Welcome to Wokingham Remembers

This introduction by Mike Churcher

Welcome to the Wokingham Remembers website, co-founded by Sarah Huxford and me in 2011. Here is an introduction to the website and some thoughts on how the project developed.

What is ‘Wokingham Remembers? It is a collection of military biographies, local history essays and memories of residents past and present. The research was initially in preparation for the Centenary of the First World War in 2014 and later morphed into the publication of the works of local historians.

Names of the 216 men from Wokingham who died during the war were taken from the memorial sited in Wokingham’s Town Hall. The research team investigated each serviceman’s life, death and family tree and his biography written and published on an  individual page. The research is now ten years old (this update written in 2021) and over the years many family members of Wokingham’s fallen have added further information to their respective pages. Here is a fascinating example: The Potter Brothers

It is important to understand the methods used in building the original memorial list (around 1920) as it points to the coherence of the information we have collected over the past year. One of the surprising issues we came across when starting this research was the way the original names had been chosen for the Wokingham War Memorial. In our naivety, we thought the names had been collected by the local government or a British Legion type authority. The best information we have at present is from the Town Council’s web site ‘The War Memorial in the Annexe was unveiled in 1924 by Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee to commemorate Wokingham men who had fallen in the 1914-1918 war. Cllr H C Mylne, Borough Mayor during the war, was responsible for raising funds to build the memorial and purchase buildings for the Memorial Orthopaedic Clinic in Denmark Street. Later the names of those killed in the 1939-1945 were added, as was that of a Wokingham pilot killed during the Falklands War’. Although (we believe) the original records have been lost for Wokingham’s memorial, we know on a national level the names were collected haphazardly. Memorials were the people’s expression of grief and as such did not adhere to any particular method of collection. Therefore the names given in the list, do not come from a particular regiment or even a particular area. Sometimes the serviceman is from Crowthorne, Wokingham, London, or even Canada or Australia. This means that having just a name to work with, there could be dozens of servicemen who died in the war – all with the same name. It doesn’t mean we can’t cross examine the different sources of data, but it does mean we don’t always get it right. However, we decided early on to state where we could our concerns over the information rather than just state it as a fact or even omit altogether. So don’t forget, we have started with only a name; one that could come from anywhere!

We hope you become as absorbed into the story of Wokingham as much as we enjoyed delving into the research. Wokingham Remembers then is a town’s history, an act of remembrance and hopefully for you, a journey.

 Regards, Mike (site admin)

2 Responses to Welcome to Wokingham Remembers

  1. Neil Hodgson says:

    I have picked a copy of the Wokingham Remembers leaflet and was wondering if I could contribute to the events? Back in 2003 I completed a 30 minute film about 4 of my relatives from South Wales who served in France during WW1. The story starts around my great Uncle Harry Hopkin who I was told, when I was a child, had died leading a charge on the Somme. Through extensive research I discovered this to be a family myth and even found the voice of a witness to his demise (who had died long before I made the film). I have some small items of “debris” which we collected when making the film in France. I would be happy to make a showing of this if we can arrange publicity to ensure an audience?

    • admin says:

      Hi Neil, many thanks for saying hello and I am delighted that you have offered your services to the cause! The website exists to support anyone who wantes to tell their connection with the War and to publish stories from various sources. If you would like me to place your story on the site I would be delighted to do so. We have placed films on various battles, which have proved to be very popular. In terms of giving talks, we are the research part of the Wokingham Remembers project and not really an organisation. Nikki at the Town Hall is organising the Heritage Day: npayler@wokingham-tc.gov.uk Trevor Ottlewski who Chairs the local Wokingham History Group also provides speaking opportunities. He is also running the Great War Heritage Walks. Do you live around the town? If so, I hope to see you at St Pauls on Monday (on the Reading Road) or maybe on Heritage Day itself in September.
      Kind regards, Mike Churcher mrchurcher@gmail.com or mike@wokinghamremembers.com

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