The picture left is taken from an old postcard
Photograph below Copyright © Janet Graves 2004

This man was probably serving at the Guards Depot at Caterham when he died. Guardsman 18541 George Lancelot RAWLINSON of the 4th Battalion, Grenadier Guards died the same day as Thomas. He was buried in the Middlesborough (Linthorpe) Cemetery. They may have lost their lives together in the same incident.

The Ashford 1918 Absentee Voters List gives –

Sandrock, Hawkhurst

Private 204593 James COLVIN. South Staffordshire Regiment.
Private G/4436 William COLVIN. 7th Buffs (East Kent Regiment).

Before the outbreak of war Albert was employed as a Plumbers Mate and Postman. He enlisted in the Royal Navy on 2nd October 1903 and served on H.M.S Andromeda and H.M.S Achilles. He completed his contract and retired on 9th October 1908. On the outbreak of war Herbert re-enlisted and was sent to H.M.S Pembroke in Chatham to assist with training new sailors. He remained there from late 1914 to 31st December 1918.

Albert’s death certificate reference is – EAST ASHFORD/BRA16/313. It is recorded on Albert’s death certificate that before the outbreak of war Albert was working in Ashford as a Postman.

Herbert’s death is NOT recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission because he died after he had been discharged from the navy. In any event the war had ended in Europe over two years previous. At the time of his death he was registered as a Naval Pensioner.

His Brother-in-Law Frank H Newton was present at the time of Albert’s death.

Herbert is also commemorated on the Willesborough War Memorial as H FISHER. It appears that he must have called himself Herbert when in fact his birth name was Albert.

George’s father commanded the 4th Volunteer Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) during the Great War. This battalion was rather like the Home Guard during the 2nd World War. Do not confuse this volunteer battalion with the 2nd and 3rd line Buffs territorial’s (2/4th and 2/5th). Both George Joachim Goschen and his father were well known in the Ashford area and their names often appeared in the Kentish Express Newspaper. A rather posh family. Had George survived then he would probably have become the 3rd Vicount Goschen.

Norman was awarded the Military Cross (MC) for courage and for his leadership skills.

This is a bit of a mystery. The memorial lists Norman’s unit as the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles. The REKMR was not in existance in July 1917 it had already been re-designated as the 10th (Yeomanry) Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). Yet the Buffs Regimental roll of honour does not list a GUNTHER as having been killed. Soldiers Died Great War shows Norman as belonging to the East Kent Yeomanry when he was killed as does the Commonwealth War Graves Commission register. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission also gives the additional information that Norman attended the 6th Buffs.

Closer inspection of the Regimental history (Moody) pages 259/260 gives the circumstances of Norman’s death - On the 1st July 1917 the 6th Buffs moved from Arras to the Wancourt Line mustering 33 officers and only 483 men. The battalion held positions near Long Trench 1,200 yards south of Keeling Copse. On the 10th July the battalion was ordered to raid enemy shell holes east of Tool Trench. The attack commenced at 0500 hours. The history states that 2LT Gunther was killed with 9 other men. Norman was in fact a 6th Buffs man. He formerly served in the East Kent Yeomanry which had become the 10th Buffs by the time he was killed.

It is recorded that Clarence was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palms by the French Government.

Walter was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field.

Albert was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) for bravery during the landing of the Army Army om the Gallipoli Peninsula 25th-26th April, 1915 which was reported on in the London Gazette 16 August, 1915 pp8125-9. The award was announced in the London Gazette of the same day p8132.

Charles was tragically lost at sea when the hired transport ship the “Transylvania” was sunk by German U Boat (U63) attack off Cape Vado two and a half miles south of Savona. The ship went down with the loss of more than 400 lives. The bodies that were recovered were buried in a special plot in the town of Savona. The Savona Memorial commemorates the names of 275 men whose bodies were never recovered. It not known how Charles came to be on this transport ship because the ship was being used to supply and reinforce British troops serving in Salonika, Greece. The 4th Buffs never served in Salonika but the 2nd Buffs did. Perhaps Charles was on his way to join the 2nd Buffs. He never made it.

This man’s name appears both as W.C and C.W Wickens.

