E.A. Bateman

Private E. A. Bateman Private E.A. Bateman enlisted on the 1st of August 1914 and served with the 9th Battalion, Queens’ own Royal West Kent Regiment during World War 1. He was the son of Mr and Mrs Batement of Weston Grove, Bromley. If you have any details that we can add about this soldier, then please get in touch. Source: Bromley & District Times, 13th August 1915 (page 7)

Stephen J. Masters

Missing Lieutenant S.J. Masters, Chislehurst Mr and Mrs C. Masters, of Ridgemount, Leesons, Chislehurst, have been informed by the War Office that their son, Lieutenant Stephen J. Masters, The Suffolk Regiment, was serving in Malaya up to the date when Singapore capitulated, and is posted as missing until some definite information is received.  It is hoped that he may be a prisoner of war. Lieutenant Masters was educated at Eltham College, where he was a good all-round sportsman.  On leaving school he joined the Royal Exchange Assurance.  He enlisted in…

Private Herbert Bramwell Rook

Private Rook served with the 6th Royal Went Kent Regiment during the first world war.  He was educated in Orpington and was a ‘zealous and useful’ member of the Baptist Church at Green-Street-Green. In January 1916, it was reported in the local newspaper (Bromley Times) that he had been severely wounded at La Bassee, making it necessary to amputate the right leg just below the knee. The newspaper reports reads: Private Herbert Bramwell Rook is the son of Mrs Rook, of 3 Chelsfield Terrace, Green-Street-Green. As a lad he went to…

Miss Winifred Tremain

Experiences of a local nurse in France Praise for British coolness and tact Miss Winifred Tremain, eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs Frederick Tremain, of Orpington, is very happy in her work as a V.A.D. nurse in No. 14 General Hospital, with the British Expeditionary Force in France.  writing a few days since to her sister, Nurse Tremain says: – I must tell you about the ghastly thing that happened last night.  I had just got into bed; it would be about a quarter past eight o’clock.  My mate was…

Wedding Anniversary: Gunton

Former Mayor and Mayoress of Bromley Celebrate golden Wedding Anniversary Mr and Mrs C.H. Gunton Honoured residents of Bromley who were Mayor and Mayoress in 1934-35, Mr and Mrs Charles H. Gunton, of Kingsbury, London Lane, are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary on Tuesday. Source: Bromley & District Times, 13th February 1942 (page 5)

Lance Corporal Ernest A. Palin

Family Memories of a war hero After the war Ernest returned to his family and he went to work on the chicken farm at Biggins Hill delivering eggs. He then went to Southlands coaches in Bromley as a coach driver. His youngest son was born in 1947. He stayed at Southlands for a number of years. When the firm closed he went to work for the MOD as a security guard at a weapons testing centre at Pole Hill. Once he left here he formed his own business called ‘Palins…