Page 16 - Jigsaw September 2018

A glance at the past...
World War I – Eric Franklin celebrates our local heroes
Thrapston Roll of Honour Islip Roll of Honour Denford War Memorial
This month I am focusing on the end of World War 1 to publicise our exhibition at the end of the September. The Battle of Amiens began in Picardy on 8th August 1918. This was one of the first major battles involving armoured vehicles and marked the end of trench warfare. In effect, from the end of the battle on 27th August 1918 the Allied forces were on an unstoppable offensive, resulting in the Armistice in less than three months.
During these few months, five Thrapston men – Robert Hiam (19), John Stimpson (34), Samuel Wright (29), Sidney Newman (21) and John Rogers (24) - and two Islip men, George Bedford (19) and Harold Todd (19) lost their lives in the offensive. No Denford men were lost during this time.
On Saturday 29th September, between 10.00am and 4.00pm Thrapston District Historical Society and Thrapston Heritage have a free exhibition at the Plaza commemorating how the Great War affected Thrapston, Islip and Denford. This is the culmination of nearly ten years of research into these Rolls of Honour and we believe
is a fitting finale. As well as details of all the men who were killed, we will have
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information on the other 239 Thrapston men named in the Roll of Honour who survived.
Pictured above are the covers of one book and two booklets I have produced which detail the lives of men who did not return from local communities. I will also bring various other books/booklets produced in Northamptonshire to commemorate other communities.
At the exhibition there will be photographs and details of the lives of many of the casualties and survivors. Also, personal items either owned by or awarded to them will be on view. There will be opportunity
to try on various WW1 military hats, handle original WW1 items, view original posters advertising the formation of the Thrapston Branch of the Royal Legion and discover more about life in our communities during the war. Pictured are three items of 100 year old Thrapston crested china of a super Zeppelin, a zeppelin bomb and an officers’ hat. These and many other original WW1 related items will be displayed.
If you have visited one of our whole day exhibitions before, I guarantee you will find much to interest. If you haven’t been