Brockley's most important contribution to the D-Day landings

The most important local contribution to the invasion of Europe was made indirectly by William Potter Stone & Co., plumbers of Malpas Road. Frank Stone (1913-2004), a partner in the firm and the son of the founder, was born in Brockley, and was an old boy of Mantle Road School and Addey and Stanhope. He had become the leading expert on the welding of lead pipes, and in 1942 was called in by Siemens of Woolwich to advise on the design of Pluto (Pipe Line Under The Ocean), which supplied the Allied armies with fuel for tanks, planes, and trucks. Frank and his brothers personally welded together all the sections of the twenty-one pipelines laid under the Channel. At its peak Pluto was delivering one million gallons of fuel a day to the front line.

Located close to the pathway adjoining Brockley road lies the recently restored family grave of the Stone family. Frank Stone, was one of the unsung heroes of the civilian effort in the Second World War; a leadburner by trade, his skill and ingenuity made possible the construction of "Pluto" - the Pipeline Under the Ocean - which supplied fuel to the Allied forces after D-Day.

The establishment of a reliable source of petrol for the period following the D-Day landings was a high priority for the military planners. Any loss of momentum caused by problems in fuel supply could have jeopardised the whole operation, giving German forces the opportunity to re-group and counter-attack. Conventional tankers and ship-to-shore pipelines would be vulnerable to the Luftwaffe, and it was Lord Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations, who suggested an undersea pipeline. At first this seemed an impossible proposal: no pipeline had yet been built that could be relied upon to be flexible in rough seas and stand up to the pressure under water.

If a pipeline failed, it would have been impossible to carry out repairs. Yet, in 1942, Siemens Brothers of Woolwich were commissioned to design a suitable pipeline. It was a complex task, and there were many failures at the design stage arising from kinks, bursts and collapses due to external water pressure and other forces; the joints between pipe sections were particularly vulnerable.
In 1942 Frank Stone and his brother Albert, then working in the family lead specialist business, W P Stone, were called upon by Siemens and asked to develop a method of jointing 700-yard lengths of extruded lead alloy pipes, capable of being fully flexible, as strong or stronger than the lead pipe itself, able to withstand coiling, and capable of passing over special wheels in order to be covered in steel pressure tapes and steel armour wires.

The two brothers set to work, producing sample joints for test purposes, and, after a short period of intense effort using various lead alloys, a joint was produced which passed all the bending and pressure tests. The Stones were duly awarded the contract to make the joints for a five-mile length of armoured pipeline for laying trials in the River Thames. The final specification for the pipeline was for a flexible tube comprising an inner lead pipe 3 in in diameter, encased in layers of tape, bitumen and steel and wire. As Siemens did not have enough capacity at their works in Woolwich, Callenders Cables of Erith were co-opted to increase the overall output.

For about two years, Frank Stone and his brothers, Albert and Ron, worked at Woolwich and Erith, making more than 500 joints at Siemens and more than 800 at Callenders. They worked 18-20 hour shifts, seven days a week, leadburning nearly all the joints that eventually made up the 11 pipelines laid between Dungeness and Boulogne (each of 32 nautical miles), and the two pipelines laid between Shanklin and Cherbourg, each of 70 nautical miles. The pipelines were ready by D-Day, but were not laid until after the French coastal area had been cleared of the enemy. The millions of gallons of fuel they supplied helped to ensure that the Allied armies could break out after D-Day. General Eisenhower described the Pluto project as "second in daring only to the artificial 'Mulberry' Harbours".

The Stones' work was so secret that they could not even tell their father - had the secret leaked, the cable works would have become prime targets for enemy aircraft. The secrecy also meant that the Stones' efforts went largely unrecognised; but the pipeline never failed in its operational life.

PLUTO, the WW2 Pipeline Under the Ocean, was designed to supply petrol from storage tanks in southern England to the advancing Allied armies in France in the months following D-Day.

In a very short time a continuous flow of fuel was up and running. It is estimated that between August 1944 and May 1945 PLUTO delivered over 172 million gallons to France. As the Allies moved inland, the pipeline was transferred from the Isle of Wight to Dungeness in Kent to shorten the supply route. PLUTO was the world’s first undersea oil pipeline and made a major contribution, not only to the Allied war effort, but also to subsequent pipeline development.

Pluto (Pipe Line Under The Ocean), which supplied the Allied armies with fuel for tanks, planes, and trucks.

