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deaths commemorated continued beyond it. The Peace Treaty was not signed until 28th June 1919, and in Britain, wartime legislation did not officially end until 31st August 1921. Until that date, those who died while serving in the Forces were commem- orated with a War Grave. There are no women’s names on
Although everyone could agree on the need to recognise the collective
sacrifice, deciding on the right kind of public memorial was more difficult.
Dartmouth memorials. However, we found one woman, Beatrice Crocker, who died as a direct result of enemy action in 1916, when the ship on which she was travelling struck a mine and sank. About a quarter of those commemorated did not
live or were not born in Dartmouth. Reflecting ties with the Empire, two were born in Australia, one in New Zealand, and two had recently emigrated to Canada.
Armistice Day 1918 Nowadays, we mark the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month with silence, but in 1918 in Dartmouth it was noisily celebrated. The Dartmouth Chronicle reported: “The great world drama rushed to its climax with terrific swiftness. Dartmouth awoke and went about its daily work on Monday morning hoping that the good news would come, and there was a deep spirit of thankfulness in all hearts when at eleven o’clock sirens from shipping in the harbour and facto- ries were heard blowing loud and prolonged blasts.
The bells of St Saviour’s Church also sounded forth a merry peal, and citizens knew that at last the great day had arrived.” Stocks of Union Jacks and flags
of the Allies ran out. Then attention turned to commemorating those who would not return. War memorials are now such a familiar part of the landscape that we take them for granted. It is easy to for-
get that one hundred years ago the circumstances were wholly unprecedented. Although everyone could agree on the need to recognise the collective sacrifice, deciding on the right kind of public memorial was more difficult. The memorials in the churches proved uncontroversial, but the Town War Memorial provoked strong views. Early in 1919 a War Memorial Committee was set up
and invited proposals. Eight were put forward, several reflecting ideas for town improvements: 1 a new Guildhall 2 a weather-proof shelter on the Embankment 3 a wayside crucifix in St Saviour’s Churchyard 4 a public bathhouse and wash house, with a tea house on the roof 5 a triumphal arch on the New Ground, with a figure of Britannia and “war scenes” 6 an extension of the Cottage Hospital 7 the preservation of one of Dartmouth’s oldest houses 8 new housing and a recreation ground on Combe Mud
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