IT may seem a relatively low number compared to the inconceivable scale of the First World War.

But in a quiet corner of St Frideswide Church on Oxford’s Osney Island a map shows the impact the conflict had on a very small community.

It pinpoints where 82 men, including seven pairs of brothers, lived in Osney, before they were sent away to war.

One of those was Tom William Robert Abbs, who lived with his family in East Street. He served his country as a Sick Berth attendant in the Royal Navy and at the tender age of 20 became the very first man from Osney to die in the war, when on September 22, 1914, he was aboard HMS Aboukir. The ship sunk in just 20 minutes after it was torpedoed in the North Sea by a German U-boat.

His bravery, and that of others from the community, is remembered on a special map made by those at the church.

It marks all of their homes showing streets that lost many of their neighbours. Their husbands, fathers, sons, and friends.

For those involved in the project, and living in the area today, it is a reminder of how their community was torn apart by the Great War.

Yesterday marked a day of remembrance and tribute across Oxfordshire.

In our busy modern lives it was an opportunity to reflect. We can only hope, and do our bit, to ensure that as the years pass us by, future generations will never forget the sacrifice of so many.