The second of seven children, Frank William Stone was born at Brockley, south-east London, on November 19 1913. His father, William Stone, had founded the family ship and chemical plumbing business, W P Stone, in 1896. The firm became one of the first specialist leadburners in London.
Frank was educated at Addey and Stanhope Grammar School, Deptford, where he won prizes for art, then joined the family business as an apprentice in 1929, becoming a director in 1933.
At the outbreak of war, as members of a reserved occupation, Frank and his brothers were exempted from military service. Albert joined the Home Guard, and Frank and Ronald served as fire watchers. In addition to their work on Pluto, they manufactured hundreds of lead-lined tanks for the chemical and electroplating industries, carrying out maintenance site-work in chemical plants.
After the war, Frank became managing director of the family business, which remained involved in undersea cable work and, during the 1950s, went into making lead radiation protection equipment for hospital radiotherapy departments.

In 1957 Stone joined James Girdler, another lead specialist firm, based at Acton, as managing director. He built up the business, taking advantage of the increased demand for lead shielding in the nuclear industry and in specialist cancer hospitals. He also became involved in the production of diagnostic and therapeutic "phantoms" - simulacra of human bodies with real human skeletons inside. These were designed to avoid the use of human volunteers during the calibration of X-ray and radiation therapy machines.

Stone retired from James Girdler in 1978, though he remained a consultant to the firm for a further three years and continued to work as a freelance consultant to the cable industry until the age of 83. In 1987 he returned to Erith to leadburn nine joints for a high voltage supertension submarine cable to be laid across the Madura Straits, from Surabaya to Madura Island, Java, in Indonesia.
Frank Stone married, in 1939, Margaret Cassidy, converting to Roman Catholicism on his marriage. After the war, he joined the Knights of St Columba and was actively involved in homelessness projects in the capital. In 1967 he was awarded the papal medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Pope Paul VI for services to the Roman Catholic Church. In 1999 he was awarded the Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award by the Lead Sheet Association.

Stone family grave near Brockley Road with a new headstone which recognises Frank’s contribution to the D-Day landings

(Source : Daily Telegraph Obituary 2004)

Remembering Private Elkins, torpedoed on the R.M.S Leinster 10th October 1918 in ' Ireland's worst maritime disaster'

Located on the berm that lies between the two cemeteries on the Ladywell side pathway is found the Elkins family grave. Private Thomas Elkins ( Middlesex Yeomanry) aged 36 years, Husband of Mabel Duncan Elkins, 39, Byne Road, Sydenham, was aboard the Royal Mail Ship ( RMS) Leinster when it was sunk by a German submarine U-123 shortly after leaving Dublin on the 10th October 1918.

Thomas Elkins who was born in Poplar in 1881 was a military passenger on board R.M.S. Leinster which was sunk by two torpedoes in the Irish Sea, 16 miles east of Dublin, shortly before 10am on the morning of 10th October 1918, on its outbound journey of 68 miles from Kingstown [now Dun Laoghaire] Dublin, to Holyhead, Anglesey, North Wales. It was Ireland's worst maritime disaster.

RMS Leinster carried 771 passengers and crew and was commanded by Captain William Birch (61), a Dubliner who had settled with his family in Holyhead. Apart from Birch, the Leinster had a crew of 76, drawn from the ports of Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) and Holyhead. Also on board were 22 postal sorters from Dublin Post Office, working in the ship's onboard postal sorting room. There were 180 civilian passengers, men, women and children

But by far the greatest numbers of passengers on board the Leinster were military personnel. Many of them were going on leave or returning from leave. They came from Ireland, Britain, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. On the Western Front the German Army was being pushed back by the relentless assaults of the Allied armies. On 4 October Germany had asked U.S. President Woodrow Wilson for peace terms. As the Leinster set sail the weather was fine, but the sea was rough following recent storms. Earlier that morning a number of Royal Navy ships at sea off Holyhead were forced to return to port due to the stormy conditions

Shortly before 10 a.m. about 16 miles from Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) a few people on the deck of the Leinster saw a torpedo approaching the port (left) side of the ship. It missed the Leinster, passing in front of her. Soon afterwards another torpedo struck the port side where the postal sorting room was located. Postal Sorter John Higgins said that the torpedo exploded, blowing a hole in the port side. The explosion travelled across the ship, also blowing a whole in the starboard side.
In an attempt to return to port, the Leinster turned 180 degrees, until it faced the direction from which it had come. With speed reduced and slowly sinking, the ship had sustained few casualties. Lifeboats were being launched. At this point a torpedo struck the ship on the starboard (right) side, practically blowing it to pieces. The Leinster sank soon afterwards, bow first. Among those who died, including nineteen year old Josephine Carr, a shorthand typist from Cork. She was the first ever member of the Wrens (Women's Royal Naval Service) to be killed on active service.

