Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Chronicle - Saturday 2 September 1916, page 14:

KILLED IN ACTION.

Our photograph is of Sergeant C. W. Blackman, who, as reported in our last issue, has been killed while serving with the Rifle Brigade. He was the husband of Mrs. Blackman, of Grinses Farm, Little Common, and joined his regiment in August, 1914.

He went through the Mons retreat, being wounded soon after. After remaining in hospital in England for some time he returned eventually to the Front. A letter has now been received from the Rev. J. E. Hamilton, chaplain to the Forces, containing news of his decease. He was killed on August 14th by a fragment of an aerial dart.

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer - Saturday 9 September 1916, page 8:

LITTLE COMMON MAN KILLED.

Sergeant Charles W. Blackman, of the Rifle Brigade, was recently killed by an aerial dart. Called up as a recruit two years ago, he was in the retreat from Mons, and was wounded in the Battle of the Marne. He was the first wounded man to return to Little Common. After a period of home service he was then drafted abroad again. and has been in and out of the trenches since the spring, of 1915.

His Chaplain writes:—“He was a good soldier, and held a high place in the esteem of all who knew him. He was very regular at service, and helped me in many ways. I shall miss him very much, and, indeed, so will all his comrades.”

Before he was called up Sergt. Blackman was was working for Mr. Parks, at Grinses Farm, Little Common.

Acting Sergeant 5582, 10th Battalion, Princess Louise's (Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders) formerly 8609, King's Shropshire Light Infantry. Killed in action 12 October 1916. Born 1888 Camberwell, London, resident London, Middlesex, enlisted Bexhill. Son of John and Emma Evans (Duke) (both deceased). Raised by his mother’s family who ran a grocery business in Cooden Sea Road. He attended St Mark’s School, Little Common. Briefly a Boy in the Royal Field Artillery before serving in the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry in 1907. A porter by trade. Buried in WARLENCOURT BRITISH CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France. Plot V. Row G. Grave 12. - See also Bexhill-on-Sea

Extract from Bexhill on Sea Observer 5 December 1914

Extract from Bexhill Chronicle 22 May 1915

THE GERMAN GASES
A LITTLE COMMONER'S SAD EXPERIENCES.

Extract from Bexhill Chronicle 22 May 1915

Extract from Bexhill Chronicle 26 August 1916

Extract from Bexhill on Sea Observer 11 November 1916

LITTLE COMMON N.C.O. KILLED

Corporal 3313, 9th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade 14th Division Killed in action near Ypres 9 August 1915. Aged 28. Son of Mr and Mrs Freeman of 2 Railway Cottages Cooden Bexhill. Born in Bexhill and enlisted in Hastings. A note of his death appeared in the Bexhill-on-Sea Observer - Saturday 4 September 1915, page 8. No known grave. Commemorated on YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Panel 46. - See also Bexhill-on-Sea

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Chronicle - Saturday 4 September 1915, page 5:

DEATH OF CORPORAL FREEMAN.

We regret to record the death of Corporal Albert H. Freeman (aged 28 years), of the Rifle Brigade. Corporal Freeman was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Levi Freeman, of Railway Cottages, Cooden Down, Little Common, and was in the Army serving at Dagshai, India, eventually going to the front in December last. The deceased soldier about six weeks ago was on leave in London. On Thursday, August 26th, news was received from the War Office by his friends, saying that the Corporal had been killed in action on August 9th, and no further information has yet been received.

Gunner 93109, 155th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. Killled in action 8th February 1917 in France & Flanders. Born Buxted, Sussex, enlisted Bexhill. Buried in GUARDS' CEMETERY, LESBOEUFS, Somme, France. Plot XII. Row D. Grave 2. - See also Bexhill-on-Sea

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer 24 February 1917:

Gunner F. Frost, R.G.A. was killed on the 8th February. He was a native of Uckfield, 35 years of age, and had been employed for 16 years by Messrs. Warburton and Sons, of Bexhill. He leaves a wife and two children, who live at 2, Winborne Cottages, Cooden Sea Road. A letter has been received from the Chaplain expressing his sympathy, and stating that it was possible to read the Burial Service over the dead soldier. No other details are is yet to hand. Gunner Frost trained at Cooden, and went to France in November. Deceased's brother, Private Charles Frost, as wounded last 3 July, and is still unable to return to duty. A sad circumstance is that the news was received at the time of the death of his father, the mother thus sustaining a double bereavement. Mr. Frost, sen., was an old and valued employee of Messrs. Warburton at their Uckfield Mills.

