A Cavalry Fight
(13th Century Manuscript)
The history of war and warfare is a
subject much researched by
militarists and historians alike.  
Over the years, many books have been written and  -  more recently  -  websites created, for those who have an avid
interest in the subject.

Although members of the Powditch family from the late 1100s up to the early 1900s
had always been involved in activities both on land and sea, neither history nor its documentation has revealed to date what part they played in times of  
national or local, wars or conflicts  -   or at least that was, until the outbreak of the
First World War (1914-18).
Like many other young men and boys, Powditchs volunteered to fight against the enemy,
signing up at registration booths in locations as diverse as names of the Regiments
they joined.

For a war that "was going to be all over by Christmas" [1914] the four ensuing
years of bitter fighting, were the bloodiest and costliest in terms of life that
the world had ever known.

As with other families whose menfolk were in the trenches, or who had raced across
'no mans land' to fight one-to-one with their enemy,  lives were tragically changed for ever, whether through the violent loss of loved ones never to return home, or those who did return, though traumatised by what they had lost, seen, or experienced.

-  and then, in 1939, after 21 years of a much-altered world, and one in which conflict was always bubbling beneath the surface, the Second World War (1939-1945) began.
The purpose of this page and of those that follow is to provide information about all those Powditch family members who became members of the Armed Forces
in times of conflict.

Fortunately many Powditchs who fought in the arenas of war, survived  -  tragically, others
lost their lives on battlefields far from home.

This section of the Powditch website therefore, is dedicated to their memory.