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Praze-an-Beeble

This war memorial is a Celtic cross of Cornish granite on a three stepped plinth, surrounded by iron railings. It is situated on the village green at the crossroads of the village of Praze-an-Beeble in Cornwall. Names of men from World War I are on one plinth face and of World War II on the adjacent face.

In 2008 War Memorials Trust gave a grant of £240 towards repairing the iron railings around the memorial, namely their removal and repair, including sandblasting, galvanising and repainting and then the refitting of the railings.

It is believed that the memorial was built in the early 1920s by a local stone mason for the Parish Council.

The memorial carries two inscriptions. Above the names of the men who died in World War I it reads:

In memory of the men of Crowan who gave their lives for their country in the Great War 1914 to 1918. This monument is erected in deep gratitude by the people of Crowan.

On the adjacent face of the plinth is the inscription: Great War 1939-1945

Under the first inscription are the names of 22 men who died in World War I

Albert Dalley
Joseph Blewett
William Jolly
Maurice Corey
John Hosking
John Jerkin
Stanley Moyle
James M. Bodinnan
Nicholas Tremayne
Sidney Watters
Francis J. Chown
Frederick H. Trevithick
John H. James
William Berriman
Alfred Trethowan
Frederick C. Meek
William Stephens
Charles W. Doney
William H. Osbourne
Josiah Mitchell
Samuel J. Triggs
William J. Goldsworthy
John Trecenza

A number of men on the memorial served with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. This regiment fought in every major battle of the First World War. Harry Patch, one of the last surviving British men to have fought in the Great War, was a member of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry.

Research has revealed the stories of some of the men commemorated:

• Francis Jack Chown joined the Royal Flying Corps straight from school. He was killed in a dogfight during the Battle of Menin Road in September 1917; this engagement was part of the Battle of Passchendaele.
• William Jolly of the Duke of Corwall’s Light Infantry died during the Battle of the Somme.
• John Hosking is also commemorated at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.

Beneath the Second World War inscription are listed 10 men who fell.

John K. Cook
Peter J. Dilley
Richard Downing
Geoffrey W. James
Malcolm Karn
Theodore D. Karn
Dennis J. Luzmoor
Henry Skewes
William F.L. Rundle
George N. Hampton

Many of the names on the memorial from World War II served in the Navy. Thedore Kahn served with the Royal Artillery and was killed during the North Africa Campaign. He is buried in Libya. William Rundle of the Royal Navy is buried in Egypt. George Hampton died in Germany in August 1945, indicating that he was part of the Army of Occupation after D Day.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM2345
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 9226

Sim Fine Art for a picture of Francis Chown

If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org

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