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer 28 October 1916

BEXHILL SOLDIER’S CONVALESCENCE

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer - Saturday 3 November 1917, page 8:

KILLED IN ACTION.

Private Ernest Hammond, Royal Fusiliers. son of the late Mr. J. Hammond, Clinch Green Farm, Little Common, has been killed action.

[Spelt HAWKINGS on Bexhill-on-Sea Memorial and CWGC] Ordinary Seaman SS/4984, H.M.S. Formidable, Royal. Died 1st January 1915. Commemorated on CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL, Kent. Panel 10. - See also Bexhill-on-Sea

Note: HMS "Formidable" sunk by torpedo from German submarine U24 off Portland Bill, in the English Channel, on 1st January 1915. Formidable battleship, 15,000 tons. Launched 17 November 1898, Portsmouth. Heaviest gun, 12 in, 50 tons.

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Chronicle 9 January 1915:

Ordinary Seaman .Bert Hawkings. of The Lodge, Little Folks’ Home, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Hawkings, was on board H.M.S. “Formidable " when she was sunk on New Year's Day. The deceased, who was 22 years of age, entered the Navy in May of last year, and served for some time in Chatham Barracks. His first ship was H.M.S. “Lord Nelson” from which he was transferred to H.M.S. “Formidable. " He had left her for service about the time the war broke out, and had not been home since, the leave obtained just before the war being cancelled . On Wednesday Mr. and Mrs Hawkings. received the formal intimation from the Admiralty stating that the deceased's name did not appear on the list of those who were saved and it is feared that he is "missing." Our readers will join with us in expressing: our sympathy with Mr. and Mrs. Hawkings in the sad loss they have so suddenly sustained.

Click on picture for larger view.

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer - Saturday 7 July 1917, page 8 (note forename different):

KILLED IN ACTION.

News has been reoeivevd of the death ii action of Private Ernest Hemming. Army Cyclist Corps. He was a cousin to Mr. J. Crocker, of Little Common, with whom he lived for many years. Private Hemming, was formerly employed at Lloyd’s Bank.

Sergeant L/4737, 2nd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment. 1st Division. Killed in action near Klein Zillebeke near Ypres 8 November 1914. Born in Sandhurst, Kent and enlisted in Tunbridge Wells. Regular Soldier. No known grave. Commemorated on YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL, Weswt-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Panel 20. - See also Bexhill-on-Sea

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Chronicle - Saturday 19 December 1914, pager 8:

DEATH OF SERGT. F. JAMES

We regret to state that Sergt. F. James of the Royal Sussex Regiment, the son of Mr. and Mrs. James, of Little Common, was killed in action at Ypres on November 8th. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on the battlefield. Mr. James who is 65 years of age, has four sons in the Army, and they will have between them done 70 years service and eight years fighting. Ten medals have been awarded to members of the family.

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer - Saturday 19 December 1914, pager 7:

KILLED YPRES.
LITTLE COMMON SERGEANT DIES ON THE BATTLEFIELD.

Another Bexhill soldier, this time a resident of Little Common, has laid down his life on the battlefield, fighting for his King and country. He is Sergeant Frank James, the 2nd Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, and information was received this week by his father, Mr. H. James, market gardener, Little Common, that he had been killed while in action at Ypres on November 8th. The deceased soldier lived with his father at Little Common, and was married, but had no family. His wife is at present in Eversfield Hospital. The late Sergeant James was among the first of the British troops go to the front, and the last time he wrote home was about a month ago. He then told his father that he was well, and mentioned a Tunbridge Wells friend of his, who had been wounded in the attacks of the Germans. The deceased had a brother, Sergeant Edward James, who is attached to the Lincolnshire Regiment, and is expecting to be transferred shortly to the 3rd Battalion of the Southdowns.

Bombardier 109340, No. 3. Fire Command, Royal Garrison Artillery. Died at home 15 January 1918. Born in Eccles,near Lancaster and enlisted in Kensington. Next of kin residents of Bexhill. Buried in BEXHILL CEMETERY, Sussex. Grave reference B. E. G49. - See also Bexhill-on-Sea

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer - Saturday 19 October 1918, page 8:

We announce with much regret the sudden death of Corporal Emile Daniel Nicholas Mayer, R.G.A., which occurred on Tuesday at Milton Military Hospital, Portsmouth, from heart failure following influenza and pneumonia.

