A PARISH church is to stage a special service in memory of a villager who died just a week before the Armistice which ended the First World War.

St John's Church in Minskip, near Boroughbridge, will honour Eddie Mawtus at 11am on November 4, when a tree will be planted in the grounds in remembrance of him and two other servicemen who also died in the war.

Church warden Robert Beaumont said the cherry tree would be planted by Jill Boyes, whose mother was a cousin of Eddie.

He said Eddie's name was carved on an altar rail in the church, along with Walter Blades and Joseph Crookes.

"We are looking to see if we can find any of their relatives to take part in the service," he said.

Jill said the beautifully carved altar rail recognised the men’s sacrifice, their families’ loss and the sorrow of the whole community,and she hoped relatives of the other two men would hear about the ceremony and be able to attend.

Anyone with information about Joseph or William should email robert@robertbeaumont.co.uk or phone 07710127713.

Jill said she had visited Minskip several years ago in a bid to find out about her ancestors.

" The people I spoke to were so helpful and happily shared their knowledge with me," she said.

"I went away clutching my scribbled notes and later combined these with downloaded information and family folklore to create a snapshot of my ancestors’ lives.

"Through my research I discovered that Eddie Mawtus was the only child of Tatsy and Edwin, aka Ned, who was my granddad’s brother. They lived at Rose Cottage on the High Street.

"The cottage was demolished in the late 50s or early 60s and replaced by a modern house. Ned was a butcher by trade and in his garden was a slaughterhouse where animals met their untimely death before appearing as the Sunday joint in local homes. The slaughterhouse is all that remains of the out-buildings and is used as a garage by the present owner of the house.

"I believe that Eddie enlisted at the age of 18 into the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry otherwise known as K.O.Y.L.I.

"In November 1918 he was deployed to the east of the Western Front in pursuit of enemy troops who were retreating towards the German border. The fighting was fierce as the Germans defended their rear flanks in a bid to avoid capture.

"The facts surrounding Eddie’s death are vague but the 4th of November appears to be the date when he lost his life in the Mormal Forest between Landreices and Le Cateau.

"I was able to visit Eddie’s grave at Cross Roads Cemetery in the small village of Foutaine-au-Bois in 2015. It is a beautiful, peaceful place surrounded by flat arable land, pastures and small woods, so much like his environment back home. In a nearby cemetery is the grave of Wilfred Owen, the war poet, who died on the same day as Eddie.

"It is fitting that he will be remembered at the Church of St John which is a beautiful building and a significant resource for the community. Eddie and most likely Joseph and Walter would have attended school there before it was converted into a church in 1907. Eddie later attended King James’ Grammar School Knaresborough and his name appears on their war memorial."