The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has installed a memorial to one of Shobrooke's Great War soldiers.
A very special event took place in Shobrooke's churchyard on February 27th 2015. Commonwealth War Graves Commission workers installed a memorial to one of Shobroke's Great War soldiers nearly a century after his burial there. Stephen Cyril Dimes was a resident of Shobrooke at the time of the Great War and was married to a lady from a village family - Winifred Cooke. Winifred's parents Alice and William Cooke are buried in Shobrooke Churchyard. Winifred and her sister Charlotte were both married on the same day in 1911 in the parish church. Stephen was buried in Shobrooke churchyard, probably alongside Winifred and Charlotte's parents, who had both died between 1915 and 1916. Stephen's memorial was placed adjacent to their memorial.
A group of villagers pays its respects
A group of villagers gathered to witness the occasion and pay respects to Stephen. The church bells were rung and a brief ceremony took place once the stone had been very professionally laid.
Rosemary Barber
Len Darling has carried out extensive research into the life, family and sad death of Stephen Cyril Dimes. Len and the Shobrooke History Group have kindly given us permission to publish it, which we have done
here with the other research from our ongoing WW1 project.
Len added "If anyone passes on any additional information, amendments or comments I would very much appreciate having them/it. At present the war memorial in Shobrooke is being renovated and Stephen's and the other additional names that were added a few years ago are now going to be put on properly! They will now follow on from their Great War comrades and the Second World War names will be placed underneath. The additional great war names and one more being added will now also have their rank added like those who were already on the memorial. Once completed, the intention is to seek listing for the memorial and for the area around it to be designated a public open space. A seat will be provided and the steps and hand-rail will be improved and made safe. The one additional name being added was the son-in-law of the vicar. He was named on a memorial in the church but never on the war memorial - this will now be rectified. His story is particularly interesting in that his father was German and had come to England in the 1860s: his son became the first casualty connected with Shobrooke in the Great War!"
Len Darling and the memorial stone which resulted from his research