Church bells in Wooburn Green rang out in memory of a former ringer who died a century ago in World War One.

The bell ringers at St Paul’s Church rang the bells for Edgar Howard, who was born into an old Wooburn family on May 18, 1886.

His parents, James and Elizabeth, lived and worked in Wooburn Town, in the shadow of the church, and were actively involved in church life.

James was the local undertaker and Edgar was a chorister.

The pair were members of the local guild of bell ringers, with James holding the post of Foreman of the Wooburn ringers in the 1890s.

Edgar was also a member of the Oxford Diocesan Guild from 1903, shortly after the bells were rehung in a modern metal frame, and was a Wooburn ringer for more than ten years before the outbreak of war.

He then joined the Third Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers in November 1914 and served in France, Egypt and Greece.

Returning to France in July 1918, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal, but was sadly killed by a shell on the battlefield between Cambrai and Saint-Quentin on October 4 – just five weeks before the end of the war.

His commanding officer said: “He was greatly respected and liked by all the men in the platoon, and we feel the loss of a brave and good comrade. He died a brave man.”

He was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, close to where he fell, and is remembered on the Wooburn War Memorial.

John Walton, ringing master at St Paul’s, said: “In memory of his life and of his sacrifice, the bells were rung on the eve of the centenary of his death.

“During the evening the bells were rung in ‘Queens’ and ‘Kings’ and the tenor was tolled 32 times, once for each year of his life.”

Henry Howard, 13, a descendent of the Howards, rang the same bell that Edgar Howard is recorded as ringing during his time in the tower.