Diss Family History Group

SHELFANGER.
DEDICATION OF WAR MEMORIAL.

     A large congregation attended the Parish Church on Sunday morning when the dedication took place of a War Memorial to the men of this parish who lost their lives in the late European conflict. About 40 men belonging to Shelfanger took part in the war, and of this number nine - a large proportion - made the supreme sacrifice. The memorial has taken the form of a striking clock erected on the west side of the Church tower, and some distance below it a marble tablet has been placed, which contains the names of the Shelfanger men who sacrificed their lives for King and country. The expense incurred amounted to £180, and it is pleasing to record nearly the whole of this sum has been subscribed since April in this year.

     The service was conducted by the Rector (Rev. G. C. Paton), who at the conclusion of his sermon referred to the War Memorial, and remarked that be had hoped his predecessor (the Rev. W. R. Harrisson) would have been present to dedicate the Memorial, partly because he had been in that parish for so long, and partly because he had personally known the men whose memory they were trying to honour that day; but unfortunately he was unable to leave his parish. He (the Rector) said he wished to personally express his very great thankfulness on the completion of the Memorial, for three reasons. Firstly that all in that small parish had risen so splendidly to the occasion as to have raised, with the help of a few outside friends, all but £9 of the £180 which the War Memorial had cost. Some might remember when the venture was started he remarked that to raise the sum required would entail a certain amount of self-sacrifice, but if there were little or no self-sacrifice the memorial would be worth little or nothing. He was thankful now to feel that real self-sacrifice had been made and that the memorial was of real value, even though the sacrifice they had made was a very small one when compared with the supreme sacrifice that those had made in whose honour the Memorial had been raised. Then he was thankful to know the memorial was a truly representative one - practically the whole village had taken part in it. He believed that with the exception of only six or seven every family in the village had contributed. In some places, he went on to say, the subject of a War Memorial had caused a good deal of friction and dispute, but they had happily escaped such a state of things in that parish. It was of course useless to expect everyone to think alike, but they ought to feel thankful their scheme bad been practically unanimous. Further, he was most thankful of all to believe they had realised the great fact the one and only purpose of the memorial was not to provide something for themselves, but rather to provide a lasting and worthy memorial of those heroes connected with the village who had given their all for their King and Country and for us. Let us always remember, added the Rector, the fact by laying down their lives they have helped to preserve ours.

     By the Rector’s request the congregation followed the choir into the churchyard for the dedication of the clock and tablet, the later, which had been covered with the Union Jack, being unveiled by Mrs. S. Baker; dedicatory prayers followed, after which the congregation returned to the Church where the service was concluded, and after the Blessing the Rector, who also officiated as organist, played the “Dead March.” After the evening service the ringers rang muffled changes upon the bells as a last token of respect to the men of the parish who has fallen, two of them, William Sidney Welton and Frederick Fulcher, being old ringers. The ringers who rang the above were: - G. Welton, T. Kerridge, B. Bloomfield, A. Bloomfield, and G. Potter.

     The clock, which had bold figures and hands, is a great acquisition to the parish. The tablet, provided and erected by Mr. R. F. Perfitt, of Diss, is of white Sicilian marble, 3 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 4 in. and 2 in. thick. It is surmounted with a cross and crown and bears the following inscription: -

     “The above clock was given by the inhabitants of Shelfanger and friends in the year 1919, to the Glory of God and in Memory of the following men who gave their lives for their King and Country in the Great War 1914 - 1918: - William Page, Frederick Charles Bowen, Arthur George Huggins, Frederick Fulcher, Edward Last Ward, William Sidney Welton, Alexander Charles Shulver, Spencer Henry Bond, Christopher William Rout. - ‘Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ R.I.P.”

     Below the tablet was a beautiful wreath of white chrysanthemums and maiden hair fern to the memory of Prte. Sidney Welton.