The deceased, who was 35 years of age, was the elder son of Mr. Daniel Mayer. J.P., of Collington Manor, and of the late Mrs. Mayer. He joined up about June, 1916, under the Derby Scheme, and had his training at Cooden. He refrained from taking a commission before going to France, but his health was not good, and he remained in England on coast defence. Latterly he had been gas instructor at Portsmouth. He was weakened by an attack of bronchitis and double pneumonia in March which left him less able to with¬stand his fatal illness.

Corporal Mayer was in business with his father when Mr. Daniel Mayer was the proprietor of Sand P. Erard, and was with him a little while at Chatham House. He then joined the Gramaphone Company, and was in France in business.

The sympathy of friends and residents will not only be felt for the deceased's father, who is in New York, but for his sister, Miss Mayer, and his brother, Captain R. Mayer, R.F.A., who is with the British Army in Palestine. Though he was denied the privilege of going on active service, Corporal Mayer died none the less in the service of his country, in the fighting forces of which both he and his brother voluntarily enlisted in the early stages of the war. During his father's several Mayoralties Mr. Emile Mayer was brought into association with many local people, who were able to esteem him for his social qualities and personal gifts. His death is a sad and heavy blow to a family, which has for many years been prominently associated with Bexhill, whose inhabitants have many reasons to remember its public services with gratitude.

The funeral will take place at three o'clock to-day (Saturday) at Bexhill Cemetery, with military honours. The interment will be in the family mausoleum. A firing party will come from his Company at Portsmouth, and the Canadians will provide the band. The Rev. E. H. Leale (cousin) will conduct the service.

The arrangements are in the hands of Mr. G. Taylor-Sabin. St. Leonards-road.

Photograph Copyright © Dave Hatherell 2023

[Transcribed as J J MORTON] Private 248117, 2nd (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers), London Regiment formerly 6548, 3rd/8th Battalion, Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment). Killed in action 8 August 1918. Aged 42. Born Pernsey Sluice, Sussex, resident and enlisted Farnham, Surrey. Son of the late James William Morton. Buried in HEATH CEMETERY, HARBONNIERES, Somme, France. Plot VI. Row H. Grave 6. - See also Bexhill-on-Sea

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer - Saturday 7 September 1918, page 4:

COUNCILLOR'S SON KILLED.

Many friends in Bexhil as well as at Normans' Bay will sympathise with Councillor J. W. Morton in the sad news that his only surviving son, Private J. W. Morton, London Regiment, was killed on the 8th August.

Details are not yet to hand. Private Morton, who was formerly in the Militia at Eastbourne, had been about four years in France. He was first in the Middlesex Regiment but afterwards was transferred to the London Regiment. He had been twice wounded. On the first occasion he was shot in the right breast and was subsequently sent to England and was in hovital at Leeds and Pontefract, subsequently going to a Y.M.C.A. camp at Tunbridge Wells. He wa -again wounded and was treated at the base.

One brother died in India. Councillor Morton, who has from time to time suffered several bereavements in his family, mourns the loss of a brother, whose death took place almost at the same time as his son was killed. Councillor Morton is himself a veteran of the Royal Horse Artillery, and was in India many years ago.

Lance Corporal G/6229, 8th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). Killed in action 26 September 1915. Born 1891 Bexhill, resident and enlisted Bexhill. . Son of Jesse and Caroline Mott, of Kiln Bank, Little Common, Bexhill on Sea. No known grave. Commemorated at the LOOS MEMORIAL, Pas de Calais, France. Panel 15 to 19.

Extract from Bexhill on Sea Observer 5 December 1914

Extract from Bexhill Chronicle 6 November 1915

THE BONFIRE BOYS.

Extract from Bexhill on Sea Observer 18 November 1916

Extract from Military Cross citation:

Extract from Probate 1918:

Private 34988, 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment. Killed in action 24 April 1917 in France and Flanders. Aged 31. Born, resident and enlisted Bexhill-on-Sea. Son of Nelson and Elisabeth Spray, of Collington Lane, Little Common, Bexhill-on-Sea; husband of Mabel Spray, of 20, Sidley St., Sidley, Bexhill-on-Sea. Formerly 31271, Suffolk Regiment. No known grave. Commemorated on ARRAS MEMORIAL, Pas de Calais, France. Bay 7. - See also Bexhill-on-Sea

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer - Saturday 12 May 1917, page 8:

PRIVATE E. SPRAY.