Thomas Elkins –Middlesex Yeomanry -10.10.18 aged 36. He is buried at Grangegorman Military Cemetery (CWGC) Co. Dublin

Ironically the U Boat that sank her was herself lost soon after. The UB-123 was probably lost in a minefield in the North Sea on its way back to Germany, on or about 19 October 1918. The bodies of her commander Robert Ramm and his crew of two officers and thirty-three men were never recovered.

Another casualty of the sinking is separately remembered on a family headstone a short distance from the Elkins family grave – Dulwich born Captain Frank Winterbourn (1890-1918) London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers). He is also buried at Grangegorman.

The Friends group have been in contact with author Philip Lecane, who’s powerfully moving book on the sinking ‘Torpedoed’ tells the stories of many of the people who sailed on the last fateful voyage of the R.M.S. Leinster.

Between July and December 2018 the National Maritime Museum, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, will host a new exhibition to mark the centenary of the sinking of the RMS Leinster on 10 October 1918. The RMS Leinster was originally built for the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company to service its route across the Irish Sea, and had been pressed into service during the First World War. The sinking of the Leinster remains the single biggest maritime disaster ever recorded in the Irish Sea, and will be marked by a full commemorative programme in late 2018.

Death of a Local Hero : Major Charles Edward Fysh DSO MC and Bar. Killed in Action on the Marne, France July 28th 1918

Major Charles Edward Fysh (1894-1918)

Located alongside one of the inner pathways in Ladywell cemetery lies the headstone (see photograph below) on which the name of Major Charles Edward Fysh is inscribed with those of his parents. He was with British troops taking part in Marshal Foch’s large scale and highly successful counter offensive of the River Marne in July 1918, which proved to be the start of an unbroken series of Allied successes termed 'The Hundred Days Offensive' lasting until the November 11th Armistice.

The headstone will be visited on a Guided Walk: The Final Push on Sunday 9th September 2pm – 3.30pm. The walk commemorates  the final efforts to end the First World War and will visit other relevant headstones and memorials.

Headstone with name of Major Charles Edward Fysh inscribed alongside those of his parents.

It was whilst serving with the 6th battalion Seaforth Highlanders that he was killed on 28 July 1918 at Chaumuzy on the Marne while holding the rank of Acting Lieutenant Colonel. He had attended Colfe's School from 1906-1911 and was 23 when he was killed having earlier joined the Seaforth Highlanders on the outbreak of war from his university Officer Training Corps.  The London Gazette of 24 July 1917 carries the citation for his first Military Cross : “ For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in leading his company in a successful counter-attack upon the enemy. He afterwards personally reconnoitred and cleared up the situation in front of his line, taking command of another company which had lost its commander and establishing strong posts and communication with both flanks. His promptness and initiative were most marked. ”

His second MC was Gazetted on 23 July 1918 :”For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. It was mainly owing to this officer's courage and determination in command of a company that the line held throughout two days' fighting. He continued his fine work during the three following days, constantly exposed to machine-gun fire, and by encouraging his men inflicting heavy losses on the enemy.

The citation for his Distinguished Service Order Gazetted on 13 September 1918 reads : “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in command of his battalion in action. He displayed great capabilities for organisation, rallying men of other units and leading them forward through heavy fire to posts from which they were able to inflict severe loss on the enemy. He made repeated reconnaissances to the front and flanks, regardless of his own safety, and on one occasion it was mainly due to his good work that the enemy failed to effect a crossing over a canal.”

He is buried in the churchyard of the village of St Imoges near Epernay

(Inline image)  churchyard of the village of St Imoges near Epernay

The Fysh family have a very distinguished lineage - one relative Sir Philip Oakley Fysh became Premier of Tasmania and another was Sir Wilmot Hudson Fysh, KBE, DFC who became a famous Australian aviator during the Great War in the Middle Eastern Campaigns and was the founder of the Australian airline company Qantas
Inline image

Messages, Medals, and Memorials – public art exhibition in Ladywell Cemetery Chapel Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th September 11am – 4pm

Messages, Medals, and Memorials – a public art exhibition which will be in the Chapel of the Ladywell Cemetery on Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th September 11am – 4pm, commemorates the contribution of Colonial troops and the Labour Corps to the war effort in the First World War. Though never fully acknowledged, Europe's Great War was a war of colonials and a colonial theatre of war. Over 4 million African, Indian, Caribbean and other colonial troops and personnel played a crucial role in supporting the Allied cause in World War I. The Labour Corps, formed in January 1917, grew to some 389,900 men, more than 10% of the total size of the Army by the Armistice on 11th November 1918.

