Friday 9 November 2012

Ongar: Ongar and District Roll of Honour


The new Ongar War Memorial Medical Centre was sufficiently complete on 10 May 2012 to hold a dedication ceremony to a new roll of the fallen of the Ongar and District.  Included on the plaque are those from Blackmore.  Derek Berwin, the principal researcher, acknowledges on the commemorative DVD that: “The roll is based on first born in, then if not born in then resided in, it is in no way meant to imply that Church and War Memorials should be altered or names that have been read out at Remembrance time should be changed.” 

The DVD shows (at 38 minutes 20 seconds) the memorial containing the Blackmore names: E J Alexander, A E Barker, W Brazier, W Crane, A G Ellis, W W Fixter, H Game, H C Game, A Godding, J Gosling, S E Knight, E C Martin, E A Maynard, B Millbank, I A Miller / Millar, A J Nash, W Ovel, G W Pigott, H Riglin, W E Rudling, H W Scudder, C Speller, D Sutton, E Sutton, J Thomas, W H Wash, A J Wheal, H J White, W Willsher.

Having done a large amount of research back in 2010 to confirm the names of those on the Parish War Memorial, I recognise the difficulty in compiling a definitive list.  Where are people from?  (We only need to consider that Olympic gold medal winner Laura Trott, tweeted that her gold post box should not be in Harlow.  More than one box was painted as a consequence.)  Historians and others will disagree, with evidence and counter-evidence put forward.  Whatever the merits or otherwise of this updated work, the memorial inside the Medical Centre will remind us not to forget the events which shaped our country’s destiny forever.  

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