Lives of the First World War

3 WhitSoc researchers- Meg Holland, Suzanne Ridley & Karen Wright have since 2014 focused on this village 7 miles south of Cambridge in the period 1914-1919 - the men who left it to fight in the war and the families and life they left behind. This village historical, environmental & amenities society established 1975, is noted for research and publication projects with several short books, papers and over 120 issues of its journal Whither Whittlesford. The WW1 project is the biggest yet, inspired by an invitation/programme for a Dinner on 2 January 1920 to honour the men who went to war, listing "The Whittlesford 100" by rank, initial & surname, marking the 15 who gave their lives, also named on the War Memorial unveiled a couple of days later. Much has been written on those 15 - but what about the other 85? What was the impact of The Great War on Whittlesford? A first priority was researching from multiple sources and approaches the positive identification of the listed ‘100’ (and others eligible for inclusion) plus key people left behind. In personal tribute to her grandfathers, on the 11-11-18 centenary, Karen, specialising in service histories, compiled a reference book listing details of 128 “Whittlesford Men at War” with all that was found about their war service and photos, letters, press cuttings etc. Copies of this are on show in the church and other key village locations; the data incorporated in this Community. Meg and Suzanne plan to produce the main book on the project to mark the centenary of the original Dinner -especially detailing lives and life here in the village before, during and after The Great War. Most poignantly and practically, this meant the VAD HOSPITAL established here for almost 4 years – ‘home’, however briefly, for a staggering total of 1700 wounded strangers; service men and boys, just like the far away, 100+ local loved ones. SEE the separate Whittlesford Society ‘Community’ 8671 focused on this.

http://www.whittlesford.photo

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