Category Archives: War Memorial

VE Day – The Men and Women we lost….

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Albert Joseph Caldwell, Chief Engine Room Artificer, H.M.S. Wivern – 6th October 1939 at sea

Donald Eastburn Waterman, Second Lieutenant, Royal Artillery – 31st May 1940, Dunkirk

Richard Swaffer, Driver, Royal Army Service Corps – 1st June 1940, Dunkirk

Alfred James Wyatt, Leading Steward, H.M.S. Badger – 7th November 1941

Albert Chapman, Trooper, 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Own) Royal Armoured Corps – 29th May 1942, Libya

Sydney Stephen Dimond, Pilot Officer, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve – 31st May 1942, Germany

Ronald Alfred Lakin, Signalman, Royal Corps of Signals – 14th November 1942, Egypt

David Ovenden, Serjeant, Dorsetshire Regiment – 30th July 1943, Sicily

Leslie John Victor Cotton, Pilot Officer (Air Gnr.), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve – 31st August 1943

Horace Arthur Wills, Gunner, Royal Artillery – 13th March 1944 at sea

Charles Louis Carpenter, Flight Sergeant (Air Gnr.), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve – 8th July 1944, Normandy

Victor Stephen Wright, Sergeant, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve – 16th October 1944

Herbert George Gunner, Private, King’s Own Scottish Borderers – 5th November 1944, Netherlands

William Edward Heaton Barty, Pilot Officer, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve – 6th December 1944

Horace Arthur Wills, Gunner, Royal Artillery – 16th December 1944, Israel

Harold Frederick William Humphries, Serjeant, South Lancashire Regiment – 6th January 1945, Netherlands

Frederick Albert Weekes, Trooper, Special Service Battalion, S.A. Forces – 21st April 1945, Italy

Frank Raymond Rogers – Gunner, Royal Artillery – 5th May 1945, Italy

Alice Turner – Civilian casualty – 6th February 1944

Daisy Wright – Civilian casualty – 23rd February 1944







New Local Publications

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Horton Kirby & South Darenth Local History Society’s latest publication is a history of the parish during the Great War, and commemorates the men who feature on the War Memorial in St. Mary’s Church.  It also features the men from the Farningham Homes for Little Boys who are named in the Homes Roll of Honour, which is also kept in St Mary’s Church.

Copies of the book cost £6, and are available in the Horton Kirby Parish Office, or contact sarahvlewis@yahoo.com

The Swanley History Group has recently published this guide to the men listed on the Swanley War Memorial.  There are 105 men named on the Memorial, which is now situated in front of St Mary’s Church.

For details of how to purchase a copy (£8), please go to https://swanleyhistorygroup.weebly.com/

Remembering the men who fell at the Battle of the Somme

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The Battle of the Somme started on 1st July 1916, and the first day is notorious for the number of men who died or were wounded on the first day, making it the worse day in the British Army’s history.

The following men are from Sutton at Hone and Hawley, and they died during this battle, which lasted from 1st July to 18th November 1918

3rd July – Corporal Henry K Smith, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)

13th July – Private Arthur Mankey, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)

17th July – C.S.M. Francis (Frank) Neave Reynolds, York and Lancaster Regiment

29th July – Sergeant Charles Elliott, Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment)

11th August – Private Thomas Harold Ovenden, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)

15th September – Private Leonard Willett, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)

3rd October – Rifleman Arthur Owen Mayne, King’s Royal Rifle Corps

15th November – Private George William Mayne, Northumberland Fusiliers

 

Darenth Council School – Roll of Honour 1914-1918

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This postcard recently appeared on Ebay, and so I had to purchase it.

darenth council school ww1

Darenth Council School Roll of Honour 1914-1918

I would be interested to know if this plaque still exists, or like so many of these, has disappeared over time.

The men listed:

Private Bertram Edgar Arney, No.2298. 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, died 1st May 1915, Gallipoli

Private Samuel Arney, No.2304, 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, died 25th April 1915, Gallipoli

Bertram and Samuel were brothers, both born in Wiltshire, and they were living at Gills in the 1901 census, where their father was working as an agricultural labourer.  By 1911 both brothers had enlisted in the Lancashire Fusiliers.