In sharp contrast to notions of duty, honour and fighting for King and Country, Colonial troops and Labour corps faced a whole range of inequalities in military and non-military equipment, mobility and privileges that separated them from their white counterparts. Non-white colonial troops and labour corps were routinely segregated, closely watched, subject to curfews and other restrictions.

Messages, Medals, and Memorials through the artworks on display tells the stories of their lives before the war, their war service and their heroism, as well as the memorials that stand as a testament to their sacrifice. Nicky Scott-Francis explores the war service of the Gurkhas. Sara Scott will focus on the Sikh soldiers of the Indian Army who lost at least 174,187 soldiers during the war. Monica Wheeler tells the story of black soldier Walter Tull, whilst Louse Kosinska looks at the contribution of the North and South African Labour Corps. Elizabeta Chojak-Mysko draws attention to the Chinese Labour Corps, the soldiers of ‘menial chores’ who worked 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Jill Rock and Jolanta Jagiello uncover the truly forgotten ‘soldiers’, Jill Rock commemorating the 210,000 Irishmen who served in the British forces, with Jolanta Jagiello highlighting Conscientious Objectors who refused to kill and were imprisoned for their beliefs fighting in the name of peace.

The exhibition was originally funded by Southwark Council Neighbourhood Fund and is curated by Jolanta Jagiello.  The exhibition is in the Chapel of the Ladywell Cemetery, Ladywell Road, SE13 7HY on Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th September 11am – 4pm.   www.artgoingplaces.com and www.foblc.org.uk.

Lance Bombardier Sydney James Hedger- ' Died for his Country'- Dunkirk 1st June 1940 aged 21 years

British troops line up on the beach at Dunkirk to await evacuation.

Located amidst a cluster of graves in Brockley cemetery lies the gothic shaped family headstone of the Hedger family. The stark details of Sydney James Hedger's sacrifice, lettered on the headstone, having been wounded at Dunkirk tell the viewer that ' he died for his country and us' on the 1st June 1940  aged 21 years as part of  91 Field Regiment and now lies buried in the familiar soil of South East London.  Sydney who was the son of Harry and Lily of Catford, is also remembered on the Brockley screen wall.

Hedger gravestone courtesy of Billion Graves

The recent release of the film 'Dunkirk' ( 2017) has once again brought to wider attention with its dramatic recreation of the evacuation,  an evacuation codenamed Operation Dynamo, which saw the rescue of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and other allied soldiers from the French seaport of Dunkirk. By 4 June 1940, nearly 350,000 troops had been saved.

The evacuation associated with the troops trapped on Dunkirk, was called a  “miracle” by Winston Churchill. As the Wehrmacht swept through western Europe in the  spring of 1940, using Blitzkrieg, both the French and British armies could do little to halt the onslaught. For the people in Western Europe, World War Two was about to start for real. The “Phoney War” was now over.  The advancing German Army trapped the British and French armies on the beaches around Dunkirk. 330,000 men were stuck here and they were a sitting target for the Germans. Admiral Ramsey, based in Dover, formulated Operation Dynamo to get off of the beaches as many men as was possible. The British troops, led by Lord John Gort,  were professional soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force, trained men that we could ill afford to lose.

From May 26th 1940, small ships transferred soldiers to larger ones which then brought them back to ports in southern Britain. The beach at Dunkirk was on a shallow slope so no large boat could get near to the actual beaches where the men were. Therefore, smaller boats were needed to take on board men who would then be transferred to a larger boat based further off shore. 800 of these legendary “little ships” were used. It is thought that the smallest boat to make the journey across the Channel was the Tamzine – an 18 feet open topped fishing boat which is now on display at the Imperial War Museum, London.

Despite attacks from German fighter and bomber planes, the Wehrmacht never launched a full-scale attack on the beaches of Dunkirk. Panzer tank crews awaited the order from Hitler but it never came. In his memoirs, Field Marshall Rundstadt, the German commander-in-chief in France during the 1940 campaign, called Hitler’s failure to order a full-scale attack on the troops on Dunkirk his first fatal mistake of the war. That 338,000 soldiers were evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk would seem to uphold this view.

