Charles Edward Kennard Lance Corporal Charles Edward Kennard, was the only son of Richard and Eleanor Kennard of 34 Whitehorse Hill, Chislehurst. He had joined the Army on his eighteenth birthday in April, 1918. He served with the 51st Battalion in the Bedfordshire Regiment during World War I. He had served with the Army of Occupation in Germany and had been home on leave. Returning to Ripon Camp on 12th September, he was taken ill a week or more later. He passed away before his family could arrive. He died on…
Year: 2023
Jack Townley Dunmore
Jack Townley Dunmore Flight Sergeant Jack Townley Dunmore served with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He was the son of Frederick Townley Dunmore and Edith Dunmore, and husband of Gladys Muriel Dunmore, of Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey. Died 17 May 1941, aged 24 years old. He is commemorated at the Annunciation churchyard in Chislehurst, Kent. Source: CWGC entry – Service Number: 741448 Photo credit: Simone Harris, 28th November 2022
Frederick Charles Salmon
Frederick Charles Salmon Second Lieutenant Frederick Charles Salmon was the son of George and Annie Martha Salmon, of 38 Sainsbury Road, Upper Norwood (London). He served with the 97th Squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War 1. Sadly he was killed in an aeroplane accident at Ford on the 1st May 1915, aged 22 years old. He is buried in Beckenham Crematorium and Cemetery. If you know any more details about this soldier, then please get in touch as we would love to add more details to his…
Gilbert Frank Coffin
Gilbert Frank Coffin Gilbert Coffin was a 1st Air Mechanic with the Royal Air Force, and served during World War 1. He was the fourth son of William Coffin of Chislehurst. His brother (the 3rd son) was killed in France on 4th October, 1917. His two other brothers were also serving during the war. Prior to the battle, he served in the City Police Force. He enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915, and was soon on active service around the Belgian coast. He spent nearly 2 years…
James Urquhart
James Urquhart Corporal James Urquhart, the husband of Hettie Urquhart of Chislehurst, served with the Royal Air Force during World War two. He died on the 22nd August 1942, aged 42. He is buried at The Annunciation Church in Chislehurst Source: CWGC entry – Service Number: 357294 Photo credit: Simone Harris, 28th November 2022
Frank Leonard Rollison
Frank Leonard Rollison Frank Leonard Rollison of Albany Road, Chislehurst was the son of Mrs RE Rollison and the youngest of five sons. He attended the Wesleyan School. He was a keen golfer and a green-keeper of Chislehurst Golf Club, as well as a member of Chislehurst Old Boy’s Football Club and the Chislehurst Artisans’ Golf Club. He had volunteered before the outbreak of war in 1939. He served with the Royal Air Force and worked on the balloon barrage until he was invalided out of the Service a year…
Albert Victor Waldock
Arthur Victor Waldock Private Arthur Victor Waldock served with the 2nd London Regiment during World War 1. He had only been married to his wife, Miss Violet Knight, for 19 months before he was seriously wounded in action on 16th August 1917. He returned to England and was treated at King George’s Hospital in London, but died on the 5th September. He was buried in the Annunciation Churchyard on Saturday 8th September, 1917 Source: Bromley & District Times, 28th September 1917 (page 5) – photo Photo credit: Simone Harris, 28th…
The Birth of Women’s Football
The birth of women’s football Written by Pam Preedy. Girls Versus Boys Football had always been a male preserve, but in December 1915, a match was played between Bromley Boys (National Team) and Vickers Girls: The Bromley & Kentish Times reported on the match (7th July 1914). “A game that finished up in a comical football match was played on the Queen’s Mead ground last Saturday … The game ended with a large amount of scoring, the Old Boys scoring 17 goals to the Ladies’ 1 … At the start…
An Airman’s Life in India, WW2
An Airman’s Life in India Written by Pam Preedy. A Land of Jackals, Snakes and Mosquitoes Some of the “Life” which our boys are seeing on active service is described in a letter which A/C1 Gilbert Attwood has written from a wireless unit in India to his mother in Lincoln Road, Sidcup. He says:- “I am very well and have just returned from a five day trip to a location right out in the jungle, where I carried out practice out practice duties under surroundings which will in future be,…
The Creation of the Calendar
The Creation of the Calendar Written by Pam Preedy. How old is timekeeping? Historians believe that timekeeping (and the calendar) goes as far back as the Neolithic period. Recent research suggested that Stonehenge (2,500BC) was originally built to track a solar year of 365.25 days. The Sumerians divided the year into 12 lunar months, each comprising 29 or 30 days, giving a total of 354 days. According to legend, Romulus, the founder of Rome, instituted the calendar in about 738 BC, though it is more likely to have evolved from…