Poppy carpet made for Tommy from Warninglid

Warninglid has no permanent memorial to its war victims

The Poppy Project A silhouette of a soldier stands on the grass next to a tree trunk, with a carpet of thousands of red knitted and crocheted poppies in front of and under his feet — Warninglid has no permanent memorial to its war victims

A West Sussex village that lost young men in both world wars but has no war memorial has found a creative way to honor the fallen.

A group of 39 artisans have been knitting, sewing and crocheting since early May to create a crimson carpet from over 3,000 poppies.

It is laid out at the feet of the silhouette of a Tommy soldier in front of The Half Moon pub at the crossroads of the village of Warninglid.

On Remembrance Sunday morning, villagers gather there for the reading of the names of those who died in both wars, the reading of For the Fallen and a two-minute silence.

A relative of two war victims will be present, as well as a horse that will represent the animals brought to war from the village’s farms and stables.

Thousands of poppies are stitched together to form the carpet

The Poppy Project Five women are putting the finishing touches on a sea of red poppies lying on a very long wooden table, while another woman watches from the background — Thousands of poppies are stitched together to form the carpet

The Poppy Project was led by Carol Pickering, who personally crocheted 1,550 poppies for the carpet, which was completed on October 30.

Warninglid no longer has a church and has never had a war memorial. That is why the project was created to commemorate those who gave their lives in both world wars.

Their names are indicated on crosses placed in the poppy carpet.

The fallen remembered

In 1914 the village saw 39 young men leave to go to war.

Of these, 13 did not return.

In World War II, Warninglid lost another six men on active duty between 1940 and 1945, as well as several civilians.

They are all commemorated on two Remembrance Boards, which previously hung in the former church, but will be on display in the pub on Remembrance Sunday.

The lecture will be attended by Andrew Turville, a great-nephew of two of those commemorated: Private George Herbert Turville who died on 7 December 1915 and Corporal Percy Turville who died on 25 September 1917.

Bobby, a 21-year-old Connemara horse, will represent all the horses requisitioned from the village farms and stables never to return.