“1914 – The Man They Tried To Remember” is a new book by local author Jon Miller and is now on sale at South Molton Tourist Information Centre.

The book covers 1914 – the early months of the war, and tries to answer such questions as ‘where did the men fight?’, ‘why were they there?’, ‘how and why did they die?’

The hero of the title died on a day of dramatic fighting, but at the end of the war, the community that wished to remember him, struggled to do so correctly.  The details of the man they recorded on their memorial only had a passing resemblance to the actual soldier.  The book explains the tumultuous day on which he died, and the author’s suggestion as to who he actually was.

Soldiers from South Molton, Chittlehampton, Filleigh, Knowstone, Witheridge, East and West Worlington, West Buckland, Burrington and Charles are all documented in what is hoped to be just the first volume in a series covering the war year by year.

This softback book contains over 90 A4 pages, with colour photographs on nearly half of them.  There are also many maps that help to pinpoint the areas where the local men fought, which alongside the photographs, give an insight to the fate of the men not normally to be found in memorial books.

On Sale at South Molton Tourist Information – £7.50