Edwin Banks
It was a great honour for the James Garnett Foundation to repatriate a historical artefact from the First World War back to where it belongs. Three generations of the same family of fallen soldier Edwin Banks and a host of local residents of Sedgefield, County Durham, attended a special memorial ceremony at St. Edmunds church.
Senior members of the James Garnett Foundation pictured with three generations of Edwin Banks’ family, his granddaughter, AURIEL, great-granddaughter, SUSAN and great-great granddaughter, MELANIE. Also in attendance were the Mayor, his consort, the Sedgefield Member of Parliament and the members of the local Veterans’ Association.
Edwin Banks of Sedgefield was a British soldier of the 1/6th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers in WW1. He was Killed-in-Action in France in 1918, leaving behind a wife and two young sons. Amongst the awards that his next-of-kin received over a century ago was the King’s Memorial Scroll, that we discovered, purchased, reframed and returned to his family.
Our Chairman, Major Martin Smith VR (retired) presented Edwin’s scroll to his granddaughter, Auriel. The Chairman is also pictured reading the words of the scroll to the members of the public in attendance.
The commemoration service was organised and hosted by the magnificent Norma Neal (pictured below) of the Sedgefield Local History Society, who along with husband Haydn also saw to it that we were very well looked after and accommodated over the weekend of the event. Also pictured is veteran Colin Denby, just after laying a wreath in honour of all of the fallen soldiers of Sedgefield.
The last words are quite rightly for Edwin. It is over a century since he gave his life in the service of his country, despite the passing of time, the respect shown to him all these years later by his own community was truly amazing. The final (most important) image above is of Edwin himself, may he forever rest in peace.
© JGF MMXXIV
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