The 4th August 1914. The
war to end all wars began.
Within a few weeks, in response to Kitchener's call
for volunteers, eighteen young men from Preston and the neighbouring villages
enlisted in the new army, and to resounding cheers marched to their fate.
Four years later, thanks to
volunteering, coercement and conscription, almost all eligible men in the area
had passed through the military machine. Not all came home.
Carpenter William Paxton had lived in Preston, where his
family had long connections, until his marriage when he moved to Stratford.
He volunteered in March 1915 and was
posted to the Royal Engineers. He was killed by a shell in France on 1st July 1916.
He left a widow and two small children.
Thomas Kingston was the son of coachman Henry Kingston
of Alscot Lodge. He volunteered in 1915 and was posted to the Machine Gun Corps
in Greece. He died on 28th November 1918, a fortnight after the
armistice was signed. He left a widow and two daughters.
Francis William (Will) Porter was the son of Aubrey and
Margaret Porter of No.8. He emigrated to Canada in 1912, and volunteered for
the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in March 1916. He was killed in France in October 1918 and
was posthumously awarded the Military Medal. He left a widow and a young son.
Richard John Green from Peckham
moved to Preston in 1915 to become the farm pupil of Thomas Salmon Smith at
Park Farm. He was conscripted in April 1916, just after his eighteenth
birthday, and posted to the Royal Sussex Regiment. He was killed by an
exploding shell on 2nd November 1918.
As a permanent reminder of the
tragedy, war memorials were raised in communities across Britain to commemorate
their fallen men. Preston erected their war memorial on the village green in
the 1920s, and the above four names were inscribed on it.
Thirty years after the war to
end all wars, another global conflict began. Another generation of young men
was taken from the towns and villages to fight for their country. Three more names
were added to Preston's war memorial.
Major William Reginald James (Reggie) Alston-Roberts-West had
served in the Grenadier Guards before inheriting Alscot Estate. He rejoined his
unit at the outbreak of war and was killed in a counter-attack on German lines
near Flanders in May 1940, aged 39. He left a widow and two young sons.
Private Reginald Henry (Reg) Maton, the son of Ernest and
Emily Maton, was enlisted into the Royal Berkshire Regiment and served in
Burma. He was killed in January 1945 aged 24.
Lieutenant Colonel Wilfred George
Newey, whose family had lived at Whitehill Farm, had served in the Royal
Artillery then became involved in staff work. In February 1945 he was on board
an aircraft carrying personnel involved in the Yalta conference, which crashed
into the sea. He was one of many fatalities.
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