That is a lovely story to read. You must be really pleased with the result. Poor man, it is heartening that his army colleagues acknowledged his effort. Andrea On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 2:44 PM, Suzannah Foad < [email protected]> wrote: > REMEMBRANCE TIDE - A SPECIAL EVENT. > > Recent visitors to the cemetery at St Nicholas-at-Wade might have noticed a > brand new Commonwealth War Graves headstone, commemorating Private George > Ernest Foad, of the Queen's Royal West Surrey regiment, who died in 1917. > Until recently, practically nothing was known about this soldier, save that > his name is among those inscribed on the Monkton Village War Memorial. > Enquiries locally revealed very little information and he was not mentioned > in the official records immediately available. In recent months further > research has been carried out by Mrs Janet Graham, Headteacher of Monkton > Primary School, and myself, and we now have a fuller picture. > George Foad was born in 1889 and lived in Monkton, working first on the > land, and then as a colliery tip man ( at the newly opened Chislet > Colliery?). He enlisted in the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment in 1915, > and was graded fit for active service. He completed basic training but, just > before he was to be posted to the Western Front, he became ill with > pleurisy. His condition deteriorated over the following months and he was > eventually invalided from the service on pension, with a good military > character, in July 1916. He died nine months later at his parents’ home at > Gore Street New Cottages, from tuberculosis of the lungs and peritoneum. He > was 27. > Private George Foad was buried in the Cemetery following a service in St. > Nicholas' Church conducted by the Vicar of Monkton, the Revd Fabian > Brackenbury. [George's mother, Emily, was a St Nicholas' girl.] In more > recent years, the unmarked grave has been entirely forgotten, but the clear > picture we now have is of a man who had tried hard to do his bit, and it is > good to know that his contemporaries in Monkton saw to it that his > name was included among those commemorated on the village war memorial. > The results of our research were submitted to the Ministry of Defence, who > agreed to authorise the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to erect a > headstone on Private Foad’s Grave. The stone was finally put in place in May > this year, and a short ceremony of Dedication on the Saturday before > Remembrance Sunday, November 7th at 11am, in the presence of descendants of > the Foad family. > Mrs Janet Graham and I are very grateful to all those who have helped us in > this venture, particularly the St Nicholas-at-Wade & Sarre Parish Council, > and Mrs Julie Francis, the former Clerk to the Council who quickly located > George Foad's grave in the excellent cemetery records, and liaised with the > War Graves Commission over arrangements for installing the the memorial > stone. The Council also kindly waived their fees in this case. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message