The 1911 census cites the average male life expectancy to be 54 years of age, and gave the village of Eltisley a population of around 280.
This implies that the 53 men from the village who fought in The Great War was the entire eligible population.
14 of the 53 men died. The 14 lime trees in the Row of Honour and the Cross of Sorrow commemorate the men who gave their lives in World War I.
Their stories can be found on these pages.


Albert John Smith-Chappell
Private 122988, 59th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps.
11 October 1898 – 21 March 1918 (aged 22)
William George Smith-Chappell
Private 328240, 1st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment
16 March 1896 – 29 October 1917 (aged 21)
George Childerley
Gunner 1905 ‘A’ Battery, 235th Brigade,Royal Field Artillery 47th Division
30 November 1884 – 15 August 1916 (aged 31 years)
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Harry Cranfield
Lance Corporal 681454, 58th Battalion Canadian Infantry
15 May 1879 – 26 October 1917 (aged 38)
Harry Edward Hayden
Private 17752, 6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment
15 July 1896 – 21 August 1916 (aged 20 years)
Sidney George Hayden
Private 326847, 1st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment
4 January 1895 – 25 March 1918 (aged 23)
Arthur Kidman
Private 16782, 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment
27 August 1888 – 19 December 1915 (aged 27)
Ernest Walter Kidman
Private 47709, 7th Battalion Suffolk Regiment
27 August 1888 – 26 November 1917 (aged 29)
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Henry (Harry) King
Private 8912, 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment
13 April 1890 – 1 December 1915 (aged 25)
James Payne
A/Corporal 16791, 8th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
10 June 1883 – 4 October 1917 (aged 34)
Frank Riseley
Private 326846, 1st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment
4 January 1895 – 26 September 1917 (aged 22)
Martin Riseley
Lance Corporal 201890, 95th Battalion Canadian Infantry, ‘D’ Company
20 February 1878 – 30 July 1916 (aged 38)
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Henry George Sewell
Private 40818 (formerly 4175), 8th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment
31 May 1883 – 15 May 1917 (aged 33)
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Herbert Ward Topham
Private 560, 2nd/1st Bedfordshire Yeomanry
26 March 1881 – 7 January 1916 (aged 34)
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