BROUGHTON WAR MEMORIAL

World War 1 & 2 - Roll of Honour with detailed information
Compiled and copyright © Dave Edwards 2002

There is a memorial within the church listing four names and a further memorial listing six names can be found on the right hand side of the cemetery path, near the roadside gate in Broughton Cemetery, School Road, Broughton. The cemetery memorial takes the form of a single-stepped, rectangular base, surmounted by a rectangular sectioned tapering plinth and Latin cross. Those marked '†' are the names listed in the church and cemetery. The Second World War names are taken from a framed scroll in the church, which also lists those who served.

Broughton © John Hendry (WMR-171)

Cemetery inscription:

1914-1918
IN MEMORY OF THOSE
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
IN THE GREAT WAR

Church inscription:

To the glory of God and in grateful remembrance of
those men who gave their lives in the Great War,
and in thankfulness for those who returned.

ABBOTT	A	No further information currently.
BARKER	Alfred	'†' Private, 203386, 1/10th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment formerly 764, Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion. Killed in action 19 April 1918. Aged 23. Born and resident Broughton, enlisted Huntingdon. Son of Martha Barker, of 88, Duncombe Rd., Upper Holloway, London. Buried in LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY, Poperinghe, Belgium. Plot XXVI. Row G. Grave 3A.
COLBERT	Edgar Joseph	'†' Private 20745, 1st/5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment formerly 768, 1st Hunts Battalion, Army Cyclist Corps. Killed in action 18 August 1916. Enlisted Broughton, Hunts. Buried in LONSDALE CEMETERY, AUTHUILE Somme, France. Plot VIII. Row G. Grave 10.
HYDE	H	No further information currently.
MAILE	George [Edward]	'†' Driver 15768, 4th Section Divisional Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action 29 September 1917. Aged 37. Born and enlisted Huntingdon. Son of George and Rebecca Maile, of Huntingdonshire; husband of Maria Maile, of Upton, Wansford, Peterborough. Buried in BARD COTTAGE CEMETERY Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Plot IV. Row I. Grave 27.
WILSON	W	'†' No further information currently.
1939 – 1945
HARDING, MiD	Jack	[CWGC lists his ship as H.M.S. Aurora, Naval records state H.M.S. Abingdon] Able Seaman P/JX149163, H.M.S. Abingdon, Royal Navy. Died in No. 90 General Hospital, Malta, 26 January 1942. Aged 21. Born 18 January 1921 in Huntingdon, Hunts. Son of Ernest Tom and Mabel Harding, of Broughton, Huntingdonshire. Mentioned in Despatches (MiD). His brother Peter also died on service (see below). Buried in MALTA (CAPUCCINI) NAVAL CEMETERY Malta. Protestant Section (Men's). Plot F. Collective grave 81. Extract from Hunts Post in 1942: “INSPIRED ALL WHO SAW HIM" HUNTS. HERO MENTIONED IN DISPATCHES BEHIND the recent announcement in the “Post” of the death, “from injuries sustained while on service at sea,” of Able Seaman Jack Harding, of Broughton, lies a story of gallantry and cool heroism in which all Hunts. may take pride. On Saturday Mr. and Mrs. E. T. Harding, of Brookside, Broughton, parents of this brave sailor, received from the Admiralty an account of how their son met his death. They learned that he had been mentioned in dispatches “for courage, fortitude and devotion to duty” and they were informed that “this seaman's gallant conduct was an irispirati9n to all who saw him.” This is the letter which Mrs. Harding received from the Admiralty: “I am commanded by My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to send you the enclosed certificate of a Mention in Dispatches awarded by the King to your son, Able Seaman Jack Harding, H.M.S. Aurora, for courage, fortitude and devotion to duty. "Able Seaman Harding was serving as a gunlayer on board H.M.S. Abingdon; to which ship he was temporarily attached, when she was attacked by five enemy aircraft. In the action which followed he was mortally wounded, but without thought for himself he stood to his gun until it was destroyed. “This seaman's gallant conduct was an inspiration to all who saw him. “I am to express Their Lordships' pleasure at this mark of His Majesty's high appreciation, and their deep regret that your son did not live to receive it.” THE CERTIFICATE. The certificate referred to in the letter is signed by Mr. A. V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty, and bears the following wording: “By the King's Order the name of Able Seaman Jack Harding, H.M.S. Aurora, was published in the London Gazette on May 12th. 1942, as mentioned in a dispatch for distinguished service. I am charged to record His Majesty's high appreciation.” The entry in the “London Gazette” read as follows : For bravery and skill when H.M.S. Abingdon was attacked by enemy aircraft: Mentioned in dispatches (posthumous).—Able Seaman Jack Harding, P/JX.149163, who, though badly wounded, stood to his gun until it was put out of action. Soon afterwards he died of his wounds. HAD JUST COME OF AGE. Able Seaman Harding was born at Huntingdon and had celebrated his 21st birthday on Jan. 18th—only a week before he met his death. He was educated at Broughton and Warboys Council Schools and joined the Navy at the age of 15. He was the eldest of Mr. and Mrs. Harding's four sons, the second of whom—Peter—is also in the Navy, and serving on the Arethusa.. The other two are still at school. Much action had been crowded into Jack Harding's short life. He was wounded in the first naval action at Narvik, and his ship brought into port the Polish submarine Orzel after her sensational escape from the Baltic. One of his cherished mementoes was a piece of one of the Orzel's lifebelts, given him by a Polish sailor. Able Seaman Harding was personal boy for two years to Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, who went down with the Prince of Wales off Malaya. The Harding boys, in their mother's opinion, have inherited a love of the sea from their father, who is a Devon man. The death of this heroic sailor took place on shore, in a naval hospital, and he was given a military funeral.
HARDING	Peter	Ordinary Seaman C/JX315490, H.M.S. Arethusa, Royal Navy. Died from severe injuries as a result of an accident during firing practice in British Naval Hospital, Port Said, Egypt, 9 September 1942. Aged 19. Born 16 January 1923 in Romsey, Hunts. Son of Ernest Tom and Mabel Harding, of Broughton, Huntingdonshire. His brother Jack also died on service (see above). Buried in PORT SAID WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY, Egypt. Plot V. Row B. Grave 22. Extract from Hunts Post in 1942: PARENTS DOUBLE: LOSS 2 Broughton Brothers Die of Wounds Less than four months after the death of their eldest son. Able-Seaman Jack Harding, from injuries sustained while on service at sea. Mr. and Mrs. E. T. Harding:, of "Brookside", Broughton, have just heard that their second son. Peter, also serving in the Royal Navy, has died in hospital at Port Said as a result of wounds. Peter, who was 19, joined the Navy last October. On leaving, school at Broughton, where he had spent, all his life, he was employed in the fruit trade at Cambridge for a short time and later entered the building trade at Grays, Essex. Details of the action in which he received his fatal wounds are still awaited. His brother Jack was mentioned in dispatches for his heroism in standing to his gun until it was put out of action, despite being badly wounded. Mr. and Mrs. Harding, for whom great sympathy is felt in their double loss, have two other sons, who are still at school.

Last updated 16 February, 2026