Peakirk War Memorial

One item at Peakirk Village Hall is the Roll of Honour which contains the details of all of the residents of Peakirk who saw service in the first world war. The roll of honour itself can be seen here.

Our thanks to Bob Randall who has kindly agreed that we can include his article on the memorial from a recent Tribune:

From the ordinary to the spectacular, war memorials have been erected to remember those who died as a result of wars and conflicts. Throughout the UK, war memorials provide information about the individuals who are commemorated and insights into the human cost of war. One superb example lies hidden away in a committee room at Peakirk Village Hall – it is a unique historic record of Peakirk’s contribution in the First World War.

The Peakirk Roll of Honour has photographs and details of not only those who died, but all who served from the village. The oak-framed panel contains 48 photographs with, in some cases, extensive details of their service history.

Since 1989, the UK National Inventory of War Memorials, located at the Imperial War Museum, has been compiling a comprehensive, and detailed, catalogue of War Memorials. Peakirk’s Roll of Honour has just been included in the record. We asked Jennifer Flippance – the project leader – to comment on the significance of the Roll of Honour:

“This kind of memorial is very unusual, with few examples surviving from the First World War. From our current records, it appears they make up less than 0.3% of the total War Memorials in the UK. However, there are a number of features of this memorial that makes it even more historically significant. The preservation of the photographs and text is very good – we typically see photographs that are far more faded. It’s very unusual to see this level of detail regarding the men, eg: place and date of birth and unit at enlistment and details of their service and death. It is also unusual to see photographs of those who served and returned in addition to those who died. The true value of this memorial is that it enables us to positively identify the faces of these men. This is something that becomes harder to do as time passes and memory fades – but it really brings these memories alive. Time and again we see how important it is for people to see the faces behind the names.”

The roll of honour can be seen here

More information can be found at:

* United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials: http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/
* War Memorials Trust. Work for the protection and conservation of war memorials in the UK: http://www.warmemorials.org/