Silchester researches its wartime history

The council has recently received £10,000 in Heritage Lottery funding to tell the stories of the people and the village at the time.
They want to capture the state of Silchester when Britain declared war on August 4, 1914, through its houses, occupants, businesses, societies, church and other facilities, in one online knowledge-base.
Silchester’s war memorial displays the names of the 12 men from the parish who fell in the battlefields of Europe – six of whom were killed in the First World War.
Parish council chairman Steve Spillane said: “Ironically, probably more is known and documented on the Roman history of Silchester than is known of Edwardian era leading up to the outbreak of war.
“With the centenary of the First World War, this is probably the last chance we will get to capture some of this information before it is lost forever”.
The parish council would like to hear from people with any kind of connection to Silchester, who could contribute photos, documents, maps, stories and anecdotes of the time.
To this end, it is also seeking an experienced researcher for a paid four to six-month project manager post to research and develop the online repository.
Anyone interested in contributing or volunteering for the project should contact Simon Mahaffey on 07769 684283 or smahaffey@onere.com
The deadline for job applications is Thursday, July 3.
Pictured are villager Julie Baldock and her daughter Olivia by the Silchester War Memorial, which bears the name of Julie’s great uncle, Walter C Aldridge DCM.
The family still have Walter’s Distinguished Conduct Medal which he was awarded during the First World War