Horam’s Tribute to World War I

A Unique local Exhibition at the Horam Centre

Like many people, I only have a rudimentary knowledge of the political events leading up to the outbreak of ‘The War to end all Wars’ and the horrors of the actual events, for the men involved in the fighting, and their families back home.

Horam Remembers - Image courtesy of Virginia Roberts

Horam Remembers – Image courtesy of Virginia Roberts

This small and in many cases, very personalised, exhibition was organised by a committee of local residents, who have gathered together a varied and fascinating collection of exhibits, including a uniform (Farrier Sergeant, Royal Artillery), medals, photographs, original and facsimile copies of publications at the time, maps showing front line positions particularly of the battles for Ypres (Wipers in common parlance at the time), military memorabilia and mementos made by soldiers and, perhaps most interestingly, personal histories of family members who served in the Great War or the women left at home.

The exhibition ran from Sunday 13th July to the end of August 2014 and was open from 9am to 12pm on Mon, Tue, Thurs and Fri plus 12pm to 5pm on Sun 13th and Sat 19th July. On the opening day, there were readings from the extensive amount of war poetry produced and a rifle of the time was available for inspection, to give visitors an idea of the extreme weight of just one piece of kit carried by soldiers in the trenches.

Horam Remembers - Image courtesy of Virginia Roberts

Horam Remembers – Image courtesy of Virginia Roberts

In total, a diverse and fascinating display of ‘personalised’ memorabilia not just from ‘The Front’, but also depicting the effects of the war on the civilian population and the regulations, warnings (about what to do with motorised and animal transport), tools and other equipment that could be of use to the enemy in the event of an invasion and examples of fund raising activities to support the war and services at home. There was also a display of some lovely poems by local school-children on the subject of remembrance, not specifically for, but perhaps with the 34 men from Horam and Vines Cross in mind, who did not return and are remembered on the war memorials in each village.

For me, it is the personal stories, outlined in some of the material displayed that brings the exhibition ‘to life’ by reflecting real events and sacrifices made by real people, who were related to current local residents. Many of the stories and accounts of specific actions are, inevitably, sad whilst, for others who survived, they demonstrate the ability of the human spirit to overcome such horrific experiences and pick up the pieces of their former lives. The exhibition reminds us all of the debt we owe to all of those who served, whether conspicuously or not, in this ‘War to end all Wars’ which, regrettably, it didn’t.

This story was submitted by Virginia Roberts and Ian Kirkin