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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