BALCOMBE

Walter George

CAMPANY

William Charles Ernest

COLEY

George

The day that George was killed the 5th battalion attacked the Turks at Kut. This was a major planned engagement and The Buffs were to be the lead attacking formation. The attack was a outright success and the battalion took almost 1,000 Turkish prisoners. Second Lieutenant Brooke and a further 12 men were killed including George.

DUNDAS

Roy Stuart

ELDRIDGE

Ernest

GOODSELL

Cecil

GOODSELL

Jesse

HARDY

Charles

LINDRIDGE

Victor William

LUCK

John Ernest

MANN

Henry (Harry)

It seems odd that this man should have been left off the Hawkhurst war memorial taking into account that he was living in Hawkhurst at the time of his death.

MARCHANT

Arthur

MARTIN

Thomas Jesse

MILLS

Herbert

Herbert was drowned at sea off the cost of Galliploi Turkey.

HMS Hythe was a paddle driven cross channel ferry of 509 tons built in 1905 and owned by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Company (SE&CR). The ship operated on the Dover-Calais route until it was requisitioned by the government in 1914. It was quickly converted into a Screw Minesweeper and was based at Scapa Flow in Scotland. In 1915 the ship was sent to the Dardanelles to work on troop movements from Mudros Bay to the Gallipoli Peninsular in Turkey. At about 1600 hours on 28th October 1915 the Hythe was in collision with the SS Sarnia, another converted ferry but much larger than the Hythe. The Hythe quickly sank with the loss of 108 men most of whom were from Kent. Nearly all these men were from the Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells area of Kent and were serving in the 1/3rd Kent Field Company, Royal Engineers.

It is recorded that men of the 1/3rd Kent Field Company, Royal Engineers (RE) were on board when the Hythe went down. This company was commanded by Captain Reggie Salomons. Men from the 1/2nd Kent Field Company Royal Engineers were nearby on another transport ship – Redbreast.

NEAL

George

OLIVER

Stanley

PAVEY

Phillip Arthur Joseph Marchant

PIERCE

James

PIERCE

Percy [Thomas]

Percy’s name appears on the Newenden Civic War Memorial. That memorial was in an appaling condition in 2004 when all names were almost unreadable.

POILE

George

RELF

Henry

RYAN

Thomas

STICKLAND

Frederick

This man is listed in Soldiers Died Great War as being Killed in Action. Despite this his name doesn’t appear on the CWGC indexes.

WALKER

Lionel Bertram

WELLER

Charles Leonard

WENHAM

Francis Henry

WILLARD

Jesse

WOLFE

Douglas Robert

Note: At about 0800 on 3rd February 1940, HM Ships SPHINX, Speedwell and Skipjack commenced sweeping north of Kinnaird Head. At 0912 a bomb struck the SPHINX forward. It went through the back of the T.S. , through the front of the bridge, through the forecastle deck and burst on the Mess Deck. The explosion folded the forecastle back on to the bridge and badly crippled the whole fore end of the ship. The Captain (Taylor) was killed outright on the bridge. Attempts were made to tow the ship. At about 0430 on 4th February a large wave struck the ship forward and the ship immediately capsized. Five officers and forty nine ratings were killed.

Note: In July 1944 264 Squadron were flying de Havilland Mosquito XIII's from RAF Hartford Bridge, also called Blackbushe, situated 10 miles South East of Reading in Hampshire. In 1944 the Squadron was re-equipped with the newer Mosquito XIII and returned to defensive roles. In June it carried out patrols over the Normandy beaches until it returned to night-patrols from western England in the western approaches. As the Allied forces advanced the squadron became part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force providing night patrols.

Note: HMS Naiad was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company (Hebburn-on-Tyne, UK), with the keel being laid down on 26 August 1937. She was launched on 3rd February 1939, and commissioned 24th July 1940. On 11th March 1942, HMS Naiad was sunk by the German submarine U-565 south of Crete. 77 of her complement were lost including Robert Bishop.

