More than 200 houses across Abbots Langley where WW1 soldiers lived have now been identified as the 100th anniversary of the end of the conflict approaches.
Roger Yapp is the leader of the Back to the Front Commemoration Project which is already running a number of activities designed to highlight the area’s involvement in the First World War.
Roger said the group has received requests from villagers who were disappointed a soldier did not live at their address. As a result, the group is introducing an Adopt a Soldier scheme.
He explained how it would work
Roger said: “When the men and women from Abbots Langley enlisted only about 35 per cent of them gave their exact house number or name. Most gave just their street. So for many roads records exist for the soldiers from that street, but it is difficult to work out exactly where they lived.
“Residents will be given the opportunity to adopt a soldier from their street, and also receive a window sticker and the Great War story of their adopted person.”
Children from seven local junior schools meanwhile are participating in classroom sessions to help create two modern-day War Memorials.
In a series of clay workshops entitled Mud & Memorials, over 200 school children will hear the stories of the exploits of local men and women in the Great War, and will then work with mixed media artist, Jo Atherton, to create clay tiles inscribed with the names of the men taken from the local War Memorials. Later in the year the glazed and fired tiles will be brought together to form two new War Memorials – one in Abbots Langley, and the other mounted on the exterior wall of the Bedmond Village Hall.
Finally Back to the Front will be rerunning its Great War Walk through the village on September 9 after several villagers were unable to take part in May.
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