Final service to remember Shropshire's war dead held in Shrewsbury - with video

Since August 2014, their names have been read of at a weekly service held at St Chad's Church in Shrewsbury on the date closest to their deaths.

Wednesday night was the final service and at its end the 5,286 people whose names appear on war memorials around the county had been honoured.

Anna Turner, Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire, attended the service and lay a wreath on behalf of the whole ceremonial county. The installation, One Name One Voice, ran in the churchyard. This is a sound installation, by Shrewsbury media artist Andy McKeown, to commemorate the Shropshire men and women killed during the First World War. A unique voice for each name on the Roll of Honour has been recorded to give each person an individuality.

Clare Crackett, World War One Project volunteer was overwhelmed with the response from the public who had turned out, some each week, some once a month, to pay their respects to the brave soldiers who fell during the 2014-18 conflict.

Amazing

The project had a personal note for Clare whose great uncle Thomas Henry died in 1916. "He was just a private but he, like all the other men and women who were killed in the Great War deserved to be remembered.

"I wasn't sure how this would go when it started but the response we had was amazing. People travelled from all over the country to attend the services and they were held every week for five years.

"We decided to end the services on the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. It just seemed the natural time to do it. But, we know there were soldiers who died after this date and they were remembered in the final service. There is one soldier who died of his wounds in 1927 and, I hope I will still be around then to honour him on the anniversary of his death with a candle and a prayer."

The basis of the services was the dogged research of Neil Evans and Phil Morris who spent years visiting each and every war memorial in Shropshire and patiently noting down every name. These were then transcribed on to the Roll of Honour.

Copies of the Roll have been presented to schools and libraries throughout the county and the main Roll of Honour is kept in the Military Chapel at St Chad’s.

Clare added: "When I met with other people from around the country and told them what we were doing to remember Shropshire's war dead they were astounded. It has been hugely humbling. The regimental associations have been delighted with what we have done to make sure that these brave men and women are remembered. The support we have had has been huge and this whole experience has emphasised God's love and care for every single person now and then and that has been at the heart of what we wanted to achieve."