Mrs. Spray, of Church-hill, Little Common, has received the sad intelligence that her husband, Private Ernest Spray, Essex Regiment, was killed in action in France on April 24th.

He was 31 years of age, and was formerly employed as gardener to Alderman F. Bond, J.P., at Lake Ilouee, Collington-lane.

Extract from Bexhill Chronicle 6 July 1918:

Extract from Bexhill on Sea Observer 6 July 1918:

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer - Saturday 18 September 1915, page 10:

LOCAL OFFICER KILLED.

Great sympathy is felt with the Rev. Oswald Whaley, of Hurchington, Little Common-road, Bexhill, whose elder son, Second Lieutenant Oswald Stanley Whaley, of the 10th Battalion Hampshire was killed in action at Gakllipoli on August 10th. Second Lieutenant Whaley was 25 years of age.

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Chronicle - Saturday 18 September 1915, page 10:

LIEUT. WHALEY'S DEATH.

We greatly regret to have to record the death of Second Lieutenant Oswald S. Whaley, of the 10th Hampshire Regiment, who was killed in Gallipoli on August 10th, aged 25. He was the eldest surviving son of the Rev. Oswald and Mrs. Whaley, of Hurchington, Bexhill, and formerly of Poslingford Vicarage, Suffolk. He was educated at Sedbergh School, Yorkshire, and after taking his B.A. degree at Christ's College, Cambridge, was engaged in tuition work until the outbreak of the war, when he enlisted in the University and Public Schools Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. Subsequently, he received a commission in the 10th Hampshire, and landed in Gallipoli during the first week of August. Sympathy with his father and mother has been widely expressed.

The deceased officer was the nephew of Miss Whaley, of Hurchington.

Extract from Bristol Times and Mirror 1 November 1918:

Captain S. W. Whateley

Extract from Gloucestershire Echo 30 October 1918:

CAPT. S. W. Whateley

Extract from Probate 1919.

Sub Lieutenant HMS Trinidad. Born 18 July 1909 South Kensington. Died 9 May 1948. Son of Dr Charles Umpherston Aitchison and Helen Aitchison, of Hillside, Collington Grove, Bexhill-on-Sea. Husband of Nora Aitchison. Educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Oxford, from which he went on to the London Hospital Medical College. Married Nora Turnbull in 1937 of Port St Mary, Isle of Man and lived at 12 Hurlingham Mansions, New Kings Road, London SW6. Two children. Buried in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford.

Commissioned Surgeon-Lieutenant RNVR in 1941, but was invalided out in March 1942, after Russian convoy work in HMS Trinidad. After suffering a long period of ill-health, he died in the Cotswold Sanatorium in May 1948. He and his brother are commemorated on the war memorial and on the parish war memorial at Little Common, Bexhill-on-Sea.

Probate 1948. Charles Umpherston Aitchison of 4 Northmoor Road Oxford, to Nora Aitchison, widow, Peter Richard Wyndham Leigh, surgeon, and Reginald Francis Archibald, solicitor. Effects £9383 4s 6d.

His elder brother was Sub-Lieutenant Hugh Graham Aitchison who died in an air accident in 1940 (see individual entry below).

Sub-Lieutenant HMS Sparrowhawk [Royal Naval Air Station Hatston]. Born 9 June 1911 South Kensington. Died 1 May 1940. Son of Dr Charles Umpherston Aitchison and Helen Aitchison, of Hillside, Collington Grove, Bexhill-on-Sea. Husband of Beatrice Mary Aitchison of Hillside, Collington Grove. Buried in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford. Section J.1. Grave 106.

Hugh entered Du Boulay’s, Winchester College in 1925 and left in 1929, going to Pembroke College, Oxford in 1931 for two years with the intention of joining the Royal Air Force through the University Air Squadron, but was rejected because of faulty eyesight.

Between 1932 and 1934 he travelled in Canada and Iceland. In 1935 he resumed flying, but had a serious accident while giving a flying display at Shoreham Aerodrome on Coronation Day 1936. Undeterred by this accident, he took up aerial photography, and on the outbreak of war joined the Fleet Air Arm. Married Beatrice Mary Parker in 1939 at Barnstaple.

