Chairman
Jim Hornsby welcomed a good turnout of members, the President and 5 guests from
Filey Probus Club, and the speaker for the day Chris Bonnett.
The food and the service provided by The Expanse Hotel, were of a high standard, and after a short break the talk began. Chris, an author and historian, gave a very interesting, illustrated, presentation to the Club. He had compiled a number of slides, focussing on war graves, preserved trenches, memorials, and bomb craters in the World War 1 battlegrounds.
He told the members how he had dedicated 5 years of his life to researching details of the involvement of local men, following a chance remark from his wife’s grandmother. She had revealed that she had an elder brother who died in the Great War. This prompted him to visit the library for information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site, and the Free Press archives.
He discovered that his Great Uncle, William Henry Lamplough, was just 23 when he died on the Somme. Chris was inspired to follow the trail of every local man, including interviewing relatives, and visiting cemeteries, so that the stories could be told in a book he subsequently wrote. Parents or grandparents very rarely mentioned the ones who died. He guessed that this was an easier way for them to get over it. They said the war would be over by Christmas 1914 and Princess Mary raised money by public subscription to present every serviceman and woman with a brass box, chocolate for the nurses and cigarettes or tobacco for the men.
There were four local families who lost three sons, and 16 sets of parents who lost two sons. In all 121 children were left fatherless as a result of the war.
Chris also brought with him some memorabilia which added to the interest shown by members. Ron Major proposed the vote of thanks on behalf of those present for a fascinating, and thought provoking, talk.
The food and the service provided by The Expanse Hotel, were of a high standard, and after a short break the talk began. Chris, an author and historian, gave a very interesting, illustrated, presentation to the Club. He had compiled a number of slides, focussing on war graves, preserved trenches, memorials, and bomb craters in the World War 1 battlegrounds.
He told the members how he had dedicated 5 years of his life to researching details of the involvement of local men, following a chance remark from his wife’s grandmother. She had revealed that she had an elder brother who died in the Great War. This prompted him to visit the library for information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site, and the Free Press archives.
He discovered that his Great Uncle, William Henry Lamplough, was just 23 when he died on the Somme. Chris was inspired to follow the trail of every local man, including interviewing relatives, and visiting cemeteries, so that the stories could be told in a book he subsequently wrote. Parents or grandparents very rarely mentioned the ones who died. He guessed that this was an easier way for them to get over it. They said the war would be over by Christmas 1914 and Princess Mary raised money by public subscription to present every serviceman and woman with a brass box, chocolate for the nurses and cigarettes or tobacco for the men.
There were four local families who lost three sons, and 16 sets of parents who lost two sons. In all 121 children were left fatherless as a result of the war.
Chris also brought with him some memorabilia which added to the interest shown by members. Ron Major proposed the vote of thanks on behalf of those present for a fascinating, and thought provoking, talk.