Aldermaston to mark First World War battle centenary
Memorial plaque for local men who died at the Battle of Loos
RELATIVES of Aldermaston’s First World War soldiers are being asked to come forward.
The village will be holding a ceremony to mark the centenary of the Battle of Loos on September 25, 1915, where several soldiers from Aldermaston and Wasing died in the same action.
Children from Aldermaston Church of England Primary School have hand-written the names of local men who died in the Great War to be used in a ‘centenary plaque’, commissioned by the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
And with the help of AWE historian David Whithorn, the children learned about what it would have been like for soldiers of that era.
The hand-written names of 44 local men will be digitised and engraved on a metal plaque that will be presented to the village at the ceremony in St Mary’s Church.
Mr Whithorn’s research has shown that a significant proportion of Aldermaston village men joined the 8th Royal Berkshire at the outbreak of war.
They were sent to France in August 1915 to be placed in the elite 1st Brigade, 1st Division.
After only days in the line, they attacked the enemy at Loos alongside their more experienced comrades; capturing three lines of trenches before being forced back.
During the battle, the 8th Royal Berkshire lost 250 men killed and approximately three times this wounded – effectively the whole battalion – and the Somme had yet to be fought. The effect of such high losses on villages across the country was felt immensely.
A company commander of the 8th Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment wrote to the Newbury Weekly News on October 28, 1915: “Aldermaston should be proud of her sons, who have so nobly and ungrudgingly done their duty in this great crisis.
“Aldermaston has indeed responded to the great call, has been weighed in the balance and not found wanting. If it is God’s will that I am spared, I shall certainly come to Aldermaston to see the homes of her brave sons.”
AWE is looking for any relatives and descendants of men from Aldermaston and Wasing who fought in the Great War to attend the ceremony. Contact the AWE press office on (0118) 985 6412.
