WW1 Memorial Quilt – Edward - Soldier

This week I have completed the piece of my quilt which is dedicated to the professional soldiers.  Some of them died during the war – and some of them fought throughout – and came home injured mentally and/or physically.

 When I first thought about designing a piece for the men who were soldiers before the war started – I first thought about doing interlocking crosses.  Then I thought about doing a “toy soldier” but I didn’t want to belittle their efforts.  When I think of soldiers I tend to think of shiny buttons and polished boots and being killed.  Then I remembered the songs that the soldiers use to sing.  I considered them but then settled on using the song - Where Have All the Flowers Gone? as inspiration.

This design consists of 4 rows of 5 regular blocks of colour, but each row of blocks means something to me.  The first row of blue blocks represents blue collar workers or ordinary working class men.  The next row – is a row of soldiers.  The third row represents gravestones, and the last row – flowers.  I know it is a bit morbid – but then the whole quilt is a bit morbid.  I am sure when you looked at this piece of knitting for the first time – you thought “that is attractive” rather than “that is morbid”!

For this piece I cast on 67sts and knit 165 rows.  Each block is 7sts wide and 30 rows high – 15 rows of each shade.  There are 6sts between blocks, 4sts each side, 10 rows between blocks – with 8 at the beginning and 7 at the end.  It was quite easy to knit because I wound the colours onto bobbins – so I didn’t get as tangled up as usual.

To come back to the title for the piece – it is called Edward to remember my great great uncle Edward Benn.  He was not a blood relative but married to my great great aunt Elizabeth Longhurst.  He was a private in 23^rd battalion of the London Regiment who was killed on 13 November 1916 aged 26.  My grandma told me about his small son Teddy – who she used to find tucked in at the bottom of her bed when her aunt had turned to her sister for support.  Very sadly Elizabeth lost Teddy in the World War 2.

This piece is also to remember my third cousin, twice removed: Herbert Victor Jones who was a corporal in the 1^st battalion of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light infantry who died on 8 May 1917 aged 25 and my fourth cousin, four times removed: William Edward Morrish who was a soldier in India before the war and who died on 24 July 1915 aged 30, a CQMS in the 2^nd battalion of the Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment.

This piece is also dedicated to my fourth cousin, twice removed: Henry Thomas (Harry) Hamlyn who was a soldier as early as 1911 – he was a private in the 2^nd battalion of the Devonshire Regiment who died on 1 July 1916 – the first day of the battle of the Somme – aged 23.  He was one of three brothers who were all killed in the war.

I would also like to mention my great grandfather Frank Henry Taylor and his brother-in-law Sam Drew who both came from a military background, fought throughout the war and returned home.  Frank was invalided out of the army and Sam went on to join the Merchant Navy – I don’t think civilian life suited Sam.  I should also remember all those other soldiers who fought and returned home deeply affected by their experiences.