THESE sober-suited figures marching through Steeton on July 19, 1919, are all local ex-servicemen.
Their procession formed part of Steeton’s Peace celebrations, although the occasion had more sombre connotations. Out of 396 Steeton-with-Eastburn men who enlisted, 65 had died – a ratio of one in six. Others, still suffering from wounds, followed this procession in motor cars.
Steeton had an active Discharged and Demobilised Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Association, which by 1920 was holding an annual sports and gala in Summerhill Field.
The Steeton-with-Eastburn war memorial was unveiled later that year.
Designed by a local architect, Godfrey L Clarke, this takes the form of a slender shaft, 40ft high, in keeping with the surrounding trees. It was built in ten sections.
Within a fortnight, however, the column broke during a storm, and had to be reinforced by running a copper-coated steel bar up its centre.
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