Private Victor Alfred Brett, No.19936, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), “D” Coy. 10th Bn , died 27th April 1918, Flanders.  Son of Frederick Richard and Bridget Brett, of 16 E.C. Cottages, Bean, Stone, Dartford.

Gunner F. T. Cherry, No.115003, Royal Field Artillery, 524th Howitzer Bt, died 10th February 1917, Iraq

James Collins

Albert Elliott

Cyril Fry

Private Percy George Fry, No, 53051, Manchester Regiment 11th Bn, 19th May 1918, Pas de Calais,  Son of Samson and Helen Fry, of 3, Whitbreads’ Cottages, Lanes End, nr. Dartford, Kent.

Brothers Cyril and Percy were born in Darenth, and their father was a head laundryman.

Joshua Glover

Rifleman Robert Julian Ludlow, No. S/25861, Rifle Brigade  12th Bn, died 30th January 1917, Belgium.  Son of Mark and Fannny Ludlow, of High St., Bean; husband of Edith Pankhurst (formerly Ludlow), of Melbourne Cottage, Bean, Dartford, Kent.

William F Sanders

Gunner Edward Sawkins, No. 38042, Royal Garrison Artillery 2nd Siege Bty, died 17th January 1917, and buried at Lincoln (Newport) Cemetery.  Son of John and Jane Elizabeth Sawkins, of Church Hill Cottage, Darenth, Dartford, Kent

Private Lewis Stoneham, No. CH/11705, Royal Marine Light Infantry, (RMR/B/868). H.M.S. “Hogue”.  Died 22nd September 1914

Captain W. Gordon Summers, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) 7th Bn, died 28th December 1915 at Flanders. Son of Mrs. E. Summers, of Green Street Green, Dartford, Kent.

James West

Harry White

Gunner Albert Ledger, No. 180103, Royal Field Artillery 161st Bde, died 8th March 1921, and is buried in St Margaret’s Churchyard.  Son of Mrs. A. Ledger, of 8, Stanley Cottages, Lancs End, Dartford.

Leonard May

 

January 1916 – a girl wants a job

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DC 14 Jan 1916 - Girl advert

In the Dartford Chronicle’s Situations Wanted column on 14th January 1916

There are not many Situations Wanted adverts in the Dartford Chronicle at this time, and normally they are for specific roles, such as nurse, clerk or labourer.

Miss Keturah Mankey, who lived at 29 St John’s Terrace in Sutton at Hone, obviously needed a job but it seems war work in the local munitions factories may not be an option.

Keturah’s uncle was Arthur Mankey, who was killed in the Great War, and is commemorated on the War Memorial.

Remembering Dunkirk – 75 years later

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The War Memorial lists three men who were lost during the evacuation of Dunkirk in May and June 1940

Douglas John Macpherson was born in Hawley,  joined the Royal Navy in 1926, and married in November 1934 at St John’s to Florence Amy Docksee, and the couple had two children. At the time of his death, Douglas’s family were living in Bexley.

Douglas was serving on HMS Boadicea, which had been in Chatham for a refit since the beginning of May 1940, and on the 9th June HMS Boadicea set sail for Le Havre, France to assist in the evacuation of British troops. On the 10th June, the warship was severely damaged by Junkers Ju 87 “Stuka” dive bombers that knocked out her engines and boilers. Douglas was an Engine Room Artificer 2nd Class, and so was probably killed during the raid.  He was buried at Alverstock Cemetery, Gosport.

HMS Boadicea

HMS Boadicea during WWII – Imperial War Museum

Richard Swaffer was serving as a Driver in the Royal Army Service Corps, and died during the retreat, his date of death is given as between 31st May and 1st June 1940.  He is buried in the De Panne Communal Cemetery in France.

Donald Eastburn Waterman was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 140 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, having been a member of the Honorable Artillery Company before the war.  His father was Bertie Waterman, a well known Dartford Auctioneer, who lived in Wilmington (Donald is commemorated on the Wilmington War Memorial), and his mother helped raise funds for a Comfort Fund for troops in Wilmington. Donald was married, and he and his wife Chloe were living in Sutton at Hone in 1939.

Donald died between the 28th and the 31st of May and is buried in Dunkirk Town Cemetery. His death was not confirmed until October 1940.