Restored War Memorial and new exhibition honour war dead

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A poignant and painstakingly-researched exhibition reveals how the First World War scythed through a rural Norfolk village.

Almost 100 men left Saxlingham Nethergate to fight for their country. Sixteen never returned.

Their names were inscribed on the village war memorial; their lives were mourned by family and friends and for more than a century villagers have promised: “At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.”

Now the village War Memorial has been restored and their stories retold for a new generation.

On Saturday the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, opened a remarkable exhibition in the Village Hall, remembering the people of Saxlingham who served in the First World War.

Saxlingham Remembers, 1914-1918 includes photographs, music, film and poetry.

The opening event was very well attended.

The project began more than quarter of a century ago when Janet Capon, a teacher at Saxlingham Nethergate Primary School, began researching the history of the war memorial. She was joined by her friends Jan and Jeff Fox, who continued the work after her death.

The stories behind the names on the War Memorial, and the impact of the First World War on a small Norfolk village, are told on a website, and in the exhibition and a linked comprehensive catalogue.

The first Saxlingham man to die was George Brighton, less than three months after the start of the war, and just five days after his 21st birthday. His body has never been found. Parish councillor William Goff said: “George is one of 16 local men commemorated on the Village Memorial. The stories of each one are equally poignant.”

The exhibition will pay tribute to them with the reading of 16 poems by First World War poets – with Bishop Graham reading the first. Further poems will be read in moments of quiet on the hour throughout the weekend by people including relatives of the dead and village children.

The exhibition will also include a continuous showing of a film of the men’s graves and memorials in Britain and overseas, and the music of Britten’s War Requiem – to be played on Saturday evening as visitors view the exhibition in low lighting, with spot-lit photographs of the men who gave their lives.

See Saxlingham Remembers, 1914-1918 in the Village Hall, on Saturday November 9, 11am-8pm and Sunday November 10, 2pm-6pm.

A Remembrance service on Remembrance Sunday, November 10, will begin at the War Memorial at 10.30am, led by team rector the Revd Dawn Davidson.

Pictures: Saxlingham Remembers/Diocese of Norwich