THE stories behind the 22 men and one woman from Lydford who lost their lives in British wars during the 20th century are remembered in a fascinating and well researched book due to be published next month.

'War Memorial — the Story of One Village's Sacrifice' by Clive Aslet reveals the tale behind each name, how they died and where they fought, from the first and second world wars to more recent conflicts in the Falklands and Iraq.

Thirteen of the 23 names are of those villagers who died in the first world war. The author reflects on what a shock it must been like to find oneself transported from a quiet, tranquil Devon village where men, whose names are etched on the Lydford memorial and who were employed in thatching, farms, quarries or rural station masters, suddenly found themselves in the bloodbath hell of Flanders fields.

The book is a fitting tribute to such men as Lance Corporal Charles Henry Berry, of the Worcestershire Regiment, who died aged 30, manning a machine post in the Hindenburg Trench, Thiepval, during the first world war, to the more recent death of another son of Lydford, Private Andrew Kelly, of the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, who died just 18 while serving his country near Basra, Iraq, in 2003.

Perhaps one of the poignant stories, that is touchingly told in the book is that of three men of the same family — Philip, Richard and Gerald Herbert — who all died while serving in the RAF during the second world war.

But there are more than 10,000 war memorials in this country so why, choose Lydford?

Mr Aslet, an award winning journalist and author, who is a former editor of Country Life magazine, said: 'I wrote this book to answer the questions that occurred to me as a child, sitting next to my mother in the parish church. Who were the individuals behind the names? What were their stories?

'I took a village almost at random: the one at Lydford in Devon. I knew nothing about the 23 names attached, in bronze letters, to the granite cross.

'The names themselves consisted simply of surname and initials, without so much as rank or regiment.'

He added: 'I feel privileged to have come close to the lives of 22 men and one woman.

'The loss of some of them is still raw. It has made me realise that, as my mother knew, the symbolism of a war memorial is highly charged.

'My generation has lived through half a century of prosperity, not having to think much about the wars fought by the professional armed services in our name. This has given a new and no less profound resonance to war memorials.'

He acknowledges a great debt in the research to local historians Howard Barkell and Barbara Weeks, who he describes as 'keepers of the Lydford flame'.

The author will be giving an illustrated talk on the book at The Nicholls Hall in Lydford on November 8 at 7.30pm.

l 'War Memorial — the Story of One Village's Sacrifice' by Clive Aslet is to be published by Viking, Penguin in November.