Arlesey Remembers
N
ovember is traditionally the month in which we remember those that
lost their lives during wars and conflict throughout the world since
the armistice of 1918. Arlesey has spent most of this year remembering
and commemorating those from the village that lost their lives during the
first World War and November will see the close of the Arlesey
Remembers You project.
Just in case this is the first you’ve heard of it, I’ll remind you what the
project is all about!
Since the beginning of this year the community has been invited to
individually remember the 87 names on the war memorial, by placing a
bespoke cross with the words ‘Arlesey Remembers You’, the soldier’s name,
age and date of death on each of the graves.
Duncan Wang, came up with the whole idea and thoroughly researched
all of the names on the war memorial to find the location of their graves.
The graves span six countries including Israel, Iraq, Turkey, France,
Belgium and England.
As I write, the only crosses that remain to be placed are those we intend
to do as part of the Remembrance Sunday service at the War Memorial.
These are the soldiers whose final resting place is unknown. Please do
come along to Remembrance day service it is likely to be a poignant one
and will mark the official end to the project.
We estimate that over 50 individual groups have been involved in placing
crosses, this mean hundreds of you have visited the graves and many
more of you have been involved in the project in other ways. Thank you for
embracing the idea and for your enthusiasm to make it happen. Duncan and
the team could never have imagined how passionate you would be.
The impact of the project on the community is immeasurable, the Scouts,
Rainbows, Guides, Youth club, junior football team, Gothic Mede and the
Letchworth City Chorus have all contributed which has been documented in
previous editions. But I’d like to highlight a few of the less obvious outcomes
that really go to show how individuals have been inspired by the project.
Several local young people