headstones
photos from the commeration service at St Marys
Although the names of both Samuel Sharpe and Robert Yaxley are inscribed on Little Walsingham
war memorial,neither soldier was listed in any official record of the war dead
Recent research however has uncovered that not only did both of these soldiers die of
injuries suffered in the war but that they both lie buried in St Mary's churchyard
Once this information was discovered an application was made to the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission to have them recognised as war casualties and for appropriate
headstones to be erected in St Mary's churchyard
To prove the case not only were copies of the burial records required (see below) but
copies of the death certificates (for both soldiers) had to be found and produced
Once this evidence had been traced and accepted by the CWGC it was to be
another three years until the headstones were put in place - both memorials
having to be carved in France before being transported to the village
* * * * * * * * * *
Curiously the burial records (see below) show that although William Knowles is listed in the
records next to Samuel Sharpe, William Knowles has a headstone yet Samuel Sharpe has not
The mystery is further compounded when it's known that another soldier Fred Seaman was
buried in St Mary's with full military honours (with a headstone added later) - this being
many months after Samuel Sharpe's burial and over a year after the war ended
It may have been that both Knowles and Seaman had visible injuries where Sharpe and Yaxley had not
burial records
Samuel Sharpe and William Knowles
The note in the burial record reads
"disease contracted abroad in war" (Sharpe) and
"died of the effects of gas poisoning in the war" (Yaxley)
(documents waiting to be added)
