War Memorial Appeal
Over 70 Rosslyn Park players fell in the Great War 1914-18. In the move from Richmond to the new ground and clubhouse in 1956, the memorial to them was somehow ‘misplaced’.
The first task was to identify the names of the players, as there is no surviving Roll of Honour. Steve Cooper, former Youth Chair continued the research started by player Richard Cable and has identified some 78 confirmed names, with another 10 or so ‘probables’. They came from India, Australia, Colombia and South Africa, as well as all over Britain to fight. They died in corners of foreign fields in France, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, Ireland, Egypt, Greece, Palestine and Mesopotamia. What they all had in common was their rugby at Rosslyn Park. The work of discovery continues, and the stories of some of the players will shortly become a book, provisionally titled ‘The Final Whistle: the Great War in Fifteen players’.
You can read their stories at www.rugbyremembers.co.uk
The site also tells the story of the U15s 2009 Memorial Tour to launch the appeal, and establish a twinning relationship with French club Compiegne who also suffered grievous losses in the War.
If you have any questions or information, please email info@rugbyremembers.co.uk
