"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."
— Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen
The war memorial in this church names twelve men from this and the surrounding villages who gave their lives in the First World War. The memorial in the village records a further four who died in the Second World War.
Between them, they served in the Army, Canadian Army, Royal Navy, Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force. Most were in their early twenties, with ages ranging from 19 to 31. They are buried or commemorated in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Italy and Singapore.
Unusually, this memorial also names 108 men and women who served and returned home. Three were decorated for gallantry: Sergeant H. Plowman and Private Charles Henry Skilbeck each received the Military Medal, while Lieutenant Trevor Twentyman was awarded the Military Cross. Henry Skilbeck did not, in fact, return home. After the Armistice, he lost his life in the continuing conflict in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) on 26 May 1919, aged 33, and is commemorated in Baghdad.
Two of those named are women, both nurses: A. Bowman and M. M. Wood. At the time, it was unusual for women's wartime service to be recorded on a war memorial.
One family was particularly affected by these losses. Alderman Twentyman was the last Lord of the Manor of Kirby Misperton. His elder son, Denzil, and his son-in-law, Wilfred Halliwell, both died on the Somme within three months of one another. Each had been married for less than a year. His younger son, Trevor, survived and was awarded the Military Cross.