Belper will remember them

Belper is remembering the town’s fallen of World War One through this website and a series of ceremonies during 2014-19.

Commemorative services are planned around the centenary of the outbreak of war in August 2014, including a blessing of the ‘WWI’ poppy field on the Chevin and an outdoor service in the Market Place, around a recreation of the town’s first war memorial, built in 1919.

A working group has been set up to pull together the town’s activities for remembering the centenary of wartime from 2014 until the centenary of the peace celebrations in July 2019.

Funding support from Belper Town Council has helped deliver projects, including the setting up of this website which will tell the stories of the individuals listed on Belper’s War Memorial.

Extensive research has been carried out by Richard Pinkett uncovering tragedies and acts of bravery, telling the story of WWI through the lives of the men of Belper who fought and died.

After the war ended in November 1918, a temporary hardwood memorial was created around the monument in Belper Market Place, until the permanent memorial was built in the gardens off King Street in 1921. That original memorial has been recreated and will be used as a focal point for outdoor remembrance services in the Market Place for notable centenaries during the coming four years.

We want to commemorate this centenary in the appropriate way – respectful to those men who lost their lives, and helping people to understand and learn from such a terrible war, and the impact it had. Please turn out for events if you can, and explore this website for an understanding of how wartime affected Belper, and the men who lost their lives.