On the 22nd February 2018, in St. Mary’s churchyard, Snettisham, the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, Richard Jewson (on behalf of the Royal Household) and the Mayor of Kings Lynn, Carol Bower launched our village’s ambitious project to honour our WW1 war dead, 100 years on.

A packed church service led by Veronica Wilson, Heacham and Snettisham’s Rector was followed by personal  services to the first two of our fallen, Jacob Flatt and Sydney Mitchell who had got home but died of their injuries.

Villagers, dignitaries and representatives of the Norfolk Regimental Association and British Legion gathered around their graves and the life stories of each man and a prayer were read out. After the Last Post was sounded and two minutes silence observed a civic letter of thanks was laid along with a personal letter from a local schoolchild and a wreath of West Norfolk Lavender bound by a Snettisham Torc (the village’s symbol) to clearly re-affirm our commitment to these brave men.

Nikki Scott, founder of Scotty’s Little Soldiers (one of the two great military charities the project is supporting) attended and said:

‘This is a phenomenal project and a huge amount of effort is going in to remember those who died years ago….’ 

The launch attracted significant media coverage from BBC Look East, the EDP, Hunstanton Town and Around, KLFM and BBC Radio Norfolk.