One of the reasons put forward for Hitler not ordering an attack was that he believed that Britain had suffered from the might of the Wehrmacht once and that this experience would be sufficient for Britain to come to peace terms with Hitler. For a powerfully paced narrative account of the Dunkirk Campaign the special 75th Anniversary edition of the book by Simon Sebag-Montefiore comes highly recommended. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/55581/dunkirk/

A Tribute to Second Lieutenant Hugh Gordon Langton- killed at Passchendale October 25th 1917

One of many iconic images of the Passchendaele battlefield in 1917

Passendaele (Passendal) is a small village five miles north-east of Ypres in Belgium and is the name by which the final stages of the Third Battle of Ypres are better known. Along with the Somme, it has come to symbolise the Great War for many. The Third battle of Ypres was preceded by the attack on Messines ridge in June 1917. The main battle commenced on the 31st of July 1917, and stretched on until November the 10th, 1917. The final phase, the advance on Passchendaele, took place in October and November, the aim being to take the strategically important high ground of the Passchendaele ridge. The first battle of Passchendaele, on the 12th October, failed to take the village, and the second battle of Passchendaele lasted from the 26th of October until the 10th of November. After over three months, with 325,000 Allied and 260,000 German casualties the result was little more than to expand the ground covered by the Ypres salient and the controversy over the conduct of the Battle remains to this day.

Second Lieutenant Hugh Gordon Langton, (4th Battalion-London Regiment) Royal Fusiliers

On Sunday, November 5th, 2017 at Poelcapelle CWGC Cemetery near Ypres (Ieper), Belgium (see below), there was a ‘special centennial memorial’ for Second Lieutenant Hugh Gordon Langton, (4th Battalion-London Regiment) Royal Fusiliers, who was killed in action on October 26th, 1917, during the ‘Battle of Passchendale’.  Eight members of the Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries group attended as part of a British delegation at the kind invitation of Gil Bossuyt (First World War guide- www.frontaaltours.com). Also in attendance playing the moving music for the tribute were 45 musicians from the local Flemish Deerlijk Brass Band.  The event was recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (see link below) and in a welcome break in the weather during a sunlit interlude a poppy wreath was laid at the headstone.

Headstone of Second Lieutenant Hugh Gordon Langton -Poelcapelle British cemetery

Hugh Gordon Langton was a very promising violinist, who was taught by the most prominent music teachers from that time from across Europe. The grave of Hugh Gordon Langton is the only one of all Commonwealth graves and memorials (there are more than a million worldwide) which has musical notes inscribed as an epitaph. However a recent tonal revision of the musical notation - the piece was originally thought to have been from ' After the Ball is over' a popular Tin Pan Alley song from 1891, has led to some doubts by music scholars as the notes would suggest a different composition.

As part of the planned visit the Friends group were able to benefit from an excellent guided walk from Gil over parts of the former Battlefield, to be present at the playing of the last post at the Menin gate, Ypres and to enjoy the warm hospitality offered after the Sunday tribute by sharing in a memorable meal with Gil and members of the band in nearby Zonnebeke before returning home.

Members of the Friends group with local tour guide Gil Bossuyt in Poelcappelle cemetery

At @CWGC Poelcapelle British Cemetery in Belgium on Sunday, 45 musicians from the Deerlijk Brass Band performed a special #HoldHighTheTorch tribute during a ceremony commemorating Second Lieutenant Hugh Gordon Langton. Download the free app here

Family grave of Hugh Gordon Langton’s parents and his younger deceased brother in Brockley cemetery.

New Hither Green and Sydenham memorial to those who died through enemy air raids in WW1 unveiled

Commemoration of Civilian Deaths in Hither Green and Sydenham in WW1

The memorial in the Ladywell Cemetery commemorates civilian victims of enemy air raids in the First World War.

On 19th October 1917 a Zeppelin dropped a bomb on what was then Glenview Road near Hither Green station.  (The road is now part of the extended Nightingale Grove).  Three houses were destroyed and others damaged.  Two families in particular suffered badly:  the Kingston family lost seven children killed; the Milgate family lost four members – the father and three children.  They and others (a total of fifteen people) were buried in Heroes Corner.

On 19th May 1918 a Gotha bomber dropped a bomb on Sydenham Road, at its junction with Fairlawn Park.  Several shops were demolished or damaged.  Five members of the Delahoy family, father mother and three daughters, were killed as were four people in the adjoining shop.  A total of thirteen people were buried together in a public grave.

The original memorial to the victims of these two incidents was erected by public subscription at the position of the first grave.  The names of the victims of both events were recorded on the memorial slab.  Over a period of time, the slab became weathered and the names indecipherable.

The Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries, with the agreement of Lewisham Bereavement Services, instigated a project to restore this memorial, and to refurbish the Deptford civilian memorial in the Brockley Cemetery.  The Friends group was successful in its bid for funding to the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Ladywell Ward Assembly.

