1914 - 2014 - A CENTURY OF REMEMBRANCE

SUTTON WAR MEMORIAL 2014-2018

a page of sample data sheets,
raised in a new database
for each soldier or sailor killed.

These are available to view for free inside the museum, generally on Fridays.
Eventually, there will be one sheet for each of the 406 men we now have in total.
These include the 224 men who were originally missed off the lists and memorials
that were first consecrated for St Mark's in the Groves and St Saviour's at Wilmington.
In the first place, the samples posted here to view will be from those 224.
The rest will be copied and other examples posted here in the fullness of time.

Each sheet is presented here as an image, as a photo, and is made to show at a reasonable size to read when displayed full screen. Each is heavily compressed, at 30%, to reduce the file size, which is still considerable with limited webspace. The details on each sheet cannot be edited, but would be okay to copy and save as a sheet for your family history records if you want them. If we change, correct or add to the detail, we will have to make a new image and replace it here. These are purely examples, to show what information we have in the museum. With limited space on the website, we cannot show them all, and I envisage no more than perhaps two or three dozen of the total to be displayed here at any one time, with files changed from time to time. As with most of our records, folks will need to come to the museum to view and research the database. But in the fullness of time, we will have a dedicated Roll of Honour folder inside the Old School of all 406 of these files.

Each sheet is shown in numerical order, just as listed in our database, and because they will eventually be the composite total of four separate lists, they are not in alphabetical order. The order is purely a quirk of how we have had to assemble the database together from those four lists to make it easy for us to keep track of who was who and which record is where. The first 36 are all men on the Sutton village memorial. Our original lists with St Mark's, Wilmington and Stoneferry included totalled 182 men. So the two-hundred and twenty-four men we are adding now start at number 183. We hope that explains the numbering, which is ours and nothing to do with the military.

Passing your mouse over an image will give you the surname and file number.

The total figures are this:
Previous grand total of ALL the men killed in the Great War who were from Sutton, Stoneferry, Wilmington and The Groves ...	182
. . . of which the men from Sutton alone numbered	36
The previous total of known men from the three former parish areas	146
To which can be added the names of the recently discovered men who were previously never listed on a public memorial	236
Giving a new total of all the men killed from Sutton and the three former parish areas	418

THE WAR GRAVES IN
SUTTON CHURCHYARD

There are in total nineteen official war graves and memorials in Sutton-on-Hull churchyard. This page has been amended, because as has been pointed out, there are three men who died during the First War who are buried in family graves rather than under the more recognisable Commonwealth War Graves headstones. There are also one other family grave, and one family memorial containing two names. The names of the 7 men added are in the top panel just above here.

The War
Graves notice on the churchyard gate

There are fourteen CWGC headstones, of which six are from the Great War, and eight from the Second World War. All six of the GWGC Great War graves are of men not of this local area, though two of them were in what may be described as our 'local' unit, the East Yorkshire Regiment. The remaining four were in other units, the Lancashire Fusiliers, the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, and the Machine Gun Corps. As far as we can tell, sadly, there are no surviving 'full service records' for any of them. So we cannot be sure where any of them actually came from.

Although they are buried here, those from 'away' are almost certainly remembered in their own home towns or villages on their own memorials, just as Sutton men are remembered on ours. Should someone recognise a name, and seeing the regiment and service number then realise it is the same man, we'd be grateful if they could let us know. Otherwise, it's a case of wait and see if, one day, any of their family contact us, from which we may glean more information.

The eight men buried here from the Second World War are also mainly from away, one of them from a long, long way away. One is again from the East Yorkshire Regiment, and one each from the Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery. Two are from the Royal Army Service Corps, and three from what was then the newest service of all, the Royal Air Force. Two of those, we think, were based at the local air station, RAF Sutton on Hull, which was in fact the base of a barrage balloon squadron for the provision and maintenance of the barrage balloons that protected Hull from low level air attack. It is not widely known that several RAF men were killed during Hull's blitz when manning barrage balloon sites ashore around the city, or on the barges moored in the Humber.

It's even more difficult to find details on seven of these men because their Second War service records are not yet generally available to the public, only to their immediate families. But we know a good bit about the eighth, paradoxically because he was from the furthest away. He was an Australian airman, a pilot killed in the Battle of Britain, who lies in our churchyard only because he married a local girl when he was stationed in Cornwall. He died in a head-on collision between his Spitfire and a Dornier, over Surrey, and because his next of kin was now his wife of only six weeks, and she came from Sutton, his body was brought back here for burial. Otherwise, he would have been buried in Surrey, near to where he fell. We have a lot more details about him on this page, HERE.

As you can see in the photo above, the City Council have now placed a notice to the churchyard gate, pointing out that there are Commonwealth War Graves inside the churchyard to the rear. You'll see the gate when in the car park in front of the Church Hall. It is hoped that folk who visit our newly refurbished memorial will also take the time to pop into the churchyard, just at the back of the memorial, and remember our 'other seventeen' servicemen, and perhaps leave a flower.

