Natland honours new war heroes (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Natland honours new war heroes

11:10am Friday 14th November 2008 in Search By Lizzie Anderson

ELEVEN men who fought and died in the First World War will finally have their names displayed in the South Lakeland village they once called home.

In recognition of the ultimate sacrifice they made for their country, currently, the names of six men are inscribed on to the war memorial at St Mark’s Church in Natland, near Kendal.

However, there are 11 other names associated with the church, who until now, have only been recorded on an internal board.

In an article in the St Mark’s Parish newsletter, John Chandler, treasurer of the church committee, explains that during the process of acknowledging those who died in the First World War, difficulties often arose as to where this acknowledgement should be.

“Did the hero, who most probably now lies in a corner of a foreign field, have his name engraved on the memorial where he was born, where he grew up, where he enlisted, where his family now lived or where a local committee agreed it could appear?” he writes.

Due to these complexities, some of the fallen did not have their name recorded anywhere, with other names appearing more than once.

Of the eleven Natland heroes, 10 of the men are believed to have been residents at the Institution of St Mark’s Home for Waifs and Strays during the pre-war period.

The eleventh, Herbert Nixon, came from Oxenholme and died in Southern Russia, but, despite a request by his family, the local committee declined to include him on the war memorial.

Keen to rectify this injustice, St Mark’s Natland and Oxenholme Parochial Church Council decided to include all the names on a new memorial plaque, which was unveiled after the Remembrance Sunday service.