The unveiling of the new Hither Green and Sydenham memorial, and the commemoration of the victims, on Saturday 21st October at 2.30pm marks the completion of the first stage of the project.

Private Joseph Byrne (1897-1915) the first soldier to die at Lewisham Military Hospital remembered at Brockley Max Festival

A moving tribute song was performed by the group 1965, a Folk and Roots duo, joined by friends as part of the 2017 Brockley Max festival . The song was written by a band member whose relative fought in the Dublin Fusiliers in the First World War and who was inspired to perform it in the cemetery after finding the name of Private Joseph Byrne on the wall of remembrance located in Ladywell cemetery. In the evocative setting of the Ladywell Chapel packed audiences listened to a wonderful rendition of songs from the group. The song can be listened to via this link :
https://soundcloud.com/mark-wallis-4/dublin-fusileer

Located at the intersection of pathways that lead towards Brockley cemetery and Ivy road lies the Commonwealth War Graves Commission wall of remembrance. Joseph’s name is inscribed at the southern section of the memorial (which has recently been re-laid and relettered)

Ladywell Cemetery Commonwealth War Graves Commission Plot-‘Heroes Corner’.

Private 9058 JOSEPH BYRNE of 4th battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers died of wounds in Lewisham on 16 May 1915, aged 18.

Joseph who was born in Dublin is buried in Ladywell cemetery where his name is recorded on the wall of CWGC plot in Lady well cemetery listing those whose graves have no headstone. He was the first soldier to be buried from Lewisham Military Hospital 19 May in the Roman Catholic section.

The Kentish Mercury 28 May 1915

He is also remembered on the Lewisham Military Hospital memorial outside University Hospital Lewisham.

The local community welcomed the arrival of the first patients to the Military Hospital and within less than a month of their arrival the residents of Lewisham had organised an outing for the patients.

Local people loaned the use of their cars to transport the wounded from the hospital to Greenwich Park where an afternoon tea had been prepared for the patients. Along the route from the hospital to the park flag waving crowds gathered to cheer the wounded and distribute gifts of cigarettes and fruit. In the Kentish Mercury (4th June 1915) one soldier is reported to have said “Well it would be worth getting wounded again for this.” Throughout the war the people of Lewisham supported the hospital either through volunteering, fundraising, providing entertainment for the convalescents and supporting the newly formed local branch of the British Red Cross Society.

The first soldier to die at Lewisham Military Hospital was Private Joseph Byrne of the Dublin Fusiliers. Private Byrne died on the 15th May 1915 from the shrapnel wounds he received whilst serving at the front and his funeral was held in the Roman Catholic section of Ladywell Cemetery. He was only 18 years old. The occasion was of such significance locally that photographs from the military funeral featured in the local press.

Frederick Innes OBE (1864-1921): Silvertown Explosion 1917

Contemporary newspaper illustration of the Silvertown explosion

Close to the Ivy Road pathway in Ladywell cemetery enveloped in its chitinous grassy embrace lies the Innes family grave of Frederick Innes, who died aged 57 years on the 14th December 1921.  Grandfather to FOBLC stalwart Ron Innes,  Frederick was intimately connected to the biggest explosion ever to hit the metropolis which destroyed a large part of Silvertown in East London on the 19th January 1917. The centenary of this tragic even is being commemorated.

Frederick Innes was later awarded the OBE for his  brave and public spirited actions on the day.  He worked as Chief Valvesman at the East Greenwich Gasworks which was damaged by the blast and worked heroically to save the gas supply to South London.  The Greenwich Peninsula History 2013 has the following account:

At 7 p.m. on l9th January l9l7 the Brunner Mond works at Silvertown went up – to the credit of Chief Valvesman Innes and his second Percy in charge of No.2 they managed to switch the supply over to No l. and the gas supply of South London was maintained. The holder’s builders had designed it to withstand hurricanes but the pressure of the munitions explosion ruptured it and 8 million cubic feet of gas extant in Greenwich – Charlie Wellard (whose biography is in Woodlands Local History Library} asked his mother if it was the end of the world. An old lady down the road from me says she saw a red hot girder blown across the river and pierce the gas holder. 

The devastation from the explosion is evident from this photograph  

On 19 January 1917, in the darkest days of the Great War, a massive explosion rocked London’s East End. Shockwaves could be felt in Essex, while the blast itself was heard as far away as Southampton and Norwich. But the firestorm wasn’t caused by the sinister German Zeppelins that were making increasingly frequent appearances on London’s skyline. In fact, the roots of capital’s biggest ever explosion were much closer to home: a TNT factory in Silvertown.

