Lest We Forget - The Tavistock Fallen of the Second World War

The publication of this book completes, for Alex Mettler and Garry Woodcock, a journey of discovery that was begun six years ago. A shared interest in the history of the town of Tavistock (UK) and in memorials of all kinds led to a decision to launch a project based on the names inscribed on Tavistock's War Memorial.

The motives were not to uncover and record great acts of heroism or qualities of sainthood, although there were plenty of deeds of courage and sacrifice along the way. Rather the aim was to present the fallen of the two World Wars in their local contexts, to give them homes, families, schools and jobs, to try to say something about their war service and their deaths.

This, the second volume, deals with the Second World War. The stories of the forty who are named on the memorial as casualties of that war are arranged in the chronological order in which they died, so that the development of the war can be followed as both a theme running through the book and a context within which to place the individual stories.

The book opens with an essay about their home town, Tavistock, during the war, thus giving a record of events 'at home' to complement the record of momentous world-wide events in which local people participated.

Some people believe that the passage of the years makes it less needful for such events as these to be recorded. The authors of this book take the opposite view.

Available from:
Devon Museums