Note: During the build-up to the Second World War, No. 220 Squadron reformed at RAF Bircham Newton in 1936 as a reconnaissance squadron flying Ansons. With the outbreak of war it flew patrols from RAF Thornaby as part of No. 18 Group, transitioning to Hudsons in November; it flew anti-shipping missions with these in the North Sea from May 1940 onwards. In April 1941, still in the anti-shipping role, it moved to RAF Wick to fly strikes against Norwegian coastal traffic, and began to operate the Fortress in November. In February 1942 it moved to RAF Nutts Corner under No. 15 Group, then to RAF Ballykelly in June; in March 1943 it transferred to RAF Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. Detachments operated from RAF Bircham Newton, RAF St Eval and RAF Detling in 1940, and from RAF Shallufa in Egypt in early 1942.

In October 1943 the squadron was moved to RAF Lagens, in the Azores Islands, where it came under No. 247 Group and, in December 1944, was re-equipped with Liberators. From 1943 until the end of the war the squadron flew anti-submarine patrols across the South Atlantic.

In June 1945 the squadron returned to the UK as part of Transport Command, and flew troop flights to India from October 1945 to April 1946. After this final service, the squadron was disbanded in May 1946.

Note: No. 38 Squadron was one of the few RAF squadrons to use the Vickers Wellington from the beginning to the end of the Second World War. In January 1945 the squadron, based at Luqa, converted to the Wellington XIV and returned to anti-shipping duties, attacking Axis shipping off the coast of northern Italy from then until the end of the war.

Note: HMS Pembroke was a shore-based naval facility, headquarters of the Royal Navy Patrol Service. When war broke out in 1939 a vast number of fishing trawlers were requisitioned, converted and given the name RNPS. Their home base was at Lowestoft on an estate originally owned by the Marchioness of Salisbury and given the name of Pembroke X. The task of the trawlers was mainly minesweeping and protection of coastal convoys. Armed only with small calibre guns they nevertheless fought U-boats and dive bombers, swept channel ports and harbours and acted as anti-submarine escort vessels. In September, 1939 a total of one hundred Patrol Service trawlers were actually in commission. By 1945, some 70,000 officers and men had served on the trawlers. By D-Day 1944, a total of 947 such vessels were operating in home waters and 547 in other theatres overseas. Around 260 of RNPS vessels were lost by various means during WWII. On October 7th 1953, a memorial was unveiled on the site of Pembroke X in remembrance of the 2,385 men of the Royal Navy Patrol Service who gave their lives in defence of their country and whose bodies were never recovered. They have no grave but the sea.

Note: 152 Squadron re-formed at Acklington with Gladiators and became operational on 6th November 1939. The Squadron converted to Spitfires and throughout the Battle of Britain, No 152 defended southern England sector which included Portland naval base.

During 1942 it operated around the Mediterranean, taking part in Operation Torch, and also operated from bases in Malta and Sicily during the invasions of Sicily and Italy.

152 Squadron moved to Burma on 19 December 1943 and joined the RAF Third Tactical Air Force (TAF). During the Battle of Imphal, the squadron operated from front-line strips and supported the Fourteenth Army during its final conquest of Burma. It was disbanded on 10 March 1946 in Singapore to where it had moved after the Japanese surrender.

Note: At the outbreak of the Second World War, No. 101 Squadron had just be re-equipped with the Bristol Blenheim IV. Until the summer of 1940, No. 101 Squadron was a reserve squadron. It flew its first Blenheim operation on 4 July 1940, and was occupied with the attack on the German invasion fleet gathering the channel ports.

In April 1941 the squadron began to transfer to the Vickers Wellington, joining the main bomber force in June 1941. After just over a year operating the Wellington, the squadron converted to the Avro Lancaster I and III.

From October 1943 it began to use ABC jamming equipment, while remaining with the main bomber force. ABC, or Airborne Cigar was a system designed to jam the radio frequencies used by the Germans to transmit a running commentry on the night's events to their night fighters. When equipped with the ABC equipment, No 101 Squadron Lancasters carried an eighth German speaking crew men, whose role was to listen in to the German radio transmissions and decide which ones to jam. As a result of its extra role, No. 101 Squadron eventaully expanded to contain 42 aircraft.