Of course, Sutton folk have known of the existance of these graves all along, and it is merely an accident of geography and design that with the memorial being totally enclosed by trees and shrubs, the cemetery itself is 'hidden away' around the back. So visitors may not realise that it is there, let alone how to get into it. At first glance, the walkway up the ramp to the church hall looks as if it may be a private drive. And yes, if visiting the churchyard, you can park there. If you do, please be aware that parking is very limited, so please do park 'tidily' with consideration for others. There is another free car park just the other side of the Old School and Museum.

This Google Map is now more up-to-date, with the memorial itself easily viewed even from this angle. Even so, when standing inside the memorial garden, there is little clue as to what resides behind the high brick wall at the back. Perhaps this image will help. Since this image was posted, the bus stop has been moved some distance 'behind' the camera.

the
notice reads, At This Location, There Are
. . .

The way up the side ramp to our cemetery
(picture courtesy of Google Maps)

A page of photos of all the war graves in our churchyard,
and further web links, can be seen HERE

Home Page
Main War Memorial Page

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 2014

A few images of this year's Remembrance Service
at the Sutton on Hull War Memorial

Our final view of the war memorial today was taken before the service, the now fading wreaths of the August 4th commemorations laid to one side in preparation for today's service. The shrubs, having been extensively cut back at the time the new paving slabs were laid, afford us the view to the church that once was to be had before, decades ago, when our War Memorial was first consecrated.

Further above, a lone veteran of more recent wars bows his head in tribute and ponders Binyon's words on our new plaque, words he will have heard at innumerable services during his long career. Further above still are the two poppy planters presented to us in the museum by the children of St James' School, and seen placed here on the altar in the church for our service.

A bit further down this page is a selection of images of last year's service. We can see how much the trees and shrubs, pretty though they are in their autumn finery, encroached upon the monument, and in times of high winds and storms, can pose some danger. Also visible in the photos below is the former gravelled area around the monument, no problem to the fit, but of considerable hazard to walking sticks and almost impossible to cope with in a wheelchair.

This view, also taken on Remembrance Sunday before the service, looks back towards the church from near 'our pilot's grave'.

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 2013

A few images of last year's Remembrance Service
at the Sutton on Hull War Memorial

There are a few more photos of the service on
Monday evening, August 4th, on our Facebook page.

click individual smaller images for a slightly larger version
Use backspace button when done. Use F11 to hide toolbars.
another useful tip: Ctrl+F4 closes a tab window without closing the programme

An unusual poppy wreath was that laid by 'Charlie', an English Springer Spaniel and now retired 'War Dog'. It can be seen in close up in the photo upper right, the large RAMC wreath on the left. Now with his new owner, Phil Jones, who took charge of Charlie after he was badly injured on recent operations in Afghanistan, he made the most of the affectionate attentions of the crowd at this year's service. The wreath was to honour and remember all those military working dogs that have already been lost when helping our forces in theatres of war. Click his picture to see his medals!

Phil, a retired Para as you can see, regularly takes Charlie to give talks on the work of our War Dogs, those especially trained to sniff out explosives, to schools and other organisation. Charlie, you may be surprised to know, is also a 'Para', fully qualified having undergone two parachute descents himself, and is the mascot of the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. He wears his wings on the other side of his hi-vis coat to his medals.

Our best wishes to all those men and women still out 'in theatre', and especially to Charlie's hard-working compatriot War Dogs, many of who suffer terrible injuries before they are retired. See this link to see more Information on Working War Dogs, and the valuable service they perform daily. Few people know that retired army dogs can be adopted, but beware, it is a hard ask to give these wonderful dogs a home. Like marriage, adopting a War Dog is an institution not to be entered into lightly. If you're sure you can do it, and the selection process is rigorous, believe me, then visit this Pets4Homes Site for your next bit of advice.

there's a few more photos a little further down this page,
as well as on the museum's Facebook pages.

The photo above is of Sutton churchyard from a more unusual direction. It has often occurred to me that men with surnames that are at the end of the alphabet always did get a raw deal when privileges and goodies were being handed out. The last to sign the register at school, last for dinner, the last in a named line-up in the forces, last in everything. And so it has often seemed to me in the case of our war dead, and the guys that come at the end of any list. Last in life, and then last in death as well. So it must have always seemed for Robert Wright. This is his headstone, sprinkled here with dappled November sunlight in the darker corner at the very north end of the churchyard. Probably the last war grave, in the far end of the churchyard, almost out of sight to most of our frequent visitors. In fact, none of the war graves are together, in a formal group. They are sprinkled around individually, buried where the next plot became available at the time of their deaths.

We in the museum have just embarked upon a lengthy project to compile a modern database of all of Sutton's war dead. In a four year rolling project, we hope to find and publish all the known details of every name on our memorial. Not just an initial and a surname, but who they were, where they or their parents lived, what regiment or ship, and if possible, when and how they died. So that's why I include Robert Wright here. By definition, and his name, he is at the end of our list for WW1. But just for once, let him be first.

Lest we Forget.