The country may have been at war, but that didn’t stop Kent Education Committee from running Further Education courses in 1942. This advert appeared in the Bromley & District Times in January 1942 advertising to the districts of Bromley, Beckenham and Penge. The courses and classes they ran comprised of Building, Engineering and Commercial subjects in preparation for National Certificates Courses for Air Training Corps, for both Bromley (no. 228) and Beckenham (no. 386) Recreative Classes in Physical Training and Dancing, Music and drama etc. Art and Craft Classes Source:…
Year: 2021
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…
History of a Famous Ship – H.M.S. Broke
The Royal Navy lost a large number of their capital ships to enemy action during the early part of the second war, and was facing increasing pressure to provide escorts for convoys in the Atlantic. With ships needing to be replaced, Warship Weeks – another of the British National savings campaigns, was set up during the Second World War, with the aim of encouraging a civil community to adopt a Royal Navy warship. Following a successful Warship Week in March 1942, the HMS Broke destroyer was adopted by the civil…
Showing at the Odeon – January 1942
Birth of the Blues Birth of the Blues is a 1941 American musical film whose plot loosely follows the origins and breakthrough success of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. The film was first release in November 1941 and starred the legendary Bing Crosby, Mary Martin and Brian Donlevy. It was directed by Victor Schertzinger. It was well-received by critics on its release, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Cinemas, such as the Odeon, continued operating throughout the war years, and were no doubt a form…
Mr Victor George Thomas Rickman
For Gallantry: British Empire Medal Mr V.G.T. Rickman His Majesty the King has been graciously please to award the British Empire Medal to Mr Victor George Thomas Rickman, 39 Brooklyn Road, Bromley, in recognition of his gallant conduct and good service on the occasion of the enemy attack on London last April. During the __ a high explosive bomb wrecked a shelter and three embers of the Southern Railway staff were killed and four badly injured. Mr Rickman is a clerk at Blackfriars good station. With him on the night…
Bromley’s Christmas Games – 1941
Holiday Football Home Guard Overwhelmed On Christmas Day Bromley met the local Home Guard in a friendly match at Hayes Lane, Bromley. The match resulted in an overwhelming victory for Bromley 15-1. McMillan scored no fewer than five times, and the match caused much entertainment to the spectators. Several Bromley players were claimed by the Home Guard, and Bromley selected four R.A.F. players for inclusion in their forward line. Bromley – Gunner, Stone, Allinson, Marshall, Holder, Tasker, Gardner, Osman, Fowler Champion, McMillan. Home Guard: Tanner, Reeves, Clark, Smedley Wade, Smith,…
Jones & Higgins Department Store
Useful ‘Coupon-free’ Gifts at reasonable prices Starting out as a one shopfront window business, Messrs Edwin Jones and George Randell Higgins began their business venture in 1867 with a mere £80. By 1887 they had opened a 5-storey department store on the corner of Rye Lane and Peckham High Street, which went on to become one of south London’s best-known department stores. It closed in the 1980s. They advertised in local newspapers. Source: Bromley & District Times, 5th December 1941 (page 3)
Members of the Coney Hall Sports Social Club around the world
From Iceland to Suez Members of the Coney Hall Sports Social and Athletic Club are serving with the forces in various parts of the . Mr Frank Keenor, secretary of the club, told the Kentish Times: “Some of our lads are in Iceland. One of our members, Lieutenant Laurence King, R.E., was married at Bognor Regis last week. Recently six of our boys serving in the East in different units met by accident and arranged to have a day in Alexandria together. The half-dozen included Ron White, captain of our…
F/O Harold Sydney Mellows
Flying Officer H.S. Mellows West Wickham Rotarians stood in silence at their meeting on Monday in tribute to the memory of a fellow-member, Flying Officer H.S. Mellows, M.B.Ch., R.AF.V.R, M.O., physician and surgeon, who was killed on active service. Past-resident the Rev. W.A.M. Parker, speaking at the request of the president (Mr C.D. Norman) said, “It is the first time that a death in this way has invaded the ranks of the West Wickham Rotary Club, but we feel that it was a glorious way for our friend to end…
William Page & Margaret Holder: Wedding
The perfect romance It seems this was the perfect romance. In the 1939 Register, William Page, then living at 17 Cloisters Avenue, Bromley was listed as a Butcher’s Assistant, along with his younger brother David. Margaret, on the other hand, who was living with her parents on Southlands Road, was noted as being a cashier in a Butchery department. No details of the company they worked for are given, but it could very well have been the same place, and so was how they met. The couple went on to…