Dedication Reverend Hayman
The War Memorial in Church Street, Ruddington, is the focal point for a service organised by the Royal British Legion and held on Remembrance Sunday each year. The Memorial commemorates the eighty nine men and one woman from Ruddington killed in war.
When the First World War ended in November 1918 it was considered to be the “War to end all Wars”. When the final casualty figures were recorded it was found that in all there had been some 10 million dead and 30 million missing or wounded.
After 1918 every village, town, city and church, and many schools, universities, clubs and places of work had a Memorial to commemorate those who had died for their country and Ruddington was no exception.
As early as May 1919 a special meeting of Parish Councillors was called to decide on a suitable Memorial to honour sixty one men from Ruddington who were killed in the Great War. It was thought that a suitable Memorial would be an Institute and Reading Room, to be paid for by public subscription, but this idea was rejected and discussion continued until October 1922 when the Ruddington Parish Council Minutes record that a contract was drawn up between a Mr. Sutton and the Ruddington Parish Council for the conveyance of land at the side of the churchyard to be used for the site of a War Memorial
It is thought that a firm called Barons from Derby were responsible for the construction of the Memorial but how the money was raised is not clear
View of the crowd at the unveiling
The Memorial was unveiled by the Duke of Portland and dedicated by the Reverend Hayman on Saturday the 19th of May 1923. The Unveiling Ceremony being preceded by a parade through the village supported by the 42nd Nottinghamshire (Boots Troop) Boy Scouts Silver Band accompanied by massed choirs. Many people in the village remember this occasion which was well recorded on photographs.
After the official opening, records show that a Committee of Councillors to be called the War Memorial Committee, was formed and in October 1923 they agreed to employ a Mr. A. W. Cross at a rate of one shilling and three pence per hour (approximately 6p per hour) to keep the Memorial tidy and to assist him the Council brought a second hand lawn mower at a cost of £3.
After the unveiling
September 1939 saw this country at war once again and at the end of the Second World War 28 names were added to the War Memorial including one woman, although it is not clear who arranged for these names to be placed on the Memorial and how the cost was met.
Flood lighting was installed in the 1950’s the cost being met by an anonymous person in the village.
The last name to be added was that of George H. Beith who was killed in the Korean War in 1951. His name was inscribed on the Memorial in 1987, the cost being defrayed by an anonymous donor and the dedication service arranged by the Ruddington & District Royal British Legion.
George Fearn
Ruddington & District Royal British Legion.
