Grave of Philip Beckwith died in Craven St. aged 42 ©FNRC Grave of Philip Beckwith died in Craven St. aged 42

World War Words

15 men remembered with poetry and prose

'Why? Why were there 15 Commonwealth War Graves from World War 1 in Newtown Road Cemetery?' This was how we started our event on 10th November 2018, the eve of the centenary of the Armistice.

Ros Clow told the stories of all 15 and each one was commemorated with readings chosen by Jane Burrell. The selection of readings we knew would be very moving, we were worried that we might find reading very hard. What we hadn't expected was the dramatic sound effects created by Fireworks parties the same night. The bombardment began as Jane recited Carol Ann Duffy's poem, The Last Post. At one stage the noise was so deafening we were all worried that the roof of the Chapel might fall in!

But we soldiered on! Mike Huxtable performed 'Hec', a monologue created by Garahan Swannell to be performed on the radio by Bill Fraser. Paul Shave read 'The Death Bed' by Siegried Sassoon. The 20 readings ended with Jane reading 'Written in Stone' by local author Jennifer Henderson.

We had only a small audience but nevertheless did what we set out to do, to remember our 15 'residents' whose graves are still tended by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission 100 years on.