From the outset, the management of the former Brunner, Mond and Co. chemical works had expressed their concern about government plans to turn their plant over from the production of caustic soda to TNT for munitions. TNT is a highly unstable substance and the factory was in a crowded urban area. The Metropolitan Building Act of 1844 made it illegal to carry out ‘harmful trades’ inside the boundaries of London. But Silvertown was just outside this boundary, and its plentiful supply of labour and easy access to ports made it too good a location to overlook. In September 1915, the management caved to government pressure and the plant was soon making nine tons of TNT a day.

Sadly, the management’s concerns were founded. The explosion that ripped through the factory on that fateful Friday evening instantly destroyed part of the factory and several nearby streets. It showered molten metal across several miles, starting wild fires that could be seen as far away as Kent and Surrey.

The whole heavens were lit in awful splendour. A fiery glow seemed 

to have come over the dark and miserable January evening.

The Stratford Express

More than 900 homes near the plant were destroyed or badly damaged in the disaster, leaving thousands of people homeless. Between 60,000 and 70,000 buildings were damaged to some extent, including a gasometer over the river in Greenwich which blew up, spewing 200,000 cubic metres of gas into the air in a massive fireball. Factories, docks and warehouses were also decimated. The eventual repair bill was around £250,000 – a staggering amount of money at the time.

Even more serious was the human cost. Seventy three people died that day. More than 400 were injured, 94 of them seriously. One man lost his wife and four children, aged between 10 and 13. The dead also included many firemen from the local station, along with dock and factory workers and children, asleep in their beds. But the death toll could have been much worse: by a stroke of luck, the explosion happened at just before 7pm, after most people had left the factory for the day and before they had gone to bed (most of the damage to homes was to the upper floors).

Notice from the Mayor of Newham offering emergency assistance to those affected by the Silvertown Explosion 

The precise cause of the explosion has never been found and rumours abounded of sabotage by a German spy or that the factory had been hit by a German bombing raid. The most likely explanation is much more mundane – that fire broke out in a melt-pot room and quickly spread to railway wagons where 50 tons of TNT was waiting to be moved. The inquiry found that the site was totally unsuitable and that Brunner Mond had failed to look after the welfare of its staff. The government chose not to publish the findings until the 1950s.

Guided Walk Sunday 20th November visiting some of the fallen from the Battle of the Somme

 -

The Battle of the Ancre Heights

There will be a free guided walk visiting the graves and headstones in the Brockley & Ladywell cemeteries of some of those who fought and fell during the 141 days of horror  of the Battle of the Somme (July to November 1916).  The walk will be led by FOBLC members Peter Mealing, Mick Martin and Mike Guilfoyle.

All are welcome to join, we meet at 2:00pm on Sunday 20th November at the Ladywell Cemetery entrance.  The walk will last approximately 2 hours.  The event is free though donations are welcome.

Private Graham Charles Hines Bulford (1895-1916): Soldier killed at the Somme

Part hidden by a spangle of dotted vegetation in a grove alongside one of the inner pathways close to the boundary between the two cemeteries lies the Bulford family grave.

The son of Charles and Ada Bulford of 57 Adelaide Avenue, Brockley (lying opposite the green expanse of Hilly Fields) Graham’s name appears in a 1911 London Gazette post as a Temporary Boy Clerk before he enlisted as a private in the 2nd Battalion, Eastern Ontario Regiment, Canadian Infantry (Canadian Expeditionary Force) Service number: 444226. He died in action on the Somme, aged just 21 on 12th October 1916.

Canadian Soldiers Fixing Bayonets Before An Attack On The Somme

The following extract on Canadians on the Somme is from the Veterans Affairs Canada website.
The Battle of the Somme was not a one day affair and the fighting continued, notably with a largely successful dawn attack by the British on July 14, through the summer months. In late August 1916, the "Byng Boys" moved from the muddy fields of Flanders to the Somme, where they took over a section of the front line west of the village of Courcelette. They ran into heavy fighting and suffered some 2,600 casualties before the full-scale offensive even got underway.

In the major offensive which began at dawn on September 15 the Canadian Corps, on the extreme left of the attack, assaulted on a 2,000 metre sector west of the village of Courcelette. Advancing behind a creeping barrage (a tactic which had recently been introduced by the British, a consequence of adequately trained gunners, more and better guns and more reliable ammunition), the infantry was aided by the "new engine of war," the armoured tank. There were only a few of these and they were extremely unreliable and very vulnerable to artillery fire. However, at this early stage of the war their sheer presence often threw the enemy into confusion. The attack went well. By 8 a.m., the main objective, a defence bastion known as the Sugar Factory, was taken, and the Canadians pushed ahead to Courcelette. Numerous German counter-attacks were successfully repulsed and by the next day the position was consolidated. The enemy then brought up reinforcements, the fighting intensified, and gains became microscopic.

