Wartime
Kibworth has three war memorials: a wooden plaque inside St Wilfrid’s church, a limestone monument in the graveyard of St Wilfrid’s, and a small brass memorial in the High School on Smeeton Road.
The memorials at St Wilfrid’s commemorate both World Wars, whilst the High School memorial records pupils who attended the old Kibworth Grammar School in School Road.
The limestone memorial, in the form of a churchyard cross, comprises an octagonal stepped plinth and square base pedestal, chamfered to octagonal at the top and with a simple spur. From this rises an octagonal narrow shaft (square base) with square miniature side shafts. It has a crenellated top and cross octagonal section and is decorated with foliage and central shield.
The memorial was unveiled on Sunday 7th November 1920.
Smeeton Westerby has two memorials, both inside Christchurch. The WWI memorial is made of marble and the WWII memorial is a brass plaque.
This photograph, taken at Kibworth railway station, shows the 14 employees of Johnson & Barnes who joined up in Leicester as ‘Pals’ on 7th September 1914. Back row left to right: unknown, unknown, Arthur Freer (killed in action), Bert Freer, unknown, R G Lewis. Front row left to right: Len Buckby, Fred Holyoak, Harry Holyoak (killed in action), R G Iliffe, unknown, J W Holyoak, unknown, unknown.
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The Souvenir Greeting, pictured below, was produced at Christmas, 1916, and sent to all of Kibworth’s Sailors and Soldiers on His Majesty’s Service.
The much larger Souvenir Greeting, shown below, was produced for Christmas, 1917, and shows every individual who was serving in the Great War at that time.
Campaign medals were awarded to individuals who served in the First World War and met the qualifications laid down for each medal. In general, all those who saw service overseas were awarded a campaign medal. The qualifications for each campaign medal were:
1914 Star
Instituted in 1917 for service ashore in France and Flanders between 5 August and 22 November 1914. In 1919, a clasp bearing the above dates was authorised and given to those individuals who had actually been under fire between the prescribed dates.
1914/15 Star
Authorised in 1918, the 1914/15 Star was awarded to those individuals who saw service in France and Flanders from 23 November 1914 to 31 December 1915, and to those individuals who saw service in any other operational theatre from 5 August 1914 to 31 December 1915.
British War Medal
The British War Medal 1914–1920, authorised in 1919, was awarded to eligible service personnel and civilians. Qualification for the award varied slightly according to service. The basic requirement for army personnel and civilians was that they either entered a theatre of war, or rendered approved service overseas between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. Service in Russia in 1919 and 1920 also qualified for the award.
Victory Medal
The Victory Medal 1914–1919 was also authorised in 1919 and was awarded to all eligible personnel who served on the establishment of a unit in an operational theatre.