A village rugby club near Exeter has re-formed after 106 years – to mark the centenary of World War One which claimed the lives of several former players.
The Ide Rugby Football Club is set to play three matches this autumn to remember those Devon men who were killed or were injured in the First World War and raise funds for service charities.
The club's President and secretary Nigel Gooding said the Ide XV will play an open Barbarians style of rugby.
He said:"The aims of the club are to provide a lasting memorial through playing of matches to those rugby playing servicemen and women who were killed in serving their country.
"We want to raise funds for charities connected to good causes associated with service personnel.
"Ide has a rugby club in 1907-8 and their team picture was spotted in the Poachers Inn in the village.
"We carried out some research and it transpires that a number of those boys in the picture never returned to play as they were killed or injured in the First World War. They only lasted two seasons."
Among the dead were some of the oldest family names in the village.
They included Augustus Satterley who served in India in the war as a driver in the Royal Field Artillery. He died in a military hospital in Tavistock in 1919 aged 29 as a result of wounds sustained in the field.
John Edwin Voysey died fighting with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry aged 37 in November 1917.
"The club was re-formed in June 2014 to recognise their sacrifice. We want to remember the 100th anniversary of the Great War and we intend to play two or three games a season. We are affiliated to the Devon RFU as a charity side who can play charity matches," said Nigel.
He added:"The team will be made up of invited players from local clubs who understand the Barbarians' nature of the club and support the charity event. We wish the players to recognise that they are participating in something very unique and a memorial to those men and women who gave their lives."
The first game will be played on October 5th at 2.30pm at Weir Meadow in Ide against a combined veterans Navy and Marines invitation side.
The second game is significant because of its timing which is planned to coincide with the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and Remembrance Sunday.
That match is again at home against a Kingsbridge and Totnes XV on Sunday, November 9th at 2.30pm.
The club's HQ is the Poachers Inn where the photo of the old Ide RFC hangs on the wall.
