The church will be hosting special services from 24th August 2014 to 28th June 2019; to remember every single man and woman that made the ultimate sacrifice 100 years ago; and they are producing a new Roll of Honour to ensure that all the names of people who died are recorded for posterity.
Organisers of the appeal are particularly asking for people to come forward with the names of the men and women who are featured on the county’s war memorials, but whose details were missed off all other official records at the time of their death. The new information and updated details of the names of lives lost will then be entered in a new Roll of Honour commemorative book. St Chad’s will display the new leather-bound Roll of Honour next to the original version which will be accessible to everyone. Soft bound copies of the Roll will be published and distributed around the county so that it is easily accessible to the people of Shropshire, visitors and researchers. Details will also be on a new dedicated website.
Sir Algernon Heber-Percy; Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire has been invited to write the introduction to the new Roll of Honour, the original Roll being established by the Earl of Powis.
The Lord Lieutenant said: The task of completing the Roll of Honour of all those who lost their lives from the county is a most admirable way of helping to mark the anniversary of the First World War. It is important that our Roll of Honour should be as accurate as humanly possible. I very much hope that everyone will give this significant project their fullest possible support”.
Researchers Phil Morris and Neil Evans have dedicated 15 years of research to ensure Shropshire has the most accurate and up-to-date memorial to remember all those who lost their lives in the conflict. Their research discovered that the original Roll of Honour shows 5425 names; whereas a total of 7978 names are recorded on war memorials throughout the county.
A spokesperson for the Appeal said: “We are inviting people to visit the website: www.stchadschurchshrewsbury.com/WW1 to see if they can help fill in any missing pieces of information. We need their replies by 31st March please.”
It is envisaged that the new Roll of Honour will be presented at a special County Service to commemorate the start of the First World War, being held on Sunday 3rd August.
The project is being run with the co-operation of Shropshire Council’s Shropshire Archives Service, and in association with the Royal British Legion”.
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