The Blake School Roll of Honour
The Roll of Honour lists all those ‘Old Boys of the Blake School’ who fought in the First World War. Names in black indicate those who were casualties of the conflict. These overlap with, but do not entirely replicate, the names on the War Memorial in St Mary’s Church.
The list of names in St Mary’s indicates men who belonged to St Mary’s Parish at the time they died. The Roll of Honour shows us that many of them, such as Jim Chapman, Lewis Hinton, Archie Pratley, and Andrew Woodcock, had been pupils at The Blake School (which at that time, was still housed in what is now the Church Centre just beyond the lychgate). Others, such as F. W. Brooks, A. Florey, and the two Martins, must have moved away from the parish by the time they died. The Roll of Honour reminds us of their place in St Mary’s, as it also (by the overall numbers listed) reminds us of the scale of the conflict.
A Commonwealth War Grave
At Remembrance tide 2018, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission ensured that there was distinctive markers were placed in all churchyards which contained a Commonwealth War Grave. This was when we learnt that the churchyard of St Mary’s Cogges has such a grave (see https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/393228/harris,-lucy/). Lucy Harris had joined the Women’s Royal Air Force in 1918, but was not yet on active service. She died of influenza at Kidlington on 1 November 1918, and was buried at St Mary’s in an unmarked grave. In future she will be included by name with the others at our Remembrance service.