He was killed in de Havilland Hornet Moth P6787 at Golspie, Sutherland, which was being used as a communications aircraft ferrying officers from Hatston to Inverness. He was the sole casualty of the accident. He and his brother are commemorated on the war memorial and on the parish church memorial at Bexhill-on-Sea.

Probate1940. Hugh Graham Aitchison of Hillside, Collington Grove, Bexhill-on-Sea to Beatrice Mary Aitchison, widow. Effects £1564 15s.

His younger brother was Sub-Lieutenant Charles Umpherston Aitchison who died of ill health in 1948 (see individual entry above).

1334656 Sergeant 97 Squadron Royal Air Force. Born 1921 Bexhill. Died 29 March 1943. Son of Walter Ball and Grace Alberta Ball, of Marigolds, Maple Avenue, Bexhill-on-Sea. Buried Escoublac-La-Baule War Cemetery. Plot 2. Row G. Grave 10.

Educated St Barnabas School. Worked as an operator at the Ritz Cinema. In 1939 living with family at 18 Eastwood Road.

Joined the RAF in January 1941 and trained in Canada.

29 March 1943 Lancaster Mk I ED754 OF-A of 97 Squadron took off from Woodhall Spa at 19:57 to attack St. Nazaire. Coned by searchlights and hit by flak. Presumed aircraft fell into sea. Some of crew commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Edward’s body was washed upon the shore at Piriac on 22 April 1944.

Extract from Singaporechris on Facebook:

6343 Pilot Officer 264 Squadron Royal Air Force. Born 1921 London. Died 22 January 1943. Son of Alfred Ernest Bell and Marjorie Bell of Deeping, Collington Rise, Bexhill-on-Sea. The family came to live in Collington Rise from Woodford, Essex, in 1935. Educated at Ardingly College, where he won two mathematical prizes and cricket colours, he went up to Queen's College, Cambridge in 1940 where he also won cricket colours. He played cricket for both establishments as well as for the local Parkhurst Cricket Club. He was a left-handed batsman. His ashes are interred at St. Mark’s Churchyard, Bexhill-on-Sea.

22 January 1943 Mosquito NFII DD662 of 264 Squadron took off at 09:10 from Colerne to do a weather test. After 10 minutes the aeroplane appeared to have developed a glycol leak and crashed 100 yards from the Shoe Inn on the Chippenham-Bristol Road, about 1 mile from the aerodrome while attempting a single engine landing.

Probate 1943. Hugh Bernard Bell of Deeping, Collington Rise, Bexhill in Sea to Alfred Ernest Bell retired bank official. Effects £442 16s 7d.

118403 Captain 26th Assault Squadron Royal Engineers. Born 20 Nov 1920 Earls Court died 01/10/1944. Son of Colonel George Orlebar Boase, CBE., and Alice Eleanor Boase, MBE, of 60 Barnhorn Road, Bexhill-on-Sea. Husband of Ruby Margaret Boase, of 294 Cooden Drive, Bexhill-on-Sea. Educated Wellington College. Married Ruby Margaret Smales in 1942 at Oxford. Re-buried from the battlefield 26/07/1945 in 3. A. 10. Calais Canadian War Cemetery, Leubringhen.

Mention in Despatches: War Office, 22 March 1945.

Extract from Wellington College

1336129 Sergeant 21 Operational Training Unit Royal Air Force. Born 11 September 1922 Normans Bay died 30/03/1942. Son of Percy Bryant and Dorothy Bryant of Meadow View, Normans Bay. Employed as an electrician’s apprentice living in Normans Bay. No known grave. Commemorated on Runnymede Memorial, Surrey. Panel 79.

30 March 1942 Wellington IC BB511 was in transit from Gibraltar to Malta. An aircraft of 21 Operational Training Unit, the flight was under the auspices of 1 Overseas Aircraft Despatch Unit. Nothing heard after take-off.

77524 Captain 178 Field Regiment Royal Artillery. Born 1919 Buenos Aires Died 29/04/1945. Son of Bellamy Alexander Cash-Reed and Irene Cash-Reed, of The Gorses, Bexhill-on-Sea. Originally buried Meiktila War Cemetery re-buried in Taukkyan War Cemetery, Myanmar. Plot 20. Row G. Grave 1.

