Off to war…
THE MEN OF THE EDEN VALLEY were quick to respond to the 'Call to Arms' issued on 7th August 1914 by the Secretary of State for War, Field Marshal Lord Kitchener. A number of recruiting rallies were held at the Oddfellows Hall in Edenbridge resulting in plenty of new recruits in early September 1914.
By December 1915 it had been reported that all fit men of military age in the parish of Hever had been enlisted.
Two of the earliest recruits, young Edenbridge men, George Potter and Stenning Parks (shown left) joined up and were lucky enough to survive throughout the war. George was 25 and Stenning about 22 when they enlisted and George was demobbed Christmas Day 1919.
With so many men enlisted, it fell to the women of the community to take on important war work…