Village heroes remembered
Village communities are keeping the memory of First World War soldiers alive with commemorative events and projects.
The Barnack and District Branch of the Royal British Legion and Barnack Parish Council will host three days of tributes in honour of their local heroes.
An exhibition will run at Barnack Village Hall from Friday, November 9 until Sunday, November 11 between 10am and 8pm. It will include photos, maps, letters, newspaper articles and recordings of songs from the time.
On Sunday, November 11 services will take place at the village church at 9.45am and the war memorial at 10.45pm.
In the evening at 6.45pm a beacon will be lit on the village cricket pitch to signify the return of light after the darkness of war. Eleven children will read out the names of the village’s fallen soldiers.
Poppies will also be placed near to the homes of the 35 men from Barnack and Walcot who died in the conflict.
Event coordinator Brian Palmer said: “This will help us appreciate the impact their deaths must have had on the village.
“Where we have been unable to discover where a man lived in Barnack, we will place the poppy at the village hall, the former school that he almost certainly attended as a boy.”
Commemorative poppies will be placed in Pilsgate, Southorpe, Ufford, Bainton and Helpston. In the cemetery in Barnack, flags will be placed on the graves of those who returned from the conflict and on any memorials naming casualties.
The Langtoft, Deeping and District branch of the Royal British Legion will visit Commonwealth war graves in their area to pay tribute to soldiers who died after returning from both world wars.
Branch chairman Phil Dilks said: “We will pay homage to those who made it home but died of their injuries and lay a cross and a poppy on each grave.”
The visits will take place on Sunday, October 28 starting in Deeping St James at 12.30pm, Market Deeping at 1pm, Barholm at 1.30pm, Baston at 2pm and Langtoft at 2.30pm. They are particularly keen for relatives of the soldiers to join them. The group will then launch their Poppy Appeal at Market Deeping Community Centre from 3pm. There will be an exhibition put together four years ago to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War.
