St. Mary’s Apsley End Church (Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire) is another example of a local church with war grave headstones in the churchyard. THE FIRST WOLRD WAR G/48463 Private Ernest Finch was a member of the 23rd Labour Company, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. The 1911 Census provides the following information about Ernest Finch: Born… Continue reading St. Mary’s Apsley
Category: UK
Ypres (Menin Gate)
The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial is situated at the eastern end of Ieper on the road to Menin (Menen) and Courtrai (Kortrijk). The memorial was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, with sculpture by Sir William Reid-Dick. The site of the former east gate was chosen, as the thousands of troops matching towards the Ypres battlefields… Continue reading Ypres (Menin Gate)
Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Military Cemetery is located 3 miles west of Woking (Surrey), located right next to Brookwood Rail Station and the privately-owned Brookwood (Civil) Cemetery. In May 1917, with the establishment of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, it was recognised that a cemetery for the burial of Commonwealth personnel who had died as a result of… Continue reading Brookwood Cemetery
William Wilby
This page provides some more information about my Great-Uncle Private William Wilby, who is one of the Earsham service personnel commemorated on the Earsham War Memorial. A Great-great Uncle, Arthur Stratford, was born in Tring, Hertfordshire, before moving to Wealstone, Middlesex. Aftering enlisting at Hounslow, Middlesex, he joined the 2nd Battalion The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire… Continue reading William Wilby
Courts-Martial
Through a statute of Edward I in 1279, it was enacted that, by virtue of the royal prerogative, the sovereign of England had the right to command all the military forces of the nation. AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS EXECUTED 1914-1918 CANADIAN SOLDIERS EXECUTED 1914-18 NEW ZEALAND SOLDIERS EXECUTED 1914-18 UK SOLDIERS EXECUTED 1914-1918 The royal prerogative also… Continue reading Courts-Martial
Air Forces Memorial
The Air Forces Memorial, Runnymede, was constructed to commemorate those Air Force personnel who, based in the UK or Western Europe, died during the Second World War and have no known grave. They served in Bomber, Fighter, Coastal, Transport, Flying Training and Maintenance Commands, and came from all parts of the Commonwealth. Some were from… Continue reading Air Forces Memorial
Leverstock Green
The impact of the First World War (The Great War) on UK home life can’t be understated. A population that had been somewhat sheltered from the losses of previous conflicts was greatly affected by the loss of life in The Great War. One of the visible effects of The Great War was the appearance of… Continue reading Leverstock Green
Double VC Recipients
Only three soldiers have been award the Victoria Cross medal twice: Arthur Martin-Leake, Noel Chavasse and Charles Hazlitt Upham. ARTHUR MARTIN-LEAKE Arthur Martin-Leake was born in Standen, Hertfordshire, on 4 April 1874. Surgeon Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) Martin-Leake was a member of the South African Constabulary then Royal Army Medical Corps, attached to the 5th… Continue reading Double VC Recipients