EAST Cliff United Reformed Church in Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth will be focusing on a display of photographs of 131 men and women from the church who enlisted as soldiers and nurses in the Great War at their Remembrance Service on November 9.

The names of 18 soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War and three soldiers who died in the Second World War will be read out as a mark of respect and gratitude.

East Cliff Congregational Church, as it was then known, was opened for the use of military recruits for the duration of the First World War. A canteen was provided in conjunction with the YMCA and approximately 1,000 soldiers passed through the church rooms each week.

Singalongs took place each Sunday followed by family prayers. A new organ was installed in 1914 and a recital by the organist of Antwerp Cathedral raised £38 for Belgian refugees.

In the list of those who enlisted as soldiers and nurses, some family names appear several times, including Templeman, Lawson, England and Shears.

Horace Shears was a member of the Shears family who ran an electrical business in Holdenhurst Road and Oxford Lane.

After he served in the war, he was the secretary of East Cliff Church from 1941–65. His father Charles Shears was the church secretary before him from 1936–41, and his grandfather George Shears was the church treasurer from 1886 until 1916. Seven generations of the Shears family have attended East Cliff up to the present day.

The Remembrance Service starts at 10.30am.