It suffered exceptionally heavy casualties, losing 145 Lancasters on operations, as German night fighters could detect the jamming transmissions. Only three other squadrons lost most Lancasters than No 101. One countermeasure was the early use of the Rose tail turret, with two 0.50in machine guns, introduced in May 1944, five months before the turret was cleared for general use. Unusually for a squadron involved in Electronic Counter Measures, No. 101 Squadron did not join No 100 Group.

Note: Special memorials commemorate one casualty known to have been buried in Czersk Prisoners of War Cemetery, 29 known to have been buried at Szczypiorno Prisoners of War Cemetery and 18 known to have been buried at Pila (formerly Schneidemuhl) Prisoners of War Cemetery, all of whose graves could not be identified. The majority of the 283 Second World War burials in the cemetery are those of airmen, many of whom died in bombing operations on Stettin (now Szeczin). Also buried here are those involved in the mass escape from Stalag Luft 3, Sagan (now Zagan), in March 1944, and others who died while prisoners of war during the German occupation, at Stalag VIIIC, Sagan, Stalag XXID at Poznan, Oflag XXIB (also known as Oflag 64) and Stalag XXIB, both at Schubin (now Szubin).

Note: 92 Squadron was reformed at RAF Tangmere on 10th October 1939, the unit was supposed to be equipped with medium bombers. Initially it flew Bristol Blenheims but in early 1940 it became operational on the Supermarine Spitfire, various marques of which it flew for the rest of the War. 92 Squadron first saw action over the Dunkirk evacuation beaches. During the latter stages of the Battle of Britain 92 Squadron flew from RAF Biggin Hill. The Squadron was the first into action on September 15, 1940 now known as Battle of Britain Day.

Note: 103 Squadron was reformed in 1936 at RAF Andover in Hampshire as No. 103 (Bomber) Squadron, a light bomber Squadron flying Hawker Hinds.[1] The Squadron was then posted to RAF Usworth in County Durham. In 1937 103 Squadron was re-equipped with the more advanced Fairey Battle bomber.

At the outbreak of the Second World War the Squadron was deployed to France as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force. On the 10 May 1940 German forces invaded France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Squadron was heavily committed during this period sustaining many losses. In mid June 1940 the Squadron withdrew from France for RAF Abingdon in England.

103 Squadron was then transferred to RAF Newton near Nottingham and reverted to the control of Royal Air Force No 1 Group Bomber Command. In October 1940 it was re-equipped with Vickers Wellington bombers. Operations were carried out with this type on targets on mainland Europe. The Squadron moved in to the new airfield at RAF Elsham Wolds in July 1941. In August 1942 the Wellingtons were replaced by Handley Page Halifax bombers. These were in turn replaced in late October 1942 by Avro Lancaster bombers which 103 Squadron flew on many operations to Germany and occupied Europe for the rest of the war. During the Second World War 103 Squadron flew over 6000 operational sorties at a high cost in both men and machines.

At the conclusion of the Second World War the Squadron was disbanded.

Note: HMS Fiji (pennant number 58) was a Crown Colony-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy, named after the island group, and at that time, the Crown colony of Fiji. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. Fiji was built by John Brown and launched on 31 May 1939. She was the first of the Crown Colony class to enter service, and the class is sometimes known as the Fiji class as a consequence. She was commissioned on 5 May 1940, and initially joined the Home Fleet. On 22 May 1941 she was acting in company with the destroyers HMS Kandahar and HMS Kingston shortly after the loss of HMS Gloucester. These ships fought on and shot down one attacker and damaged two others. She finally expended all of her AA ammunition fighting off numerous air attacks that persisted for two hours. She was attacked and hit by several bombs from Messerschmitt Bf 109s before an aircraft of Jagdgeschwader 77 dropped a bomb close alongside to port. This blew in Fiji’s bottom plates and caused a list to port. Fiji lost power and came to a standstill. She was now largely defenceless, having practically exhausted her 4 inch ammunition. She was then hit by three bombs dropped by a Junkers Ju 87. Captain William-Powlett gave the order to abandon ship and at 20:15 Fiji rolled over and sank. The destroyers dropped floats and withdrew to the south. They returned after dark to pick up 523 survivors. 241 men had gone down with the ship.

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