A village church welcomed three generations of a former soldier’s family this week as they commemorated the life of their relative, the first man from the area to die during the First World War.

St Peter's in Treadaway Hill, Loudwater, recently decided to honour the 100th anniversary of the death of every man named on the village war memorial, by ringing the church bells.

The suggestion to honour the 26 people was originally made by members of the Flackwell Heath and Loudwater Local History Group who approached the church earlier this month.

William Gibbs was the first man from the village to die during the war, as he was believed to pass away in Portsmouth because of 'cerebrospinal meningitis and exhaustion'.

Commemorating his life, great-granddaughter Allison Yilmaz, great-great-granddaughter Lisa Woods and great-great-great-grandson Fabian Woods attended the ceremony hosted at 11am on Friday, March 20.

The initiative was originally sparked by Christ Church in Flackwell Heath and over the next four years, St Peters aims to ring the bell at 11am on every 100-year commemoration.

Chepping Wycombe Parish councillor, John Gurney, speaking on behalf of the history group, said the church hopes to “engender community spirit” by embracing the opportunity.

He said: “We saw an article in the Bucks Free Press about what they were doing in Flackwell Heath and we thought it would be a great idea to do something similar in Loudwater.

“We approached the church and they seemed keen to do something too.

“They will be ringing the church bell at 11am on the 100th anniversary of the death of each soldier who died in World War I.”

Do you know any relatives of the Gibbs family, or have a relative from the south of Bucks who died during the First World War?

Get in touch with Bucks Free Press Nostalgia expert Mike Dewey by emailing deweymiked@aol.com or phoning 01494 755070.

Change in technology:

A lot has changed in the hundred years since Loudwater’s William Gibbs passed away, with the rise in technology one of the biggest differences in the last century.

In fact, even the staff at St Peters has been embracing the changes in technology.

Unlike Christ Church in Flackwell Heath, they could not physically toll the village bell on Friday, instead they used a button on an iPod to create the loud noise.

Do you think we rely too heavily on technology? Have your say about this or any other topic by emailing your view to bfpletters@london.newsquest.co.uk