War heroes names to be added

The impact of the conflict on survivors, families and the country as a whole is being reassessed as we start to understand more about the history of the period.

Many historians used to argue that the world changed after the war, that the golden age of great landed estates collapsed as the youth of Britain was slaughtered on the battlefield of the world.

However, recent work is questioning this view and pointing out other causes.

To some, post-war Britain was the age of morbidity, to others the jazz age. Whatever the arguments and discussions historians have, some issues are irrefutable, that hundreds of men from Horsham and its villages died fighting in the war.

It was the great sense of loss that led to communities across the country erecting war memorials.

Although the occasional isolated memorial was erected for the occasional battle and war, such as the Boer War, World War One saw the first outpouring of national grief mixed with pride that led to the building of war memorials on a grand scale; so much so that it is the war memorial that for many people signify the public memory of World war One.

Some communities built public hospitals as memorials to the loss but also to the future: Horsham's rebuilt cottage hospital in part grew out of this desire.

But the memorial alone was to loss and honour, to a public showing of grief and a reminder of sacrifice.

Thanks to the work of Gary Cooper, there will be another type of memorial for Horsham, a book that gives the life stories of those who died. In effect it turns names into real people.

The work that Gary has done is being undertaken across Britain as today's generation tries to understand the past and the sense of loss both to family and community.

It makes real the name, so we know that he was a baker, a butcher or farm worker, that he left behind a brother, wife or partner.

But it may never have been so. Original documents show how the war memorial was nearly left bereft of names, and would have if it wasn't for a public campaign to include them. Remarkably,

Gary's research has shown that around 60 names are still missing, but this will be rectified.

The story of the war memorial does not start with the ceasefire of November 1918; it starts at the opening of the War, in August 1914.

When war commenced it was seen by many, encouraged by the media of the day as a great game, a quick decisive war that would be over by Christmas.

As young men flocked to volunteer, local groups (notably the churches) started to keep a roll of honour.

Not of the dead, but of those who volunteered. Horsham's engineer started to make a list of honourable men who joined up.

In September 1914 the town was swamped with over 7,000 troops marching to Newhaven for the front. Postcards were issued showing the troops leaving.

This roll though soon changed from honour to a roll of those who died. In Horsham the engineer stopped making his list and the local paper started to record deaths.

As Gary's book recounts, men from Horsham died in all of the major battles, so that when a ceasefire did occur at 11 o'clock on the 11th day of the 11th month, there was no formal list of those who left Horsham and who died.

In January, when peace had not yet been declared (that would not occur till 28 June 1919), the great and the good of Horsham got together, formed a committee to erect a war memorial.

Discussions took place, with the Vicar demanding a Christian symbol as it was a Christian war against the evil of the German and Austrian foe.

One thing was clear: no name should go on the memorial; it was to be a work of art, of remembrance. The grand 4,500 scheme was transformed into a more affordable 500 scheme, but with no names.

A rival committee was formed of wives and partners of those who had lost loved ones, who demanded public recognition. The War Memorial stood for the grave in a foreign field the family might not be able to see and became a site of memory.

The roll of honour and the listing of names also demonstrates the community's involvement.

Although the soldier took the 'King's shilling' and fought under the Sovereign's name, it was very much seen as "this country's" army.

And yet at the turn of the twentieth century loyalties were very strong to place and county '“ regiments were County based '“ The Sussex '“ so by listing the names in a town you retained identity with a place, a sense of local identity. In Sussex this was particularly strong as the county was dominated by a few powerful landowners who still had almost medieval loyalty from the villagers and town folk.

Not only that but the individual groups within a community, such as friends, or church, or scouts were linked by the roll of honour and unfortunately all too often by the names on the memorial.

If the names of the people were listed alphabetically then family members were kept together rather than listed in regiments or years of death.

The reciting of names split the town into two camps. In the end a compromise was reached.

The names would be placed on plaques at the foot of the memorial. Two years later, in 1921, the War memorial was unveiled. Collyer's had their own memorial, as did St. Mary's church; the town had a temporary structure, but in 1921 the town had its permanent memorial, in a place where many young men were actively encouraged to sign up '“ not in a backwater or by the church, but in the centre of the community '“ the Carfax.

The West Sussex Gazette's sister paper The West Sussex County Times recorded the unveiling on November 13 1921 in full.

Apparently the unveiling service was quite short. The day had "frost but bright and fine weather, quite unlike gloomy November".

At the ceremony there was a space for the dignitaries and for the relatives of the 359 named.

The principal people involved in the ceremony met at the Town Hall, then at 2.48pm marched to the Memorial.

The Regimental Band on the Bandstand played. The unveiling was performed by Major General Young, colonel of the County Regiment, The Royal Sussex. After the service the War Memorial was formerly handed over by the Vicar (Chairman of the Memorial Committee) to the Chairman of Horsham Urban District Council, Mr Hunt, who said, "On behalf of the Council may I say we shall ever consider it our bounden duty to always keep and properly preserve this memorial."

The story did not end there. In 1929, owing to weathering, the names were placed on a stone wall surrounding the War Memorial. Later, iron railings were put up to stop dogs fouling the memorial.

In 1991 when the war memorial was moved to its current site the names of those from World War Two were placed on the memorial, with the simple lead plaque put up after the war being given to Horsham Museum.

And now we enter another chapter as proposals are put forward for a new set of names to be added, along with two additional stone 'wings' on the back wall to take the forgotten names.

Just as our understanding of the war, its causes and consequences change and deepen, so how we approach the most significant public reminder of the First World War changes.

With the publication of Horsham's Heroes the story has been immeasurably enhanced. Both War Memorial and book are monuments to loss and sacrifice in Horsham.