A record of the Gotham men who fought and died in the first World War has been published by Gotham Parish Council with proceeds being donated to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.
Gotham Remembers is a compilation of eleven articles researched by a small band of village residents in 2014 to mark the centenary of the 1914-18 War. These articles were reproduced in the parish magazine Gotham News, and it was the particular wish of one of the team that a book be published.
The accounts have been meticulously compiled from Parish records, Battalion War Diaries, personal letters, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The difficulty in tracing reliable information over one hundred years old did not make this an easy task.
Each account of an ordinary life lost makes for sobering reading, but provides a moving reminder of the cost of conflict. Private Harold Newell lived in Meadow End and was the son of Henry and Mary. He served in the 13th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers but died at the Battle of Loos aged 27 years, just two weeks after arriving in France. Harold may have known his neighbour, Captain Arther Powys Wodehouse, the son of the Rector of St Lawrence Church, who was killed in present day Iraq at the battle of Ctesiphon 1915. Just a few miles from Gotham, ordnance workers Louie Chaplin and Fanny Taylor were victims of the tragedy at Chilwell Munitions Factory when 8 tons of TNT exploded on 1st July 1918.
Between these accounts are fascinating facts about the war, including a recognition that medical advancements such as blood transfusion, the use of physiotherapy, and the development of antiseptics were born on the battlefield.
Book editor Martin Raven, a Gotham Parish Councillor says: “Everyone involved in producing these records feels humbled by the evident commitment shown by the men and women of Gotham who left to serve their King but never returned home. The mud and blood-stained War Diaries spoke to us of their extraordinary courage and comradeship. We do indeed need to remember and honour them.”
For more information about the book, call 0115 983 0863 or email [email protected].
Gotham Remembers is priced at £15 (each) + £4 postage and packaging.