How many Rutland men died?

The answer is we don’t know. George Phillips thought there were 525, but in his book Rutland and the Great War, he had fewer biographies than that. In our research we’ve found men who are not listed in Phillips’ book but are on local war memorials. We’ve also found men listed in the book but not remembered on any memorial. We’ve also found individuals not in – or on – either. There are many discrepancies. Of course, it partly comes down to the definition of who is a Rutlander, as discussed here. So it’s unlikely we’ll ever all agree on an exact number. And in the end, does it matter?