Two ceremonies

We have two memorials in our village. This corner of the library originally displayed the bronze tablets with the names of those who died in the wars. Then, around the millennium, we had a new memorial erected near the church onto which the bronze plates were put. This memorial was placed to honour a local man who was awarded the George Cross (posthumously) for his part in saving the village of Soham from certain destruction in 1944 when a wagon full of bombs on an ammunition train caught fire. James Nightall was the fireman and, with the driver, Benjamin Gimbert, managed to detach the blazing wagon from the rest of the train so that it exploded away from the village and many lives were saved.
There was a large turnout for the ceremony outside the church when the schoolchildren attended and laid wreaths then we went through the main street to the library to lay the National Rail wreath here.