A plaque has been unveiled to remember a Lincoln family who lost five sons in WW1

A plaque has been unveiled to remember a Lincoln family who lost five sons in WW1.

A memorial plaque commemorating five men who were killed in the First World War has gone on public display in the Arboretum.

People braved the weather, on Thursday afternoon for the unveiling.

A custom-made bench, donated by Chris Kennedy, managing director of Roll and Scroll, Grantham, has also been put in place to honour the family, as well as the city’s invention of the tank.

After the unveiling, the Last Post was played followed by a minute’s silence.

Five of the eight Beechey brothers who fought in the First World War lost their lives between 1915 and 1917, with another seriously injured.

Barnard (38), Charles (39), Leonard (36), Frank (30), and Harold (26), along with their mother Amy, who also had six daughters, lived in nearby Avondale Street.

Another son, Christopher, was badly injured and moved to Australia, not seeing his mother again before her death in 1936, at the age of 81.

Monks Road Residents’ Association and Cooke and Connell fundraisers designed the plaque which was unveiled on Thursday, May 9.

John East, chairman of the Monks Road Residents’ Association said: “Many local residents felt the Beechey family’s sacrifice should be commemorated and we feel the Arboretum, where the family regularly walked, is the perfect spot.”

In April 1918, when thanked for her sacrifice by then-Queen Mary, Amy Beechey replied: “It was no sacrifice, Ma’am. I did not given them willingly.”

The Beechey family was one of only three in the country where five siblings died in The Great War.

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Here’s what happened to the eight Beechey Boys:

Barnard Reeve Beechey, born April 26, 1877, was a sergeant in the 2nd Battalion the Lincolnshire Regiment.

He was killed in action on September 25, 1915 at the Battle of Loos in France.

Charles Reeve Beechey, born April 27, 1878, was a private in the 25th Battalion Royal Fusiliers.

He died of wounds on October 30, 1917 in East Africa.

Leonard Reeve Beechey, was born on August 31, 1881 was a rifleman in the London Irish Rifles.

He died of wounds on December 29, 1917 during the Battle of Cambrai in France.

Christopher William Reeve Beechey, was born on June 1, 1883. He served in the 4th Field Ambulance, Australian Imperial Force at Gallipoli.

Seriously injured in the war, he returned to Australia after he was invalided out of service. Died in 1969, aged 85.

Frank Collett Reeve Beechey, was born on October 12, 1886. He was a second lieutenant in the 13th Battalion, East Yorks.

He died of wounds on November 14, 1916, aged 30, during the Battle of the Somme.

Eric Reeve Beechey, born April 28, 1889, was a corporal in the Royal Army Medical Corps and was posted to Malta and Salonika where he was an army dentist.

He survived and returned home to work as a dentist.

Harold Reeve Beechey, born March 1, 1891, was a lance corporal in the 48th Battalion Australian Imperial Force.

He was killed in action at Bullecourt, France, on April 10, 1917, aged 26.

Samuel St Vincent Reeve Beechey, born August 13, 1899, was a second lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery and briefly served on the Western Front.

He survived the war and became an apprentice chemist.

(The video below was raw footage of the unveiling for Lincolnshire Live)