CLAPHAM remembered its war dead at a special outdoor service commemorating the start of the First World War, writes Jack Hartley.

Heads were bowed in Clapham Churchyard as Pam Whitehead, a trumpeter from Settle Orchestra, played ‘The Last Post’.

Seven of between 101 and 110 men who enlisted from Clapham were awarded the Military Medal and this formed the crux of the Rev Ian Greenhalgh’s message, emphasising their ‘exceptional bravery’.

‘Thankful Villages’, where all enlisted soldiers returned safely home, also played a role in Mr Greenhalgh’s sermon, but mainly in highlighting that Clapham was not one of those fortunate villages, 31 Clapham men having died in action.

Mr Greenhalgh also detailed the difficulty of communication during the First World War, indicating the painful degree of ‘separation’ in contrast to ‘nowadays [where] you can Skype from Afghanistan’.

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