Remembering sportsmen who went missing in World War I

BRITISH sportsmen who were declared missing in action in WWI will be remembered at an event in Cardiff.

An evening of celebration and remembrance will be held at Octavo’s Café and Book Shop on Friday, November 9, at 6.15pm.

Timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the end of the 19141918 hostilities, Lost In France is the idea of freelance sports writer and author Spencer Vignes.

Among the many sportsmen being remembered will be Leigh Roose, the former Welsh international goalkeeper from Holt near Wrexham who played for a string of top clubs including Everton, Sunderland and Arsenal between 1901 and 1912.

Roose was declared missing presumed dead on October 7, 1916 while fighting at the Battle of the Somme. He is commemorated today on the Thiepval Memorial in France, dedicated to Allied soldiers killed at the Somme who have no known grave.

“Leigh was just one of many wellknown faces from the world of sport who served in World War One and whose bodies were never recovered,” says Vignes.

“I felt it was important, this year perhaps more than ever, to recall some of their stories and the sacrifices they made. We remember the First World War dead and injured from all walks of life, yet those who were declared missing are all too often forgotten about. That, in my opinion, is a huge oversight.”

The evening will feature a talk by Vignes, author of Roose’s biography (also called Lost In France), together with a display of artefacts relating to missing sportsmen from WWI.

It will also touch on some of the wider issues associated with soldiers who were declared missing in the Great War, such as how a soldier could go missing and the effect that having no known grave had on their families.

Entry is free. Bookings can be made in advance at websiteoctavobooks.co. uk/events