Southwick, Sunderland
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2019 7:13 pm
I was born and raised in the Southwick district of Sunderland and make every effort to attend the annual Remembrance Day service at the local War Memorial. As a child, I attended the church across the road to the War Memorial and, each year, we were marched across the road to take part in the service of remembrance.
Sunderland itself boasts one of the largest Remembrance Day parades outside of London but, within Sunderland there are several local War Memorials, Southwick being one of them, and others in the former Coal Mining communities and districts.
At the time of the First World War, Southwick was a Township in its own right and many local men and boys joined the armed forces, together with those serving in the Merchant Navy.
Tragically, some 164 of them never returned and were killed in action during that campaign. After the First World War, a Cenotaph was built on the Village Green to commemorate those lost between 1914 and 1918.
Those lost in the First World War are commemorated in this video.
In the lead up to the depression, Southwick was incorporated into Sunderland in 1928.
During the Second World War there was again a great influx into the Armed Forces. Sadly, around 100 were killed and never returned to their families.
My mothers brother, my uncle, was possibly the first Southwick man to lose his life in the Second World War. He was badly injured on the sinking of HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow in October 1939, and died from his injuries in a Naval Hospital at Invergordon some three weeks later. His body was returned to Southwick and, it is said, that his funeral was probably the biggest ever seen in Southwick.
Unfortunately, many of the others that lost their lives during the war have no known graves.
After the war, one of the blank panels on the Southwick War Memorial had the inscription 1939-1945 added, but there are no names on it. Moves are afoot locally to try and get the names of those who died in both conflicts added to the memorial.
Those lost in the Second World War are commemorated in this video
Some photos from previous Remembrance Day years
Sunderland itself boasts one of the largest Remembrance Day parades outside of London but, within Sunderland there are several local War Memorials, Southwick being one of them, and others in the former Coal Mining communities and districts.
At the time of the First World War, Southwick was a Township in its own right and many local men and boys joined the armed forces, together with those serving in the Merchant Navy.
Tragically, some 164 of them never returned and were killed in action during that campaign. After the First World War, a Cenotaph was built on the Village Green to commemorate those lost between 1914 and 1918.
Those lost in the First World War are commemorated in this video.
In the lead up to the depression, Southwick was incorporated into Sunderland in 1928.
During the Second World War there was again a great influx into the Armed Forces. Sadly, around 100 were killed and never returned to their families.
My mothers brother, my uncle, was possibly the first Southwick man to lose his life in the Second World War. He was badly injured on the sinking of HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow in October 1939, and died from his injuries in a Naval Hospital at Invergordon some three weeks later. His body was returned to Southwick and, it is said, that his funeral was probably the biggest ever seen in Southwick.
Unfortunately, many of the others that lost their lives during the war have no known graves.
After the war, one of the blank panels on the Southwick War Memorial had the inscription 1939-1945 added, but there are no names on it. Moves are afoot locally to try and get the names of those who died in both conflicts added to the memorial.
Those lost in the Second World War are commemorated in this video
Some photos from previous Remembrance Day years