French mayor to be guest of Shrewsbury
Next year sees the 100th anniversary of the death of Shropshire World War I poet Wilfred Owen, who was killed in action next to the canal at Ors in Northern France.
This week the mayor of Ors, Jacky Duminy was handed an official invitation and plaque from the mayor of Shrewsbury, Cllr Jane Mackenzie by Maggie Love of Shrewsbury Heritage to attend the launch of next year's Wilfred Owen events on August 4 2018. Owen died on November 4 1918 and is buried in the local cemetery in Ors.
M Duminy was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2014 to honour his outstanding efforts to perpetuate the memory of soldier and poet Wilfred Owen. The local primary school is now named after him.
While in France this week Maggie visited Wilfred Owen's grave during a tour with the mayor of Ors and laid a poppy on it to remember one of Shropshire's most celebrated sons. She also presented the mayor with a book about Shrewsbury Castle, home of the Shropshire Regimental Museum and the venue for a production by Shrewsbury Youth Theatre called Two Minutes' Silence.
Since 2012 Shropshire communities have been working in partnership to deliver an extensive and ambitious programme of heritage and arts activities to commemorate World War I, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council, England.
The project will culminate in a large scale commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Wilfred Owen’s death at the age of 25 in November 1918, just seven days before the armistice. In 2018 the events of WO100 will reflect on this landmark with exhibitions, installations and projects from the 2014 – 2018 commemorative period and celebrate Shropshire’s soldier and poet . There will be a specially commissioned concert at Theatre Severn by Bookfest Remembers and St Chad's Music Festival.
Shrewsbury Heritage, Shropshire Archives and Shropshire Arts Service will coordinate a county wide partnership. The production of a complementary programme of cultural arts activity will be published in May 2018.
Tim King, director of Shrewsbury Heritage, said: "The life and contribution of Wilfred Owen and all the other natives of Shropshire who were swept up into the services during the conflict will be a key element in the programme, but the wider social impact of the war on all the inhabitants of Shropshire will also be of crucial importance.
"Shropshire played a key role as a location for large scale training and prisoner of war camps, as well as for over 40 hospitals, often located in country houses. Large numbers of women volunteered to work in hospitals and also on the land including those who were part of the Women’s Land Army. The impact of the war on Shropshire women’s lives cannot be over estimated."