Educated Beacon School, Bexhill, and in 1932 Radley College and went through the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1938.

Served at Dunkirk prior to becoming an instructor in gunnery in the UK. Posted to India he was torpedoed off the coast of Africa en-route. In April 1945 his unit was fighting in the area east of Meiktila, supplied by road from the Mandalay airhead and by supply drops to the forward troops by US Tenth Air Force.

781504 Sergeant 7 Field Regiment Royal Artillery. Born 2 May 1909 Portsmouth. Injured in a road accident at Wilton, Wiltshire, and died in hospital the next day. 3/12/1940. Son of William Thomas Clarke and Bertha Rosina Clarke, of 35 Church Hill Avenue, Bexhill-on-Sea. Cabinet maker by trade. Enlisted in the Royal Artillery in May 1928. Buried west of Church in Bexhill (St. Mark) Churchyard.

Probate 1941. Reginald William Harry Clarke of 35 Church Hill Avenue, Bexhill-on-Sea to William Thomas Clarke, verger [of St Marks Church, Little Common]. Effects £166 2s 6d.

Lance Corporal 6394196, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment. Killed in action 16 June 1940. Aged 35. Born and resident Sussex. In the 1921 census he was aged 16, born Ninfield, Sussex, an Errand Boy for Higher & Cogger, Central Fish Stores, Bexhill, son of Frank and Emily Deeprose, resident Highwoods Lane, Bexhill, Sussex. He was a member of the Bexhill Town Band and belonged to the cricket and football teams of Little Common. He was a Union Member of Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers, Carpenters & Joiners, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, admitted 1926. Married Daisy Dadd in 1931 at Bexhill. Buried in Adegem Canadian War Cemetery, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Plot I. Row AB. Grave 9.

The 5th Battalion landed at Cherbourg on 08/09 April and moved swiftly towards part of the likely front. They entered Belgium just after the German attack had begun, and on 20 May their first encounter began with the enemy, at Wortegem where they had dug trenches. Two days later they were on the retreat, first to Courtrai and then to Saint André near Lille. From there it was a full treat to Bray Dunes just east of Dunkirk, from which they were evacuated on 27 May.

If the 5th Sussex were only at Percy’s burial place, Wortegem, for 20-22 May (and evacuated at Dunkirk by 4 June), his reported death date of 16 June 1940 is not understood.

Extract from Bexhill-on-Sea Observer - Saturday 22 June 1940, page 5:

CORPORAL KILLED IN ACTION

Sergeant 1291154, 9 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Died 20 December 1942. Aged 20. Son of Edward George and Edith Ford, of Little Common, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. Employed by McCowen’s Music Centre in Western Road. Joined the RAF in 1939. Buried in Oosterhout Protestant Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. Grave 93.

Shot down by night fighter pilot Leutnant Erich Richter of 2./NJG 1, flying a Bf 110 F-4 from Gilze-Rijen airfield, 20:29 hours 20 Dec 1942 at Den Hout (Noord Brabant) 3 km NNW of Oosterhout Holland where all are buried in the Protestant Cemetery.

The crew had been posted to 9 Squadron from 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit on 14th November 1942.

They had previously made one trip, to Kloppenburg on 17th December, before being lost on the Duisburg operation.

[Listed as P W R GILLHAM on the memorial] Sergeant 1800716, 635 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Died 6 July 1944. Aged 21. Son of Ralph Ewart Gillham and Lilian Dorothy Gillham, of Little Common, Sussex. Employed by the Surveyor’s Department, County Hall, Lewes. Trained at 11 Air Gunners School and 10 Operational Training Unit and served with 51 Squadron. No known grave. Commemorated on Runnymede Memorial, Surrey. Panel 230.

6 July 1944 Lancaster MH 621 F2-R took off from Downham Market at 23:00 to attack constructional works at Wizernes. Failed to return.

Probate 1945. Roy William Patrick Gillham of Thornleigh Little Common Bexhill-on-Sea to Ralph Ewart Gillham, draper. Effects £441 17s 6d.

200853 Captain D Company 10th Battalion Parachute Regiment. Born 1919 Cuckfield died 20/10/1944. Son of Ebenezer Cecil Howard and Evangeline Howard, of 11 Wealden Way, Bexhill-on-Sea. Husband of Pamela Howard. He is the grandson of Ebenezer Howard, Bexhill’s first mayor. Commemorated on Groesbeek Memorial, Gelderland, Netherlands. Panel 8.

