Tim Coghlan, owner of Braunston Marina, and co-author with Jenny Coy of the booklet ‘Braunston’s Roll of Honour in World War 1’ said: “The men were for the most part simple country folk, who would have previously known nothing of war nor understood the cause for which they were now fighting – farm labourers, a farrier, a domestic groom, a cowman and a postman, amongst others. Nine of them were, or could well have been boatmen, with little if any education, attracted no doubt by the prospect of adventure and the higher wages offered by the King’s Shilling.
“We are proud to play our part in looking after Braunston’s war memorial and in so doing, honouring the men who gave their lives for the freedom we enjoy today.”
