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…
Category: People
Charles Edward Kennard
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…
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…
Leading-Stoker Charles William Venters
Leading-Stoker Charles WIlliam Venters Lost at Sea Charles William Venters was the son of William G.T. and Rose Venters of Wharton Road, Bromley (Kent). Charles attended Wharton Road Council School and later joined up to the Royal Navy where he served for 7 years, for most part onboard HMS Queen Mary. HMS Queen Mary was the last battlecruiser built by the Royal Navy before the First World War. Completed in 1913, she participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight as part of the Grand Fleet in 1914. A battle also served by Leading Stoker Venters. On…
Sergeant C. Allington
Sergeant C. Allington Sergeant C. Allington, of North Road, Bromley (Kent), joined Regular Army in 1914 and went out with the first contingent of the Bromley Volunteers at the time of the South African War in 2nd Volunteer Battalion of Royal West Kent Regiment. He had previously served first with Royal West Kent Regiment, then with the Army Service Corps in France (attached to the Royal Engineers), and had previously been with the Suffolk Regiment in India. He died on 23rd July, 1920 after a long illness caused by being…