Remembrance Day in Rillington

Inside St Andrew’s Church in Rillington, two memorial plaques hang one above the other beside the Royal British Legion standards. There is also a framed First World War Roll of Service. It records the men who served in the Navy and Army, with a small red cross beside each name of those who gave their lives. On Remembrance Day, I wanted to set down their names here, where anyone with a connection to Rillington can stop and read them.

First and Second World War plaques beside Royal British Legion standards, with poppy wreaths and a carved wooden eagle in front.
Figure 1. The First and Second World War memorial plaques in St Andrew’s Church, Rillington, with Royal British Legion standards and poppy wreaths. Author’s image, 2026.

The First World War, 1914–1918

Framed handwritten roll with crossed flags and columns of Navy and Army names. Small red crosses mark those who died.
Figure 2. Rillington’s First World War Roll of Service, St Andrew’s Church

The names listed below are marked with a red cross on Rillington’s Roll of Service (Figure 2). The separate memorial plaque (Figure 3), headed ‘European War 1914–1918’, bears fourteen names. Charles Henry Mears and Frank Owston are both marked with a cross on the roll, but their names do not appear on the plaque.

Metal plaque headed ‘European War 1914–1918’, with fourteen names in two columns.
Figure 3. The First World War memorial plaque in St Andrew’s Church, Rillington, commemorating fourteen men of the parish who gave their lives. Author’s image, 2026.

The First World War memorial plaque in St Andrew’s Church, Rillington records the fallen as follows:

  • Maurice Anderson
  • Thomas Carbert
  • J. T. V. Grayson
  • John William Henly
  • Jack Johnson
  • Charles Henry Mears
  • Alfred Milner
  • Frank Owston
  • Ernest Hartland Porrill
  • Arthur Rex
  • Albert William Ryder
  • John Skelton
  • William Stephenson
  • Laurence Stratford
  • Herbert William Swain
  • Chester Jackson Taylor

The Ryedale Family History Group’s casualty list for Rillington also includes William Ernest I’Anson, Alfred Matthews and Thomas Henry Ransome. I’ve included their names here in remembrance too.

Laurence Stratford’s name appears on the First World War memorial, but he is also remembered at the entrance to St Andrew’s. A lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade, he was killed in action in France on 28 March 1918, aged 38. His father, the Revd. W. T. Stratford, was vicar of Rillington from 1902-1924. The inscription tells us that the porch was erected by Laurence’s ‘sorrowing parents and brothers’. and his wife, had the church porch built in his memory. It is a memorial to a son and a brother that we still walk through today.

Stone tablet in St Andrew’s porch recording that Laurence Stratford’s parents and brothers erected the porch in his memory.
Figure 4. The memorial inscription to Laurence Stratford in the porch of St Andrew’s Church, Rillington. Author’s image, 11 November 2026.

The Second World War, 1939–1945

The Second World War plaque in St Andrew’s remembers six men from the parish.

Edwin Atkinson was a lance corporal in the Royal Corps of Signals, serving with the Hong Kong Signals Company. He died in October 1942 and is commemorated on the Sai Wan Memorial in Hong Kong.

Arthur Noel Blanchard was an able seaman in the Royal Navy. He died on 1 June 1940 when his ship, HMS Keith, was sunk during the evacuation from Dunkirk.

Donald Austin Lord was a private in the 13th Battalion, Parachute Regiment. He died on 10 July 1944 and is buried at Ranville War Cemetery in Normandy.

Frank Mitchell was a gunner in the Royal Artillery. He died as a prisoner of war on 13 July 1943 and is buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand.

Walter Ernest Morrill, son of Ernest and Annie Morrill of Rillington, served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He died on 14 February 1942 and is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial.

George William Ruston was a gunner in the Royal Artillery and the son of John and Violet Ruston of Rose Cottage, Sledgate. He died as a prisoner of war on 9 July 1944 and, like Frank Mitchell, is buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.

I’d like to thank Ana Richards for her work researching the lives of Rillington’s First and Second World War servicemen. For anyone who would like to read further, the Ryedale Family History Group’s publication covers the lives of people from the parish who died in both wars.

Red poppies cascade down the altar steps towards a patchwork of poppy pictures, with standards and a stained-glass window behind the altar.
Figure 5. The Remembrance Day poppy display at St. Andrew’s Church, Rillington. Author’s image, 11 November 2026

We will remember them.

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