Frederick James Marquis, was an English Businessman and politician, born and raised in Lancashire. During World War two Woolton was one of a number of businessmen (including Sir Andrew Duncan, Lord Leathers, Oliver Lyttelton, and P. J. Grigg) who became became non-party ministers, brought into government to help with the war effort. In April 1940, Woolton was appointed Minister of Food, and established the rationing system, generally regarded as a success. He maintained food imports from America, kept prices down and organised a programme of free school meals. At the beginning of the…
Year: 2020
Dr Kenneth Edwin Tapper
Awarded the George Medal Dr. Kenneth E. Tapper, O.B.E, Medical Officer of Health for Bromley, and head of the A.P.R. Casualty Services, has been awarded the George Medal for bravery during air raids. On many occasions he has crawled under wreckage to search for and give treatment to injured casualties pinned down by debris. When people were buried beneath the wreckage of a German aeroplane and two houses, Dr. Tapper gave medical aid to the victims while large unexploded bombs were removed. He has shown great gallantry in his efforts…
Don’t Delay – install an Incendiary Bomb Detector today, 1941
London had suffered 57 days of non-stop bombing from the Luftwaffe in 1940 – it was relentless. There must have been many bombs that failed to explode, so there must have been a ready made market for such a device. This advert for an Incendiary Bomb Detector appeared in the local Bromley Times newspaper in July 1941. Incendiary Bomb Detector Incendiary Bombs can be rendered non-effective If they are Dealt with Promptly This can be done if you install a detector. Many Installations completed – automatic – inexpensive DON’T DELAY…
Mooney & Cooney
The Canadian soldiers and airmen were very popular with the girls of the area . I don’t know whether the girls are ‘snapping up’ the boys or the boys are ‘snapping up ‘ the girls. There were a lot of such marriages during the war years. Captain John Hodgson Mooney was born in 1914. He was later Lieutenant-Colonel, E.D.,C.D. of Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery & Canadian Army Intelligence Corps. He died in 2000. Mollie (sometimes spelt Molly) Eileen Cooney was born on the 4th December 1920. After their marriage…
Housekeeping in War-time Britain
Queen Elizabeth, consort of George VI the King of the United Kingdom (and mother of Queen Elizabeth II), visited the Ministry of Food on the 30th May 1941, where she was met by Lord Woolton who showed her a demonstration of food cooking, food for use in English homes under rationing and the “Planning of Meat Rationing.” During the visit, Her Majesty was given a demonstration of how potato pastry was made, and explained that no fat was used in the recipe. The Hairy Bikers have a recipe for this…
Call out for local knitters to help with the war effort
It is amazing how history can repeat itself. This article asking for knitters to help create woollen clothing for the Winter season in 1941 especially resonated with me as it reminded me of the recent plea for sewers across the country to help put together hospital scrubs for medical staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. It seems we have always been a nation willing to help his fellow man in times of national need. This small article appeared in the local Bromley & District newspaper. I wonder what the take up…
Henry Euler and Miss Jane Bowl
It is such a wonderful moment in family history research when you stumble upon an article, such as a marriage or obituary, where it can either help fill in a missing puzzle piece in a family tree, or provide further information about the family and help lead you down another avenue of research. Whilst creating my Military Ancestors database, I also recorded all the weddings that appeared. One such wedding was of a Lieutenant Henry Leonard Euler, who was in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve to Miss Jane Elizabeth Bowl…
Flying Officer Peter E.A. Loat
The Battle of Cape Matapan was a Second War engagement between British Imperial and Axis forces, fought from 27–29 March 1941. The cape is on the south-west coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula of Greece. Following the interception of Italian signals by the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park ships of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy, under the command of the Royal Navy’s Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, intercepted and sank or severely damaged several ships of the Italian Regia Marina under Squadron-Vice-Admiral Angelo Iachino. The opening…
Matron Marion Edith Bolton
Mottingham George Medallist Mrs Marion Edith Bolton, matron of the Sir Robert Jeffery’s Homes, Mottingham, received from the King, as a recent investiture at Buckingham Palace, the George Medal which she was awarded for her bravery in rescuing two aged women from a fire at the Homes caused by enemy action. Mrs Bolton was accompanied by her father and sister. Her son is serving in the Middle East with the R.A.F. Source: Bromley & District Times, 8th August, 1941 (pg 6)
Lieutenant Gerald E. Combe
Lieutenant Gerald Edward Combe was the son of Herbert Walter and Mildred Eleanor Combe, of Bromley, Kent. He was killed in action on the 27th May 1940, aged just 23 years, and is commemorated at Le Grand Hasard Military Cemetery in Morbecque, France. Killed in Action Lieutenant G. E. CombeLieutenant Gerald E. Combe, of The Queen’s Own, Royal West Kent Regiment, previously missing, is now officially reported killed in action in Belgium in May, 1940. He was the younger son of Mr and Mrs H.W. Combe, of Elmbank Hotel, Sundridge…