From Peter Howard Life and Letters by Anne Wolrige Gordon…

R/65534 Flight Sergeant 22 Operational Training Unit Royal Canadian Air Force. Born 22/02/1920 Victoria, British Columbia died 16/09/1942. Son of Timothy Alfred Macauley, and Margaret Conway Macauley, of Hillborough House, Little Common Road, Bexhill-on-Sea. Buried in Bexhill Cemetery, Sussex. Division C. Section E. Row A. Grave 1.

His father was a well-connected industrialist. The family coming to the UK in the 1930s and living in Grosvenor Square. The family bought a second property, Hillborough House in Little Common Road which was across the road from St Mark’s Church.

Frank attended school at Downside Abbey School a leading Roman Catholic boarding school.

He went into RAF at 19 serving with 615 Squadron a territorial unit. Frank’s role within the unit is not known. He returned to Canada in February 1940 and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He underwent further training in Scotland and then on to 16 operations with 75 (New Zealand) Squadron flying Wellington bombers. Frank’s operational career continued with 419 (Canadian) Squadron. He was rested after a tour of duty and posted to 22 Operational Training Unit at Wellesbourne Mountford. This was a feeder unit for Canadians at the end of their training prior to going on to operational flying.

16 September 1942 Wellington Ic X9671 took off at 15:20 from Stratford aerodrome for an air test prior to a planned attack on Essen.

The Wellington bomber broke up in the air, the tail unit and port wing coming adrift killing all seven on board.

His funeral service was at St Mary Magdalen’s Church in Sea Road. The service conducted by Wing Commander McCarthy, Vicar-General of the RCAF.

C/LD/X 5345 Able Seaman SS Whitford Point. Born 25 June 1914 Twickenham. Died 20 October 1940. Son of Robert Edward Meatyard and Florence Meatyard. Employed as a Local Government clerk living in Epsom. Commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent. Panel 40, Column 2.

Robert served as a DEMS gunner(Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships).

At 01:48 hours on 20 October 1940 the Whitford Point was in convoy HX-79, Baltimore – Halifax, with a cargo of 7840 tons of steel and was hit by one torpedo from U-47 and sank 90 miles southwest of Rockall, 56° 38'N, 16° 00'W. The master, 33 crew members and two gunners were lost. Three crew members were picked up by HMS Sturdy and landed at Londonderry.

Probate 1941. Robert Lawrence Meatyard of 1 The Byeway, Little Common. to Robert Edward Meatyard retired London County Council official. Effects £94 8s 11d.

Driver T/14483692, Royal Army Service Corps. Died 28 June 1945. Aged 18. Son of Frederick William and Edith Mitten, of Little Common, Bexhill-on-Sea. He was as a dyer with the London Valet Service. Joined the Army at the beginning of 1945. Buried in Bexhill Cemetery, Sussex. Division B. Section C. Row D. Grave 10.

Died as a result of injuries received in an accident at Ryde, Isle of Wight. Denis was one of three soldiers who had taken out a truck without permission. The vehicle collided with a tree killing Denis.

Funeral service was at St Mark’s Church, Little Common and then burial at Bexhill Cemetery.

62269 Brigadier Coldstream Guards attached Special Operations Executive. Born 6 February 1911 Hampstead. Died 11 February 1944. Son of Joseph Crane Nicholls, and of Josephine Crane Nicholls (nee Campbell) of Inchgarth, Collington Grove, Bexhill-on-Sea. Husband of Dorothy Ann Violet Nicholls (nee Schuster), of Swinbrook, Oxfordshire. As student he travelled to Lisbon in 1924 and 1931. He attended Shardlow Hall, Marlborough College and later studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge. After graduating in 1933, he worked as a stockbroker. He was commissioned into the 86th (East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Brigade, Royal Artillery, Territorial Army as a second lieutenant in August 1933 and was promoted lieutenant on 3 August 1936 and transferred to the Coldstream Guards (Supplementary Reserve) in May 1937. He married Dorothy Ann Violet Schuster at the Royal Military Chapel, Wellington Barracks, on his first leave from France. One child. Awarded the george Cross (G.C.). Buried Tirana Park Memorial Cemetery, Greece. Previously, until 1994, recorded on the Kipling Memorial, Phaleron War Cemetery, Greece.

