CELEBRATING YOUR PROJECTS
Alan Crosby meets a Lincolnshire group tracing the fates of local boys who served in the First World War
Stamford’s young soldiers remembered
Most commemorative First World War projects focus on the fallen, whose names are recorded on war memorials. However, a group of researchers at Stamford in Lincolnshire chose a different approach: “We go to Remembrance Day services and say: ‘We will remember them.’ But who do we remember? In most cases, we have a list of names of those who died, but often no further information. And should our remembrance be confined only to them? What about those who came back, some maimed for life, others to resume a civilian life? We should also remember them.”
The group identified all boys aged 11-16 living in Stamford and shown in the 1911 census (born between April 1895 and March 1900). This was the age group most likely to be in the forces during the war – those born in 1900 would have been old enough to serve towards the end of the conflict. They discovered 451 boys, of whom 58 died in military service.
They asked key questions: where did each live, what did they do for a living, which school did they go to, and (for those who went to the war) which regiment did they join? What did those who came back do after the war had ended?
The team knows that there were omissions from the census – boys away at school, working away, or visiting family, as well as ones who came to Stamford after 1911 (and perhaps a few younger boys joined up under-age?). They hope that visitors to the excellent website – and of course readers of WDYTYA? Magazine – can add their stories and fill in gaps.
Record forms were devised – a valuable archive for future researchers, now deposited in Stamford Town Hall Archive. The research group met monthly to share knowledge and after appeals for information local people made important contributions.
Online resources were very helpful – census returns, military records (national and regimental), war graves websites, and BMD details from civil registration and parish registers. Local records were also used, including invaluable information collected in 1919 by the Mayor of Stamford about those who had served. Stamford Library and Museum collections offered newspapers and trade directories.
For each boy a short biography was produced, with a photo where possible. The website has a page for each, including a picture of his house (or a street map if it no longer exists).
The researchers discovered that many of “their boys” already belonged to the Territorial Army and others responded quickly to recruitment campaigns, but they didn’t all enlist with local regiments. Though some did not go to war it was not often possible to find out why, but the most likely reasons were that they were unfit or were working in key industries.
Everyone who supplied recollections commented on how quiet these men were, not speaking about their experiences. Some were unable to work due to physical disabilities, but others put the war behind them – two served as mayor of Stamford – and many returned to their previous occupations, often marrying soon after the war. It was clear that the impact of death and injury was not confined to the immediate family. Few were unaffected. The research stage has ended but the team welcomes further information about the boys, especially photographs. More topics await: an analysis of the regiments in which they served, further use of church records and trade directories to discover more about their later lives, and investigating those missing from the 1911 census. The team are quite clear: “There is much more to add – this project will inevitably be ongoing and should not be considered complete!”
What happened to those who came back, some maimed for life?