Carbrooke Heritage News: October 2015

 

As we approach Remembrance Sunday on 8^th November, and Remembrance Day on 11^th November, we generally consider those who died, but the effect on the soldiers who returned must have been immense. A common theme in families that ‘Grandad never spoke of the war,’ is probably because the horrors could not be put into words, and those not involved could not understand. It is most likely that many would be suffering from what we now call, post-traumatic-stress-disorder.

Carbrooke Heritage group will have a stand at the Wayland Heritage Group event on 14^th and 15^th November at Watton Sports centre. The aim of the event is to see how WW1 affected the Wayland area. Surprisingly we have all found very little in our parish records to suggest anything out of the ordinary was going on. In Carbrooke, nothing in the school records, a solitary mention in the church records; -even though our Vicar at the time volunteered for service at the YMCA on the North Indian front, during 1916, and very few artefacts have come to light.

So should we assume that WW1 had no effect on our area, or perhaps the effect was so immense that it has all been hidden. It may be that the effects were not felt at first but have dripped through time, to create the area we have today.

Local men realised there was a big world out there and broke away from their servile agricultural heritage to discover new places and opportunities. With so many men dead, women had to take over their roles in society and work, becoming more independent. With fewer men to marry perhaps being an unmarried mother became more acceptable in society. Industrial advances to improve the war effort were then put into everyday life; leading to farm and domestic mechanisation. The agricultural depression led to the sale or amalgamation of many farms. Many children grew up without a father figure in their lives. And returning soldiers may have spent the rest of their lives living with the mental and physical effects of war. For example we have a disabled soldier baptising his children in Carbrooke church in 1919 and 1925. It can also be seen how much the occupations of fathers bringing their children for baptism changed. They were no longer mainly farm labourers.

So perhaps we live with the effects of the WW1 but because they have come into effect over time we haven’t realised it.

Wayland Heritage Groups invite you to ‘The Impact of WW1 on Wayland’ Saturday 14^th November 11am - 4pm and Sunday 15^th November 11am – 1.30pm at Watton Sports centre. Admission free, but by ticket only available from Wayland house Watton 01953 880202

Our next Heritage meeting: Tuesday 1^st December 7pm at Brakehill Lodge Shipdham Road. All welcome to our informal meetings.