Sergeant A E Smith was the son of Mr & Mrs H G Smith of West Wickham, and had two brothers also on military services; Lance-Corporal C Smith & Private T Smith. Sergeant Smith was a member of the Royal engineers. Prior to WW1 he had been in Royal Engineers for 16 years and had gone through the South African War. During World War 1 he was with the first troops forming the British Expeditionary Force and was with the first British troops to land in France. He is mentioned several times in…
Tag: WW1
Private William Bray
William Bray was an old boy of Ragland Road Boy’s School in Bromley. He was the eldest son of Mr & Mrs George Bray of Nelson Road, Bromley, and a member of one of the ‘Soldier families’. He was part of the 5th King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. It had first been reported that Bray had been wounded at Loos, but on the 17th December the Bromley & District Times (page 9) reported that when the stretcher-bearers went to bring the wounded in they found that the trench where Bray had fallen had been blown…
Leading Seaman William B Bumstead
Leading Seaman William B Bumstead , son of Mr C H Bumstead of Addison Road, Bromley, was one of three brothers on active service during WW1. At the beginning of the war he was in the North Sea, but by the 20th November 1914 he was serving in the Mediterranean Sea on board the Royal Navy’s HMS Shannon Featured in the Bromley & District Times, 20th November 1914, page 3. Researched on www.militaryancestors.co.uk
Cyril Percival Thatcher
Cyril Percival Thatcher was the son of Mr & Mrs J Thatcher of Great Elms Road, Bromley, and one of five brothers. He spent his time during World War 1 on board the Destroyer HMS “Chatham” in the North Sea. Source:Bromley & District Times, 30th October 1914 (page 4)
Signalman Charles Clarke
Charles Clark, son of Mr & Mrs C Clark of Tweedy Road, Bromley was a signalman in the Royal Navy. He reported lost at sea in the Bromley & District Times on 11th December, 1914 when an explosion on board HMS Bulwark destroyed the ship on the 26th November. He had seen nearly 12 years service when the vessel exploded in harbour at Sheerness. He was aged 29. In July 1915 he was commemorated at the memorial service at Bromley Parish Church. (Bromley & District Times, 9th July 1014,…
National War Bonds – invest every shilling you possibly can!
No sum can be too large! Another example of an advert, often seen in local newspapers, encouraging local people to invest ‘every shilling’ they could, so they can buy their towns ‘own’ gun to help their boys on the Front line, by investing in National War Bonds and War Savings Certificates to help pay for the war. FIRE your Money at the Huns Join the throngs of patriotic investors who all this week have been hurrying to lend their money to their country. Draw out your savings and buy War Bonds. Back up…
Where they have succeeded Chislehurst will not fail – War Weapons Week, 1918
Help us to win Our Gun Adverts like this were often featured in local newspapers encouraging local people to invest their money in National War Bonds and War Saving Certificates to help buy weapons. This advert was a chance for Chislehurst to show that they could save as much as other towns to invest in National War Bonds and War Savings Certificates to help pay for the war. Other districts have achieved as much – districts no larger, no richer no more patriotic than ours. A total of £12,500 savings was wanted from Chislehurst in…
Local schools finally acquire land for gardening purposes
Gardening at Bickley Schools Bickley and Widmore schools reported that at last it was possible to acquire a piece of land for gardening purposes. As it was so late in the season for agricultural classes to begin, it was hardly likely that the Board of Education would make any grant in respect of these classes, and the School Management Committees recommended that the piece of land should be acquired on the terms offered 1 shilling per rod subject to the Board of Education agreeing that the time spent on it…
Strong Protest by Butchers as to the Fair Distribution of Meat
The Meat Supply: Strong Protest by Butchers Supported by Committee The question of the quality of the meat now being supplied to Bromley came up in two letter, which were read to the Mayor. The first, which was addressed to the Executive Officer, was as follows: Dear Sir,- At a meeting of the Meat Trade Section of the Bromley Chamber of Commerce held on Thursday last several members reported having received very serious complaints from their customers as to the inferior quality of the meat supplied. Whilst the butchers are…
Throwing Stones and Cutting Property
Boys will be Boys The following matter was brought before Beckenham Council: ‘Among the matters dealt with was a letter from a resident, complaining of the conduct of youths in the Alexandra Pleasure Ground. A letter from a resident complaining of damage to his allotment in Hospital Meadow by children playing thereon were also submitted. The committee recommended the Council to prohibit the admission of children under 14 years of age to allotments except in company with their parents. Mr Dyke said the council wished top bring the conduct of…