The name of a serviceman killed during the First World War is to be added to a Norfolk village war memorial as part of its renovation.
The wooden memorial plaque at St Mary's Church in Newton Flotman, which dates back to 1921, includes the names of 18 killed the Great War, with two additional names of servicemen killed in the Second World War having been added after that conflict.
Renovation of the memorial, jointly funded by the parish council and local donations, has seen the name of Edward Trory added. It follows research by Newton Flotman and Saxlingham Thorpe Heritage group member Mike Wilkinson who discovered his history at the National Archives at Kew.
He said: 'Going through some military records I picked up one about this chap Edward Robert Trory joining the militia whose place of birth was Newton Flotman. I started investigating and found that he went into the militia and then joined the Royal Marines. He was killed in September 1918, aged 47. The ship he was on in the Mediterranean was sunk by a German submarine.'
Mr Wilkinson's extensive research found his parents were James and Emma Trory nee Brighton who married in St Mary's on the 29 April 1856. They had six sons and two daughters. The two eldest and two youngest were born in Newton Flotman, with the remainder being born in Hempnall.
Edward Robert attested in the Militia on 17 December 1887 and he signed to serve in the Royal Artillery (Eastern Division); then on 23 May 1891, like his elder brother, John Edward Trory, he enlisted in the Royal Marines Infantry Division.
He Robert initially enlisted for a period of 12 years, but on the 22 May 1903, he re-engaged for a further period, and was still serving in the Royal Marines at the outbreak of the First World War.
During his service he served in Portsmouth and other shore establishments on twelve occasions and on 16 different ships including the HMS Argonaut (Diadem class cruiser) and HMS Indefatigable (Apollo class second class cruiser). It was on his last ship, HMS Sarnia, on which he was serving that he was 'killed in Action' on the 12 September 1918.
Mr Wilkinson said: 'He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial and on the Sarnia Memorial in Liverpool. However, he is not commemorated on our village memorial in St Mary's church.
'It is believed that the reason for this is that at the end of the First World War when Newton Flotman residents were asked who should be included on the Memorial there were none of his family residing in the village, as all his siblings had moved away, mainly to the Nottingham area, and both his parents had passed away, James in 1903 and Emma in 1905.'
The restored Newton Flotman memorial will be rededicated with 'military honours' on June 23 at 11am, timed to be close to the date of the centenary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
Mr Wilkinson is now researching the two local men killed in Second World War, Frederick Fuller and Percy George Lewis and hopes members of their families, possibily living in Norwich, may attend the ceremony.
The village is also keen to invite anyone who has a connection with Edward Trory; or any other First World War servicemen listed on the memorial: Alfred Banham, William Brighton, James Carver, John Catchpole, Thomas Charlish, William Edwards, Frederick Fish, George Flint, Walter Gooch, Sidney Hamond, Albert Hazel, George Kirby, Cecil Postle, Edgar Smith, William Smith, Lancelot Titlow, Ralph White, and Reginald White.
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