THE GLORIOUS DEAD.
DUNCHURCH MEMORIAL UNVEILING CEREMONY 1921

Favoured by fine weather, the unveiling and dedication ceremony of the Dunchurch and Thurlaston War Memorial took place on Sunday afternoon before a large number of people. The memorial, which is situated on a piece of green in front of the school, consists of an octagonal base in which there are four steps, surmounted by panels, also in the form of an octagon, on which the names of the fallen are inscribed, and a plinth carrying a cross. The inscription is “ In ever living memory of the men of Dunchurch and Thurlaston who died fighting for faith and freedom in the great war, 1914-1918.” The names inscribed on the panels are : W. Adams, R. Barrett, S. Boot, W. J. Brown. G. W. Brain, H. W. Chater, A. Doyle, L. Dunbar, O. Dyke, H. Fox, W. E. Gillings, W Grant, F. Harbord (Vicar of Dunchurch), G. Hirons, W. Hirons, L. Hopkins, H. J. Houldsworth, J. Hughes, E. Iliff, C. Izzard, T. Izzard. F. Knight, J. Mulcaster, F. S. Neville, H. Noon, R. Norman, E. Parker, B. Pearce, H. C. Pearce, W. H. Pearce, R. G. Powell, G. Redmayne, J. W. Richardson, L. S. Richardson, W. Ridout, W. Russell, W. Seeney, J. Shaw, J. P. Shaw, F. Sparkes, L. Spriggs, W. White.

THE SERVICE.

At the service there were lined up round the memorial a detachment of the Rugby Howitzer Battery, commanded by Lieut-Col. C. P. Nickalls, Major Constantine, the relatives of those whose names were recorded on the memorial, the discharged soldiers from the village under Major Neilson, and the Dunchurch Brass Band, under Mr. Timms. Amongst those present were Sir Samuel and Lady Waring and Miss Waring, Mrs. Holdsworth, Mr, and Mrs, Davenport, and Mrs, McNulty. After the hymn, “ Brief life is here our portion,” had been sung, Lady Waring unveiled the memorial in the following words : “ To the glory of God and in certain hope of the glorious resurrection I unveil this memorial in grateful memory of the men of Dunchurch and Thurlaston who fell for their beloved country in the great war.” The Rev. C. T. B. McNulty, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Leamington, formerly Vicar of Dunchurch, and temporary Chaplain to H.M. Forces, in dedicating the memorial,  said, “ Let us remember with thanksgiving and honour before men, the men of Dunchurch and Thurlaston who died fighting for faith and freedom in the Great War of 1914-1918. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I dedicate this memorial to the glory of God in memory of those whose names are inscribed upon it who fell in the Great War. May their example inspire us to courage in the greater war they missed, however ; may their memory ever burn brightly amongst those here who remember their deeds, and strengthen them by their fellowship to look forward to the re-union with them in the heritage of the Saints.”

A prayer was offered by the Rev. W. Vaughan, and, following the singing of “ On the Resurrection morning ” the Blessing was pronounced by the Vicar of Dunchurch (the Rev. E. P. Rowland).

He read the following telegram : “ National Association are with you to-day in homage to fallen comrades. May they rest in peace—JACKSON, President.”

Major-General Sir Frederick Poole, in an address, said it was just about two years ago when they assembled there to greet on their home-coming the men of Dunchurch and Thurlaston, and he remembered, and thought all who were there must have felt the same, the tinge of sadness that marred the gaiety, the remembrance of those who had not come back. It was their sad day, and they were assembled in love and reverence to the 43 sons of Dunchurch and Thurlaston who had made the supreme sacrifice. There was no science of anything to tell them what a loss they had sustained by giving up their young lives, and what remained was the memorial to their love and self-sacrifice. Great as their sorrow was, surely they must feel a thrill of pride when they thought of the ordeal that their boys were called upon to face and how nobly they responded to it. Down the ages the history of the British Isles was intermingled with stories of heroism, and it was a source of pride to feel that what their boys endured and faced and accomplished would bear comparison with any deeds that had been handed down to them by their forefathers. The memorial would serve as a constant reminder of the loss they had suffered. When they passed it they would think of that as sanctified ground, bought at a great price and paid for by the lives given that they might live. If they found their country worth dying for, it was the duty of those who were left to make it worth living for, and the memorial, which pointed out to them service and self-sacrifice, should soften their hearts to pull down the barriers which greed, self-seeking, and suspicion had raised in the country with such dire results. It would soften their hearts to bring them to the high ideals they had in 1914, when, faced with a great danger, they had one common thought that worked for the common weal. That cross would serve to remind their children and their children's children of their heroism, and be an incentive to emulate the deeds of their ancestors and to surpass them. The National Anthem was sung, and a firing party fired a volley over the memorial, and the service closed with the sounding of the “ Last Post ” and the “ Reveille.”

In addition to a number of wreaths placed at the foot of the memorial by relatives, there were others from the War Memorial Committee, the Discharged Soldiers, the Cricket and Football Club, the Dunchurch Brass Band, the Social Club, and the Boys' School.

The arrangements for the memorial, which cost about £450, were carried out by a committee, of which the Rev. E. P. Rowland was chairman and Mr. J. H. Dew secretary.
[Rugby Advertiser, 20 May, 1921]

"They shall grow not old, as we that 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."
[published 1914, author Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)]