Trumpington and World War One

The Trumpington Local History Group has carried out research into the lives of local residents during World War One, including men and women who served in the forces and the ways in which other people contributed to and were affected by the conflict. Our aim was to move beyond the basic details that were known about the 36 men listed on our War Memorial to understand more about their lives and the roles of many other local people. At the start of the War, Trumpington was a thriving village on the southern outskirts of Cambridge, with a population of around 1300 people (1911 census). As a result of our research, we identified over 300 men and women who directly contributed to the War. The work was presented at a number of our meetings and included on our web site, edited by Andrew Roberts. Our project was funded by the Trumpington Local History Group and volunteers and undertaken by a small group of members. We have a significant War Memorial in the centre of the village, design by Eric Gill and unveiled in December 1921. As part of our meetings programme, we arranged talks about the memorial, including an outline of its history by one of our members, Arthur Brookes, and an insight into its design by Lida Cardozo Kindersley of the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop. At the outset of the centenary commemorations, another member, Ken Fletcher, carried out initial research into the men named on the Memorial, 'Trumpington's Fallen Heroes of World War One', which was published in October 2014 and added to our website. In October 2014, Professor Dan Todman (Queen Mary University of London) gave a talk to the group about the concept of remembrance and the ways that local communities had remembered the conflict. His encouragement to contribute towards the 'Lives of the First World War' database saw members, led by Wendy Roberts and Howard Slatter, begin research into identifying 278 people who would eventually be included within the 'Trumpington Community' (http://www.trumpingtonlocalhistorygroup.org/subjects_LivesWWI.html). Wendy developed a chronology of the War years using newspapers, parish magazine and other sources, from enlistment through active service and volunteering in the Volunteer Training Corps and the contribution of women as British Red Cross VADs. This research was presented at a meeting in November 2017, with details included on the website. Based on this information, Wendy and Andrew Roberts produced a display in a local community centre, to mark the centenary of the end of the War in October-November 2018.