Included within Church Grade II* Listing:
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Link (p35)
IWM War Memorials Archive No. 22314
Link (
Archive Link )
War Memorials Online Ref #:WMO169977
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Roll of Honour
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Unveiled 10th October 1920 by Mr M. E. Hughes-Hughes†, High Sheriff of Essex
with local clergy and dignitaries in attendance:
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Mounted on the inside south wall of St John the Evangelist Church
this rectangular brass plaque measures 910mm x 650mm, and is decorated
with red and black lettering and a border of engraved oak leaves and acorns.
It records the men of the Parish of Little Leighs
who gave their lives in the World War of 1914~1918.
The text reads:
A M D G ¹
In Proud and Loving Memory of
CAPT. W. M. HUGHES HUGHES.² D:
Link C:
Link G:
Link 2018:
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CPL. E. V. CARPENTER. D:
Link C:
Link M:
Link 2018:
Link
PTE. W. BROWN. D:
Link C:
Link G:
Link 2018:
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PTE. C. DIGBY.³ D:
Link C:
Link G:
Link 2018:
Link
PTE. A. JARVIS. D:
Link C:
Link M:
Link 2018:
Link
PTE. A. LIVERMORE. D:
Link C:
Link G:
Link 2018:
Link
PTE. F. MANSFIELD. D:
Link C:
Link M:
Link 2018:
Link
PTE. J. MARSHALL. D:
Link C:
Link G:
Link 2018:
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PTE. J. NICHOLLS. D:
Link C:
Link G:
Link 2018:
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PTE. J. PARKE. (not yet identified)
PTE. F. SEARLES. D:
Link C:
Link G:
Link 2018:
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PTE. J. H. SEARLES. D:
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Archive Link ) C:
Link M:
Link 2018:
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Who gave their lives for King & Country
in the Great War 1914-1918
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH
where:
"D:" are the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Casualty Details;
"C:" the CWGC Memorial Certificate;
"G:" or "M:" the Grave or Memorial Inscription, and Cemetery or Memorial photographs,
and "2018:" the Centenary Memorial Signs
† Father of Capt. W. M. Hughes-Hughes²
¹A.M.D.G. is "Ad maiorem Dei gloriam" or "Ad majorem Dei gloriam": To the Greater Glory of God
²Also see "His Body Rests in a Soldier's Grave" by Julia Able Smith as published in
the Great & Little Leighs Magazine, November 2005 :
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Capt. W. M. Hughes-Hughes also has a dedicated memorial:
TL7116 : Memorial Plaque to Captain William Montagu Hughes~Hughes
³Thought to be Cpl. C.J. Digby who, together with Pte. F. Mansfield, are also
commemorated on the Great Leighs War Memorial:
TL7315 : War Memorial, St Mary the Virgin Church, Great Leighs, Essex
In November 2018, to mark the Centenary of the end of World War One,
memorial signs were erected, where possible, close to their former home.
At Gt Leighs Village Hall there was a display of CWGC Certificates:
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On 1st November 2018, ITV Anglia TV included a report in their evening
Local News and has very kindly provided this video clip:
Medium Quality:
Link High Quality:
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© ITV Anglia 2018 Reproduced with Permission
For more information on St. Johns, see here:
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TL7116 : St. John the Evangelist Church, Little Leighs, Essex
Research based on:
“Echoes of the Great War - The Diary of the Reverend Andrew Clark 1914-1919”
Oxford University Press 1985. Edited with an introduction by James Munson. ISBN 0-19-212984-8
I am most grateful to Pat Watkinson for her research, Julia Able Smith,
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, The War Graves Photographic Project and Oxford University Press.
"They shall grow not old as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them."
Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen
"When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow we gave our today."
US 14th Army War Memorial, Kohema, Burma