Francis Paget Hewkley: awarded Military Medal for bravery at the Somme

Many thanks to Stuart Hallifax who has written a great piece on Francis Paget Hewkley in his Great War London blog.  Hewkley was brought up in London, emigrated to Australia in 1912 and then enlisted a signalman in the Australian infantry.  He served at Gallipoli before transferring to the Western Front where he won a Military Medal for his bravery in the Battle of the Somme.

One of Hewkley’s drawings for the ANZAC Book

However in June 1917 Hewkley was killed in action at Zonnebeke Ridge.  He was buried in a nearby Belgian military cemetery but is commemorated on his parent's headstone in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemetery. 

For the full article please click here




Frances Paget Hewkley Family Grave: source Billion Graves

The 100th anniversary of the tragic sinking of the SS Yongala and its Brockley connection

It's exactly 100 years today since the coastal trading ship SS Yongala sank in a tropical cyclone off the coast of Queensland, Australia on March 23rd 1911. The disaster became known as the 'Townsville Titanic' as all 122 passengers and crew were lost. The only body recovered was that of a racehorse called 'Moonshine' washed ashore some days later. That loss had a profound impact on Townsville which at that time had a population of just 15,000.

There is a Brockley link in the person of 21 year old Robert Walton Cook who was a crew member on the ill fated voyage and whose grave lies in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries.


The centenary of one of Australia's greatest maritime mysteries has been marked with the Yongala story appeared on ABC News, a national current affairs program in Australia. Click here and select Play Video, to see the fascinating history of the Yongala "What Lies Beneath".