Tales of heroism in war memorial book

11:14am Thursday 17th July 2008

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THE stories behind the names listed on Shipston's war memorials will be told in a new book.

Shipston's Mike Wells is writing the book that will contain the biographies and photographs of soldiers from the town and surrounding district who died in both world wars.

Five years ago, he was researching his own family's history when his daughter, Chloe, asked if anyone from their family died during the wars.

Discovering two of his relatives had died inspired him to write the book, entitled Shipston Remembers.

Starting work on it four years ago, he approached Shipston Local History Society. Members told him not all the dead were named on the main memorial in Church Street and that others were listed on the Shipston Council School Memorial kept at Shipston Museum and the Society of Friends Adult School plaque displayed at the town's public library.

The society also informed him there were others not included on the memorials.

Mike Ashley, a society member and Shipston Royal British Legion's membership secretary, provided a list of potential names.

Mr Wells obtained information from census records, the archives of the Journal, the Shipston Junior Boys School's register in the county archives and an internet data base containing names and details of 700,000 people who died during the First World War.

He now has 46 names, comprising 34 from the First World War and 12 from the Second World War, along with about 15 others who had Shipston connections but lived elsewhere.

Mr Wells - who has visited Holland, France and Italy on research trips - intends to donate the book to the Legion, which aims to publish it on this year's Remembrance Sunday.

Mr Wells said: "It's important to do this because these were ordinary people who went on to do extraordinary things."