Pigeons in war Written by PAM PREEDY, historian & author. The messenger birds. Pigeons have been used to send messages since around 1200 BC. By the 1800s AD the French had an official pigeon postal service, and in Britain pigeon fancying and racing has long been a popular hobby. What many people don’t know is that pigeons were a tremendous asset during the World Wars. In World War I carrier pigeons transported messages back to their home soops behind the lines. Got the British this would be in a stationary…
Year: 2023
Molly Sherwell
Molly Sherwell Private Molly Sherwell served with the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II. She died on the 28th June 1944 and is buried at Beckenham Crematorium and Cemetery in Southeast London. If you have any details that we can add about this soldier, then please get in touch. Source: Bromley & District Times, 3rd June 1921 (page 9) CMGC entry – Service Number: W/99812 Photo credit: Simone Harris, 17th March 2023
Gunner F. Bateman
Gunner F. Bateman Gunner F. Bateman, of Weston Rove in Bromley, served with the 126th Battery of the Royal Field Artillery during World War 1. A letter published in the Bromley & District Time in April 1915 describes their march to Mons and the action that he took part in and later the action on the Marne. By August 1915 he was serving on the Front Line. Sources: Bromley & District Times, 2nd April 1915 (page 3) Bromley & District Times, 13th August 1915 (page 7)
Sidney V. Langton
Sidney V. Langton Sidney V. Bateman was a despatch rider for the Royal Field Artillery during World War 1. He wrote about his experiences at the Front in letters sent to the Bromley & District Times in August 1915. One such story was when his motor-bike was out of action, he drove a motor ambulance. While waiting, he went up a hill to view the trenches, he turned round to find a revolver pointed at him and a company of rifles pointing his way. It appeared some German spies were…
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)
South Hill Woods, Bromley
South Hill Woods (Bromley) Written by PAM PREEDY, historian & author. A wealth of flora and fauna At the end of Westmoreland Road is a wooded park frequented by bowlers, tennis players, dog walkers and those just out for fresh air, South Hill Woods. Today it has regenerated into a wild woodland habitat, with a wealth of flora and fauna, including woodpeckers, nuthatches, two species of bat, and a variety of insects, bees, centipedes, and battles inhabiting the rich variety of trees, such as oak, ash, hazel and beech. The…
G.H. Obee
G. H. Obee Private G.H. Obee served with the 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders during World War 1. He died on the 11th May 1917 and is commemorated in Beckenham Crematorium. His name also appears on the Memorial to the boys of Beckenham County School. If you have any details that we can add about this soldier, then please get in touch. Source: Bromley & District Times, 3rd June 1921 (page 9) CMGC entry – Service Number 201721 Photo credit: Simone Harris, 9th August 2014
B.G. Clarke
B.G. Clarke Gunner Benjamin George Clarke served with the Royal Artillery in the 36 Searchlight Regiment during World War II. He was the son of Benjamin John and Kate Elizabeth Clarke of Beckenham and married to Amy Ann Clarke. He died on the 30th June 1916, aged 35 years. Special thanks to our Facebook community for helping to source extra information about this solider. Source:CWGC entry Photo credit: Simone Harris, 9th August 2014
Francis Perl Mears
Francis Perl Mears Captain Francis Perl Mears served with the Royal Army Service Coprs during World War 1 in France and Salonica. He was the son of T. Lambert Mears, M.A., LL.D., (Barrister at Law), and Alice Catherine Mears (nee Peel), and husband of the late Mabel Fitz Roy Mears, (nee Ellis). He died on the 22nd February 1919, aged 42 years. He is commemorated at Beckenham Cemetery. Source: CWGC entry Photo credit: Simone Harris, 9th August 2014
George Reginald Pierce
George Reginald Pierce George Reginald Pierce was Second Engineer on the merchant vessel SS Oriole, a steamer ship. On Friday 29th January 1915, the vessel set sail from its home port of London, en route to Le Havre in France, but it never arrived. It was last seen off the coast of Dungeness on 30th January, and a few days later two of its lifebuoys washed up on the Sussex coast. It’s not definitively known what happened, but it is thought that the Oriole was sunk by a German submarine…