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Buckland Newton

Buckland Newton war memorial is located in the curtilage of the Church of the Holy Rood, a Grade I listed building, situated in the village centre. The memorial is in the style of a Celtic cross that is rectangular in plane, with an elongated bottom arm that forms a tapering shaft. The front face of the shaft bears the carving of an inverted broad-sword in relief. The shaft rests on a rectangular block plinth of broad frontage which sits on a stone base. The plinth is dressed and inscribed on the front and left faces with lead lettering. The whole is constructed of coarse granite.

In 2011, a grant of £185 was offered through the Small Grants Scheme towards an addition to the existing inscriptions. This required the dressed recess on the left face of the plinth to be extended downwards in order to incorporate the inscription of the additional name:
“1914 – 1918
E.H. Dibben. AIF”

The history of this memorial with regard to architect, craftsmen, sponsorship and ceremonies of dedication or unveiling is unknown. Edwin Henry Dibben was born in the parish in 1883. By 1912 he was living in a Sydney suburb in Australia. In 1915 Edwin enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), serving at first in Egypt before being redeployed with his battalion (the 54th) to the Western front in France; arriving in the vicinity of Fromelles at the end of June 1916. On 19th July 1916 he took part in the Battle of Fromelles, a diversionary engagement designed to divert German forces from the principal Allied action of the Battle of the Somme some fifty miles to the south. Edwin Henry Dibben was killed in action on 19th July 1916. His body was interred by the Germans in one of several mass graves with others killed in this battle. Towards the end of the twentieth century intensive research had potentially highlighted the existence and location of these missing graves. Subsequently confirmed, the remains of these British and Australian soldiers, including those of Edwin Henry Dibben, were exhumed and re-interred in a newly constructed Commonwealth War Graves Commission Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery at Fromelles.

The front face of the plinth is inscribed:

“This cross has been erected
By the inhabitants of Buckland Newton
In grateful memory of
The men of this parish
Who fell in the Great War 1914-1918” 

Below this inscription are the fifteen names commemorated.

The left face of the plinth bears the inscription:

“1939-1945”

Below which are the names of three people killed in this war.
Underneath these names the left face is further inscribed with the new addition for E H Dibben.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM4396
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 1105

The National Heritage List for England

CWGC casualty details for E H Dibben

CWGC Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery

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

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