Ploegsteert Wood

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

Silver, moonstone and amethyst cross designed for Radley College by George Sedding, 1910

Silver, moonstone and amethyst cross designed for Radley College by George Sedding, 1910

Today we remember …

 

23 October 1915.  George Sedding, A Social 1896.  Lance-Corporal, 7th Bn, Norfolk Regt.  Died of wounds received in the Battle of Loos.

 

He was a silversmith, a follower of the Arts and Crafts Movement. An example of his jewellery survives in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. In 1910, he designed and gave the cross and candlesticks which are still on the communion table in Radley College chapel. He was a committed Christian. One of his last letters home shows both his deep love of God and of the jewel bright colours of nature, written in the horror of Ploegsteert Wood:

I wrote a little prayer last night. . . . There are such a lot of stray bullets about that you want something of the sort to repeat and think of on occasions. ‘Under the shadow of Thy wings, 0 Christ, shall I rest in peace. For as in love they enfold me, I will look up and behold their shining glory, arched in a vault of dusky gold, gleaming with rainbow hues. Gold for sovereignty and power, with all the wondrous graces, charity and love, that colour Thy divinity. So shall I rest in peace, and at my death, 0 Light of Lights, give me grace to come without the shadows, and to look upon Thy most holy face.‘’

 

Aged 33

George Sedding, Lance-Corporal, 7th Bn, Norfolk Regt.  Died of wounds 23 October 1915

George Sedding, Lance-Corporal, 7th Bn, Norfolk Regt. Died of wounds 23 October 1915

Commemorating the Fallen of WW1

The name of Norman Fairlie on the Ploegsteert Memorial.  Photographed for 'Marching in Memory' for Combat Stress, July 2015

The name of Norman Fairlie on the Ploegsteert Memorial. Photographed for ‘Marching in Memory’ for Combat Stress, July 2015

Today we remember …

21st October 1914. Norman Fairlie, A Social, 1906. 2nd Lt, 2nd Bn, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders

Norman Fairlie was aged 22 when he disappeared in action near Ploegsteert Wood in Flanders. The Radleian magazine lists him among the prisoners or wounded in November 1914, amended to ‘missing’, now ‘wounded’ in December, and still among the missing in April 1916.

The date of his death is the last known sighting of him alive. He has no known grave and his family did not send a photograph for the War Memorial albums.

The Sword of Honour

The Sword of Honour