To
gain an overview of all the towns and parishes covered,
and hopefully to be covered, by this site there is an
alphabetical
index.
Much
information about soldiers who fell, were awarded medals
and more is to be found in old copies of the London
Gazette. Here is a brief resume:
The
London Gazette, first published in 1665, is the oldest,
continuously published newspaper in the United Kingdom
and probably the world. The London Gazette and its
sister publications, the Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes,
have a unique position in British publishing. They
are official newspapers of the Crown. The London Gazette
contains a wide range of office notices including
State, Parliamentary and Ecclesiastical notices, Transport
and Planning notices as well as Corporate and Personal
Insolvency notices to name a few. In addition, a number
of Supplements are published covering Honours and
Awards, Premium Bonds, Armed Forces Promotions and
Re-gradings, Companies' information, etc. and a Quarterly
Index.
In
the 17th century, it was believed that National efficiency
depended on the intelligence received by the Crown
and that the reckless publishing of news might endanger
it. An embargo on the printing of news other than
reports of events abroad, natural disasters, Royal
declarations and sensational crime continued until
1640. This had the effect of delaying the development
of the press in the UK. Censorship was introduced
in 1643, followed by licensing of news publications.
The Gazette came about because of two momentous events:
the Great Plague and the decision of King Charles
II to remove his court - effectively the government
of the time - to Oxford. The London Gazette started
life as the Oxford Gazette and after a few months
changed to its current title.

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Some
of the cap badges
are laid out, on a separate page.
Not
all memorials were to people; there are memorials
to various types of animal that served and fell in
World War I for example, dogs.
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