Wouldham War Memorial
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Wouldham The casualties of both world wars who are named on the Wouldham, Rochester, Kent, parish tribute, are commemorated on memorial plaques located in the Lych Gate of the parish church of All Saints. Constructed of local Kent Ragstone rocks, the Lych Gate was “ERECTED TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN GREATFUL MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR KING AND COUNTRY DURING THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918.” Wouldham was in use as a military training during both of the world wars, and one of the disused chalk pits within the parish was used for training the Royal Marine contingent, prior to the involvement of its personnel in the famous ‘St. George’s Day Raid’ on the Belgium port of Zeebrugge in 1918. In an attempt to make the training more realistic, a model of the Zeebrugge Mole was constructed within the chalk pit, and soldiers from the Middlesex Regiment acted as the enemy. Various Wouldham locations were in use for military training till post the cessation of the Great War, and it was as the war drew to its close that on Friday 1 November 1918, Lieutenant Edward Simmons, an officer serving in the 14th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment attached to the 5th (Reserve) Battalion of his regiment showed great heroism, but was severely wounded in a grenade incident, and he was subsequently awarded the Albert Medal. From the first time that the Wouldham commemorations were added to the www.kentfallen.com website, we noted that along with the ‘Dover Lost Men,’ and that of the ‘Prince of Wales Sea Training School,’ Wouldham has consistently generated a large number of hits every month. Having had a significant number of requests along the 1 lines of “would be possible to add additional details to the Wouldham casualties on the website,” the following is in response to those requests. Whilst carrying out the additional research which was involved in constructing the updated Wouldham casualty details, the transcriber of these brief commemorations noted that where supporting documentary evidence was available, that a not insignificant number of those commemorated at Wouldham, and those who should be, were employed locally in the village by the cement manufacturing industry, in a number of occupations most of which being Cement Works Labourers. It would appear to be the case that the bulk of those employed at Wouldham worked at Wouldham Hall cement works, which operated from 1858 to 1928, and was originally owned by Peters Brothers. By the late 1880’s the approximately 700 strong workforce of Peters Cement Works at Wouldham was one of the biggest of its kind, and is thought to have had the largest fleet of barges in the world at that time, which operated from the company Wharfe on the river Medway. With escalating transportation costs forced amalgamation, rationalization and closures resulted in Henry Peters reluctantly selling the family business the Wouldham Cement Company to British Portland Cement Manufacturers in 1912. Later successive amalgamations within the industry resulted in production at Wouldham being in the hands of Blue Circle Industries, and in 1976 when the quarries in the village were closed, and cement production ceased at Wouldham, which became one of the distribution centres for cement from Kent. A short distance upstream from the Wouldham Hall plant was the West Kent plant, which operated from 1870 to 1925, and was another major employer, it was set up by the West Kent Portland Cement Company, and it also was taken over by British Portland Cement Manufacturers 1912. Mention should be made of the fact that two of the people who had enquired if an updated version of the original Wouldham civic war memorial transcriptions could be carried out, have (independently) said that a photocopy of the printed ‘Roll of Honour’ of British Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd., for the Peters & West Kent Cement Works, Wouldham, is held at the Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre, at the Civic Centre, Strood, Rochester, Kent. On the original Wouldham transcriptions, mention was made that every year on Trafalgar Day ( 21 October) , local school children go and lay floral tributes on the final resting place of Walter Burke who is buried in Wouldham All Saints Churchyard, and in whose arms Admiral Horatio Nelson died. The Purser of Nelson’s flagship, H.M.S. Victory, Walter was recorded as having been the oldest man to serve in the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Walter later owned both Purser Place and Burke House at Wouldham. A photograph of Walters’s grave at Wouldham has been added at the end of the following brief war dead commemorations. Our thanks are due to Patrick D. Scullion and Hannah L. Scullion, for their combined efforts and welcome assistance, which helped whilst carrying out the work involved with the updated Wouldham civic war memorial transcriptions, which have been set out below. 