Mobilised in 1939, Nicholls went to France with the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards and later posted to the Headquarters of the First Division as an Intelligence Officer to make the best use of his command of French and German.

In March 1942 he joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE). In October 1943, by now a temporary Lieutenant-Colonel, he parachuted into Albania to serve as Staff Officer to Brigadier Edmund Frank "Trotsky" Davies with the task of inciting resistance to the German occupation and tying down enemy forces.

George Cross citation.

The following details are given in the London Gazette of 1st March 1946:

Following the end of the war in Europe, an Army Graves Registration Unit entered Albania with the task of concentrating the remains of Commonwealth Servicemen, lost in the struggle to secure Albania’s freedom, into a site chosen in the capital, Tirana. However, due to the political situation in the country, this task could not be completed, though 52 sets of remains were recovered in the short time available. Eventually, in 1955, after repeated requests to enter the country were refused, the Commission took the decision to commemorate the 38 identified casualties on special memorials erected in Phaleron War Cemetery in Greece.

This situation remained thus until 1994, when a change in the political situation in Albania allowed a Commission representative access for the first time. He discovered that the original individual burials had been moved by the Communist authorities to an unmarked collective grave located under a path near the university buildings in Tirana.

At the beginning of 1995, the 38 special memorials were removed from Phaleron and re-erected as close as possible to the site of the mass grave, in an area designated the Tirana Park Memorial Cemetery.

In 1998, following a study of the Graves Registration unit files, it was possible for the Commission's records staff to confirm the identities of a further seven casualties previously buried in Tirana War Cemetery as unknowns.

Probate 1944. Arthur Frederick Crane Nicholls of 13 Oakwood Court, London W14, to Anne Nicholls, widow. Effects £1588 15s 9d.

90391 Wing Commander 630 Squadron Royal Air Force. Born 1911 Wolverhampton. Died 29 January 1944. Son of Thomas Dudley Rollinson and Florence Ethel Rollinson. Husband of Jean Margaret Rollinson of Debdale Collington Lane, Bexhill-on-Sea. Educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School. Married Jean Margaret Campbell in 1943 at Barrow upon Soar. One child. Served pre-war in 614 Squadron Auxiliary Air Force. Carried out 30 operational sorties from Malta with 38 Squadron.

29 January 1944 Lancaster III JB666 LE-O of 630 Squadron took off 00:23 from East Kirkby to attack Berlin.

JB666 was apparently intercepted very shortly after Wing Commander Rollinson’s crew released their bomb load and turned eastwards on the planned route away from the target area. The Lancaster was shot down 20 km east of Berlin crashing into the woods north of Alt-Buchhorst (6 km east of Erkner).

Probate 1945. John Dudley Rollinson DFC of 10 Hill Close, Purley to Jean Margaret Rollinson, widow. Effects £701 11s 8d.

This individual appears on the Little Common war memorial and also in the May 1945 Bexhill Observer list of dead. He cannot be traced on any another record. However, a family memorial in the 1946 Bexhill Observer gives his loss whilst serving on H.M.S. Charybdis. A check of the crew list shows him to actually be Henry Frederick John VENESS (which see). He was the son of Dorothy Margaret Veness who later married Arthur Sellwood.

Private 17 Port and Maritime Regiment Royal Logistics Corps. Born 24 June 1982. Son of Graham and Alison Wood. Partner of Rebecca. Died 14/02/2011 at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. He was one of five soldiers whose bodies were flown into RAF Lyneham and driven through Wootton Bassett as part of a repatriation ceremony that month. His service was held at All Saints Church, Bexhill-on-Sea, followed by a private cremation. At the request of his family, his name was added to the memorial in a ceremony on Sunday 18 March 2012.

The Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex carried out the unveiling and a parade, comprising 20 standards from Royal British Legion branches, local ex-service associations and youth organisations and around 150 people, marched from the Club in Meads Avenue to the War Memorial.

From: The Ministry of Defence

The family of Private Wood have made the following statement:

Lieutenant Colonel ST Hutchings, Commanding Officer Theatre Logistic Group, said:

Major Steve Cornell, Officer Commanding General Support Squadron, said:

Lieutenant Tim Fitzgerald, Troop Commander Transport Troop, said:

Staff Sergeant Mike Temple, Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO) Transport Troop, said:

Lance Corporal Taff Williams said:

Lance Corporal Raj Singh said: