Display tells the stories of those who came back
An exhibition was held in St Laurence’s Church Rooms, Scalby, commemorating ‘the returned’: who came home to a country and village that would never be quite the same again, writes Lesley Newton.
The exhibition was held only over Armistice weekend, although parts of it will be put up on display in Newby and Scalby Library.
Scalby had four Rolls of Honour, growing in size as increasing numbers joined up. All are lost.
The first hung in the hall of the village school in which the new exhibition was held, containing the names of 21 ‘former teachers and scholars’.
The last was a bespoke wooden structure that stood beside the Jubilee fountain and listed 199 serving men
Organiser Lesley Newton explained: “Luckily all the men’s names were reported in the Scarborough Mercury which we could read in Scarborough Library. My colleague Denise Howell and I researched the men using online local history resources and by visiting libraries and the National Archives. Twenty-seven men died but about 185 returned, much reflecting the national statistics.
“At least seven local men served with 21st Battalion King’s Royal Rifles, the ‘Yeoman Rifles’ raised in Helmsley by the Earl of Feversham. Some served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, one was a surgeon in the Royal Army Medical Corps, another a pioneer Royal Flying Corps pilot.
“Some were RFA technicians. Former grooms joined the motor transport section of the Army Service Corps, blacksmiths and telephonists the Royal Engineers.
“Five became Prisoners of War, two served in the Tank Corps, a few were in the Royal Navy and 5 were in 5th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, the Green Howards.
“Many were brothers: the five Cook brothers all returned.
“They served with the Military Police, the Remount Department, the Red Cross, Royal Artillery and a wide variety of other regiments. One died in the Royal Star and Garter Home in 1957, one was related to the Kilner family who made glass jars and the son of another married Dame Joan Ruddock.”
Denise said: “Learning and sharing what we have learned about these men, their families and life in the village during the Great War is our tribute to them.”
The research is on-going and will be shared on www.scalbywarmemorial.wordpress.com