2 The Great War 1914 - 1919 ANDERSON , HENRY. Private, G/2787. 8th (Service) Battalion, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). Died Thursday 7 October 1915. Born and resided Wouldham, Rochester, Kent. Enlisted Chatham, Kent. Son of Mrs. Ellen Anderson (née Hickmott) of New Hythe, Larkfield, Maidstone, Kent, and of the late Henry James Anderson. Buried Valenciennes (St. Roch) Communal Cemetery, Nord, France. Grave Ref: IV. B. 18. Also commemorated on the Peters and West Kent Cement Works memorial. At the time of the 1901 census, the Anderson family resided at 3, Portland Place, Wouldham, Rochester, Kent. Head of the house was 44 year old Sittingbourne, Kent native Henry James Anderson, who was employed as a General Labourer. When Henry (junior) enlisted in the army on Monday 7 September 1914, aged 22 years and 24 days, he stated that he was employed as a General Labourer, residing at 3, Portland Place, Wouldham, Rochester, Kent. Henry was posted to France for service in the British Expeditionary Force on Monday 30 August 1915. Although all official documentation appertaining to Henry shows that he died of wounds, regrettably it has not been possible to add here the actual date of his wounding, or where it occurred. Unfortunately it has also not been possible at the time of updating the Wouldham casualties to ascertain if Henry succeeded to his wounds whilst he was in enemy hands. The town of Valenciennes which is known as the 'Athens of Northern France' is located quite near to the Belgium border and where Henry is at rest, remained in German hands from the early days of the Great War until 1-2 November 1918, when it was entered and cleared by the Canadian Corps. Plots III, IV, V and part of VI in the above cemetery, contain the graves of 348 soldiers who were originally buried in the German Extension, and an additional 226 whose bodies were brought from other cemeteries or from the surrounding battlefields. BAILEY , W. No clear trace. This casualty was possibly Wouldham, Kent native WALTER P. BAILEY. At the time of the 1901 census, the Bailey family resided at 6, Providence Place, Wouldham, Rochester, Kent. Head of the house was 57 year old Chiswick, Middlesex native George Bailey, who was employed as a Cement Works Labourer, as were four of his sons including the then 19 year old Walter. Only four Great War casualties are commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as either Walter Bailey, or W. P. Bailey, (all British soldiers) three of whom had the Christian name Walter and the other one William. Unfortunately none of the above casualties have any obvious connections with the casualty who is commemorated at Wouldham. BELL , J. No clear trace. Unfortunately it has not been possible for now to devote any more hours attempting to positively identify this casualty. No tangible research source used by the transcribers of these brief commemorations, has found any Wouldham area match for this casualty. 3 BLACKMAN , GERALD E. Sapper, 23652. Royal Engineers. Died Saturday 13 November 1920. Born Wouldham, Rochester, Kent. Son of Mr. John T. Blackman and Minnie Blackman of the White House, Wouldham, Rochester, Kent. Buried Halling, Kent, Church Cemetery. Grave Ref: 1914. Also commemorated on the Halling, Kent civic war memorial. At the time of the 1901 census, the Blackman family resided at 27, Ravens Knowle, Wouldham, Rochester, Kent. Head of the house was 41 year old Wouldham, Kent native John T. Blackman, who was employed as an Insurance Agent. Gerald enlisted in the army in August 1914, and has a Great War Medal Index Card entry with the same regimental number as shown above. The Medal Index Card entry shows the additional unit information 29th Company, Royal Engineers. BLACKMAN , THOMAS WILLIAM. Private, 27438. "D" Company, 6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment. Died Friday 12 October 1917. Aged 23. Born and resided Wouldham, Rochester, Kent. Enlisted Shepherds Bush, Middlesex. Son of George Blackman and Martha Blackman (née Horton) of 5, Ravens Knowle, Wouldham, Rochester, Kent. Buried Dozinghem Military Cemetery, Poperinge, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Grave Ref: X. H. 23. Formerly Private, 5, Army Cyclist Corps. At the time of the 1901 census, the Blackman family resided at 12, Ravens Knowle, Wouldham, Rochester, Kent. Head of the house was 37 year old Wouldham, Kent native George Blackman, who was employed as a Chalk Quarryman. Thomas was numbered amongst the 38 other ranks casualties in his battalion who fell during an attack on the village of Poelcapelle, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Amongst the officer casualties was the Commanding Officer, 29 year old Lieutenant-Colonel Harold George Fairfax Longhurst. It had been raining for two days and the ground, churned up by shellfire, had become a morass that made movement difficult during the attack which commenced at 0100hours.