The price of Admiralty By Commander A.B. Campbell, R.D., of the BBC “Brains Trust” Minesweeper making port – at dark – and they’ve had no sleep to speak of for four days. A plane looms up – drops to 90ft, and lets go two bombs. One hits the funnel. The other explodes in the coal in the after hold, Which seems lucky at the time, for the coal absorbs the worst of the blow – and Grimsby trawlers are made to take hard knocks. But the third bomb blows her…
Month: January 2021
British Restaurant opens in West Wickham – WW2
I chose this one because my mother and Grandmother volunteered there British Restaurant A British restaurant was opened in Glebe Way, West Wickham, on Wednesday. The Mayor of Beckenham, (Alderman W.J. Sampson, J.P.), and Wickham members of the Borough Council attended the opening ceremony. The restaurant faces the new fire station and takes in three or four empty shops in this long row of pre-war shops and flats in tenanted. The Municipal restaurant, by the way, is to be known as “The Yew Tree.” Apparently it is named after the tuckshop…
Kent men in Iceland appeal for more games
Kent Men in Iceland Games of all kinds needed Appeal by the W.V.S. Bromleian’s impressios of the island There are a fair number of Bromley men among the British troops in Iceland. In this island of the North Atlantic ocean, the extreme northerly point of which is touched by the Artic Circle, the summers are short and the winters long, and what the men need especially are games of all kinds. Source: Bromley & District Times, November 1941
Is Your Boy here? Prisoners of War, 1941
This group photo of soldiers being held in a prisoner of war camp in Germany in 1941, was published in the Bromley & District Times in the October, in the hope that some readers might recognise the men featured. It does featured one Lance-Corporal Eric Arthur Eagles, of the Royal West Kent Regiment who resided at 70 Cumberland Road, Bromley, who had been reported as a prisoner of war in Germany. In the photo Lance-Corporal Eagles is standing at the back on the extreme left. Source: Bromley & District Times, 31st…
Lord Croft Watches over Gun Crew, 1941
Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft was a decorated British soldier and a Conservative Party politician. In 1940 Croft was appointed by Winston Churchill as Under-Secretary of State for War, a post he would hold until July 1945. In October 1941, Lord Croft visited Bromley and watched over a gun crew at work. Source: Bromley & District Times, 17th October 1941 (page 5)
Royal West Kent Regiment: Prisoners of War
In a German Prison Camp A group of officers of the Royal West Kent Regiment at Camp Oflag VII., C,. Germany, received by Mrs Haynes, mother of Captain P.F. Haynes. They are (left to right) back row: ____, Captain H.J. Langdon, Captain R.E Moss, ____, Second-Lieutenant R.G. Bensted, Captain T.T.W. Stanyon, Second-Lieut. Lee. Front row: Captain P.F. Haynes, Captain D.H. Andrews, Lieut.-Colonel E.A. Sharpin, Lieut-Colonol William Nash, Lieut.-Colonel R.L. Clay, Major I. Pilditch, Captain C.B. Selby-Noothroyd. Source: Bromley & District Times, 10th October 1941 (page 6)
Military Ancestors database now updated
It has been a busy couple of month, but we are delighted to announce that the Military Ancestors database has now been updated to now include January to June 1944. The Military Ancestors project, has been a labour of love for local historian Pam Preedy. Between 1914 and 1919 alone, there were in the region of 30,000 references to soldiers listed in the Bromley & District Times newspaper. The database features a variety of articles, many of which include more personal data that can be useful for family historians, including…
Rifleman Robert Leo Rockall: Wedding
Mr R.L. Rockall and Miss Elsie L. Williams The wedding took place on Saturday at St Mary’s Church, Plaistow, of a well-known local sportsman, Mr. Robert Leo Rockall (now Rifleman, Royal Ulster Rifles), third son of Mr and MRs B. Rockall, of 20 Gilbert Road, Bromley, to Miss Elsie Lilian Williams, youngest daughter of Mrs T.H. Williams, for many years resident at 8 Florence Road, Bromley, now of 20 Arundel Drive, South Harrow, Middlesex. The Rev. W.R. Crichton officiated, and Mr Leslie Ellis, the organist, played Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, with…
Women’s War-time Services, 1941
Attractive procession in Bromley Second Week of Salvage Drive Representatives of many of the women’s war-time services took part in a ladies’ procession on Thursday, last week, to further the fortnight’s salvage campaign in Bromley, which technically closed on Saturday. —- A tableau in the Women’s Procession as it passed the Municipal Buildings, where the salute was appropriately taken by the Deputy-Mayor, Councillor Margaret Stafford Smith. Source: Bromley & District Times, 3rd October 1941 (page 5)
Lady Camden visits the Bromley Red Cross
The Marchioness Camden at Bromley RED CROSS DETACHMENTS INSPECTED Interesting event at Stockwell College The visit of the Marchioness Camden, C.B.E., to Stockwell College, Bromley, on Saturday afternoon, was an interesting and important event to all the Red Cross detachments in the town. After inspecting them she offered her congratulations and said she was certain that whatever calls were made on them they would answer those calls with efficiency and courage. Source: Bromley & District Times, 17th October 1941 (pg. 5)