Roll of Honour: Leicestershire soldiers killed during WW1 commemorated

Thousands of Leicestershire soldiers killed during the First World War have been commemorated in a roll of honour published on the Leicester Mercury's website.

The census names 5,293 men and boys who fell between 1914 and 1918.

The document was created from the archive at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

Peter Francis, a spokesman for CWGC, said: "We wanted to create something that allowed people to re-engage with those who had fallen.

"It was about reconnecting – seeing the names and the ages and recognising the address and the street names where these soldiers lived to make it more real.

"Imagine what it was like when the telegrams started to come in. It gives us a sense of the great sacrifices that these young men made."

The document gives the names, ages and addresses of the fallen, as well as details about their next of kin.

It lists cemeteries containing war graves, including Welford Road and Gilroes in Leicester, but also dozens of others in Europe and further afield in countries such as Israel, Turkey and Iraq.

Many of the fallen were no more than boys when they were shipped off to fight for king and country.

Private AR Burdett, of 1st/4th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment, was 16 when he was killed.

The list notes that he "died of wounds" and was buried at Le Treport Military Cemetery, in Seine-Maritime, France.

Closer to home are the graves of soldiers such as Stoker 1st Class W Chaplin, who died on November 27, 1918, aged 29.

He was laid to rest in Gilroes cemetery.

The list is not a definitive roll call of every Leicestershire serviceman who was killed in action, due to the way the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's records were compiled.

When a soldier, sailor or airman died, the commission was informed of his name, rank, unit and service number and given a next-of-kin address.

It sent out a final verification form, asking for any further details, before the name was added to its records.

However, not everybody returned the forms.

Families had moved away and some servicemen had no family to answer.

So if your relative should be on our list but is not, it does not mean his name is not commemorated by the commission.

The commission sees its archive as a regularly updated, living list.

Contact the commission in writing at the following address if you believe an amendment is needed: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7DX. Alternatively, visit: www.cwgc.org