On 1 November 1918, Private Arthur George Pryke of the 13th (Kensington) Battalion, London Regiment. was killed at Etaples, aged 27, and was buried in the military cemetary there.  He was the son of Walter and Kate Pryke, of Mead Cottage, Drinkstone near Bury St. Edmunds, and was one of  fifteen Drinkstone men to make the ultimate sacrifice in World War I.

Private Pryke’s devastated family had a commemorative embroidery made in memory of him . Nearly a century later this  has been restored and reframed and, after an official unveiling by Cllr Penny Otton, it will be on display in the Village Hall, which is Drinkstone’s official War Memorial.

” It is only a few months to the centenary of the start of WW1. So meny local men – 10,000 from the Suffolk regiment alone – died  either in France or later from their injuries. And for each family these deaths were not mere statistics, but individual tragedies. The family of Arthur Pryke had this embroidery specially made in his memory,” said Cllr Otton. “I was delighted to help with the cost of the  restoration of this powerful piece of history from my locality budget,  and was quite humbled to be asked to do the unveiling.”

The embroidery was  ‘unveiled’ in a simple ceremony at the Drinkstone Village Hall at 2pm on Saturday 2nd November 2013, 95 years and one day after Private Pryke was killed.