THE WAR dead of a West Oxfordshire village will be remembered for evermore thanks to two touching tributes on the centenary of Armistice Day.

On the morning of Remembrance Sunday, posters featuring 30 Long Hanborough soldiers who perished in the First World War were attached to road signs and fences near their former homes.

Meanwhile, nine streets on two new housing developments in the village will be named after some of those who died in the war.

Seven streets at the Hanborough Gate development and two on the Church Road site were chosen as a tribute to the fallen, including Willis Court, Gessey Close and Woodward Lane.

One of the streets, Norridge Way, on Church Road, is named after Private William Norridge, who died at Flanders in 1918.

His niece, June Hawkins, still lives in the village, just yards from the new site.

She said: “Although they never talked about the war, I know my father and grandmother would be so proud of the street being named after William. It will help people remember the sacrifice he made along with so many others.”

The idea came courtesy of local historian and Long Hanborough resident Janet Witcomb.

Ms Witcomb is a volunteer researcher at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock, who last year went to France to locate the graves of the village's war dead.

Ms Witcomb also helped produce the posters displayed on Sunday, alongside Merilyn Davies, district councillor for Freeland and Hanborough.

The pair were up at 7am on Sunday fixing the posters around the village, with each one featuring a soldier's name, a small biography and a Remembrance photo.

Much of the information came from Ms Witcomb's research and Ms Davies revealed the poignant memorial received a warm reception from residents.

She said: “Everyone was so thrilled and it really brought it to life.

“It was great for the community to find out a bit more about those who fought and how they died.

“Putting the first poster up made me think, ‘these were the actual men’.

"It was really emotional.”

Pupils at Wood Green School, Witney, spearheaded a similar initiative, identifying the homes of 73 soldiers who died and displaying a biography outside their respective houses.