The Last Post was sounded in Winchelsea at sunset on Friday July 1 in honour of William Percy Freeman, a son of the Ancient Town who was killed in action at Montauban on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
A short ceremony of remembrance was conducted around the town’s war memorial by the Rector of Winchelsea, Robin Whitehead, before a two-minute silence, which was signalled by the blowing of a whistle. The use of whistles has been a theme in national ceremonies to mark the Somme, a chillingly evocative reminder of the signal to go “over the top” of the trenches. The two-minute silence was ended by the playing of the Last Post by Steve Hollamby of Sussex Brass.
Little is known about William Freeman other than that he was born in Winchelsea. He served with the 8th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment in the 18th Division. He is commemorated on the great Thiepval Monument.
On the Winchelsea war memorial, William is one of 13 names from the Great War. Each of the these names is being commemorated in Winchelsea at sunset on the 100th anniversary of their death. But as the date of the death of one name, Edward Watson, is unknown, he was remembered on 4 August 2014, the centenary of the United Kingdom’s entry into the war. For each of the names on the war memorial, a ceramic poppy is being placed in St Thomas’s Church.
In 2017, Winchelsea will play the Last Post for four of its sons.
Photo: Richard Comotto