About the WW1 Memorial Project

This website is dedicated to the memory of the men of Bramford who served in the Great War and in particular to the fifty four recorded on the village memorial who lost their lives.

The information on this website is provided as part of the “Remembering Bramford in The Great War” project organised by the Bramford Local History Group and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund First World War: then and now programme.

According to a newspaper report in 1920, on the unveiling of the Bramford War Memorial, a total of 312 men from the village had served in the war. At this time the village incorporated part of what is now Ipswich Borough, largely along the Bramford Road up to the railway bridge on the junction with Sproughton Road.

The population of the village in 1911 was 1281. Main sources of employment were the factories of Joseph Fison and Edward Packard as well as the many farms situated in the village. Using the census data, an estimated 380 men were of military age when war broke out. The figure in the newspaper report suggests then that most of these men served, in some capacity, and at some time during the war.

Research is continuing to trace as many of these men as possible and so far around one hundred and sixty have been identified from sources such as the Bramford School Roll of Honour, the Edward Packard & Co Roll of Service and surviving military records.

In addition to the fifty four men commemorated on the memorial a further ten individuals have been identified who were connected to the village, by birth or residence, and who died serving in the conflict.

Full details can be obtained in the commemorative book produced by the Bramford Local History Group.

Remembering Bramford in the Great War – Commemorative Book

Remembered – The Men of Bramford who fell in the Great War

Published by the Bramford Local History Group, it provides a detailed profile of each of the men on the Bramford Village Memorial except for two individuals who cannot be traced. The profiles include (where available) family details, a summary of their military service, newspaper reports and photographs.

Profiles of a further ten men connected to the village are included as well as information on other individual Great War related memorials found in and around the church of St Mary the Virgin, Bramford.

A reference index is included that gives a summary of the personal details of the men, and Commonwealth War Graves Commission references.