SHIRLEY will fall silent on Sunday to the sound of the Last Post as it has done since the 1920s when a solider was photographed doing just that.
William Henry Hodesdon, from Shirley, signed up to fight in the First World War in 1916, aged 49, and served with the Royal Engineers in France where his two sons were.
On his return in January 1919, William formed a brass band in Shirley with his sons and a couple of friends.
During the 1920s he was bestowed the honour of leading the silence at at the Shirley War Memorial at St James Church
Since the War Memorial in the churchyard of St James Church was unveiled, the band have played for the Remembrance services and still do to this day and they will be playing again on Sunday (November 11) for the Centenary of the end of the First World War.
