Southwick set to honour fallen heroes on Remembrance Sunday
This Remembrance Sunday (November 10) Southwick residents will once again be able to honour their fallen heroes from the Sunderland village which is believed to have proportionally provided the greatest number of soldiers to served in WWI.
Southwick War Memorial was erected in 1928 to honour local heroes who perished during the Great War.
However, unlike many other memorials, it didn’t contain the names of the men who had made the ultimate sacrifice.
In November 2022, thanks to the work of Southwick Village Green Preservation Society, a plaque was unveiled containing the names of soldiers from the village who had died serving their country.
Chair of the society, Peter Gibson, said: “We researched the names of all the men who died from Southwick and the plaque now contains 460 men who died in WWI, 186 who were killed in WWII, and three lads who died in more recent conflicts.
“During the recruitment drive of WWI, in relation to population size, Southwick is believed to have provided the greatest number of soldiers.
“The villages of County Durham, to which Southwick belonged at the time, provided more soldiers than anywhere else in the country, and top of the recruitment list was Southwick.”
To remember the men of Southwick who died fighting for their country, each year the Preservation Society, in conjunction with the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, hold a moving ceremony on Southwick Green.
The service will include laying a wreath at the foot of the memorial, the playing of the Last Post, as well as members of The Queen's Bays 2nd Dragoon Guards Living History Group on horseback and dressed in period uniform recreating a scene from WWI.
Peter said: “The service has grown each year and last year the turnout was incredible. I’m so proud of what the men of Southwick have done serving their country and what they did should never be forgotten - ‘lest we forget’.”
The service will start at 10.30am on the green with a speech from a local pastor.