ABOUT THIS SITE

 

This site is dedicated to the men whose names appear on the Riverhead Memorial.  There are 18 of them and all of them died in World War 1.  Riverhead has no public memorial to those who died in World War 2 - although there are Rolls of Honour (for both World War 1 and World War 2) in St Mary's Church. 

 

Beneath the tab headed "The Soldiers" are various sub-tabs.  The first sub-tab contains an "Overview" of WW1 which provides a very high level outline of WW1 (principally on the Western Front) and sets in context the individual deaths.  It is important to read this before looking at the individual pages for each soldier.

 

The second sub-tab contains some relevant photographs and information relating to Riverhead and WW1 including a photograph of  WW1 Roll of Honour in St Mary's Church.

 

The remaining sub-tabs contain information relevant to each of the 18 soldiers appearing on the Memorial.  They are identified by name and appear in order of date of death.  By reading through them in sequence, in the light of the Overview, it is possible to gain an outline of WW1 (principally on the Western Front).  Obviously the Overview is at a very high level and anyone wanting to understand WW1 in depth will have to research further.  Hopefully, however, it helps to set each one of these soldiers' deaths in the context of World War 1 as a whole.  

 

On each individual's page there is a link to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) page relevant to that individual and, where it has been possible to identify it, a link to a site containing details of the battle or engagement in which they died.  Such other information as it has been possible to locate has been added.

 

Inevitably, 100 years on, information is hard to come by.  The majority of soldiers' records from WW1 were destroyed by enemy bombing in WW2.

 

It has not been possible to locate anyone living in the village who is related to any of these soldiers (though a few relatives located in other parts of the Country and around the World have been able to assist).  Consequently, the depth of information varies markedly between the various casualties.  Any relevant information will be gratefully received and added to the site.  Please do not hesitate to send it using the "Contact" tab.

 

Numbers and statistics in this website are derived from several sources and are consistent with current estimates.  Complete precision is impossible.