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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