Canadian Recruitment Poster

In the weeks that followed the three Canadian divisions again and again attacked a series of German entrenchments. The final Canadian objective was that "ditch of evil memory," Regina Trench. It repeatedly defied capture, and when the first three divisions were relieved in the middle of October, Regina Trench was closer, but still not taken.

When the newly arrived 4th Division took its place in the line it faced an almost unbelievable ordeal of knee-deep mud and violent, tenacious, enemy resistance. However, despite the almost impenetrable curtain of fire, on November 11 the Division captured Regina Trench—to find it reduced to a mere depression in the chalk. A week later, in the final attack of the Somme, the Canadians advanced to Desire Trench—a remarkable feat of courage and endurance. The 4th Division then rejoined the Corps opposite Vimy Ridge.

There were no further advances that year. The autumn rains turned the battlefield into a bog and the offensive staggered to a halt. The line had been moved forward only ten kilometres, though ground of itself was not particularly important except in terms of morale. The Allies had suffered some 650,000 casualties, and both sides had about 200,000 killed. The Germans refer to the Battle of the Somme as das Blutbad—the blood bath. One German officer described the Somme as "the muddy graveyard of the German Army," for the British it turned an army of eager, inexperienced recruits into a fighting machine on a par with those of France and Germany, but at a terrible cost in human life.

The Somme had cost Canada 24,029 casualties, but it was here that the Canadians confirmed their reputation as hard-hitting shock troops. "The Canadians," wrote Lloyd George, "played a part of such distinction that thenceforward they were marked out as storm troops; for the remainder of the war they were brought along to head the assault in one great battle after another. Whenever the Germans found the Canadian Corps coming into the line they prepared for the worst."

Second Canadian cemetery at Sunken Road, Contalmaison ( Somme, France) in which Private Bulford whose death age 21 was recorded as 12th October 1916 lies buried. He is also remembered on the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa, Canada.

‘Gentlemen , when the barrage lifts’ –Rifleman Kenneth Middleton Davies QVR, killed first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Situated aside the inner pathway close to Brockley Grove lies a forlorn cross which contains the evocative lettering 'the barrage lifts' and tells the onlooker that Rifleman Kenneth Middleton Davies,  of the Queens Victoria Rifles or ‘Old Vics’ was killed in action aged 24 years in France on the first day of the Battle of the Somme 1st July 1916.  The famous quote above was attributed to a Company Commander in the 9th Battalion of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry who offered a toast before the Battle of the Somme, 'Gentlemen, when the barrage lifts'. In the week long pre-battle bombardment no less than 1,700,000 shells were fired at German positions!

British Troops going over the top on the 1st July 1916 –juxtaposed with bottom photograph of family grave in Brockley cemetery .

Kenneth Middleton Davies was born in Lambeth in mid-1891, being the eldest son of William Middleton Davies, a man of various occupations, and his wife who was born Hannah Eliza Shotter.

At the time of the 1911 census, Kenneth was living with his parents at 70 Revelon Road, Brockley, South East London, and was working as a solicitor's clerk. His army service record has not survived but it is known that he enlisted in London and his medal card states that he first saw active service in France on 9th May 1915, and was killed in action on 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme on which some 20,000 British soldiers lost their lives and another 40,000 were wounded. Kenneth's body was either not recovered or not identified and he is commemorated on the Thiepval the 9th Battalion of the London Regiment. Serving as a 'rifleman',  his medal card states that he was awarded the 1914-15 Star but omits any reference to the British War Medal and Victory Medal to which he also would have been entitled. Empty shell casings and ammunition boxes representing a small sample of the ammunition used by the British Army in the bombardment of Fricourt, France, on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916. [Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, AWM H08331]-

The 1st July 1916  was a near disastrous day for the British Army in France. Eleven divisions of Fourth Army attacked along a 15 mile front from Maricourt  to Serre. Two further divisions of Third Army launched a diversionary attack just to the north of Serre at Gommecourt. For a week beforehand the British artillery pounded the German trenches but the Germans had been there for a long time and they had constructed deep, concrete reinforced shelters beneath their trenches and many survived the bombardment. The troops went over the top at 7.30 am but even before they had left their overcrowded trenches, many had been killed or maimed by German artillery. The Germans knew that they were coming. Once in No-Man’s-Land the artillery continued to take its toll and then the machine guns opened up on the advancing British infantry. They fell in their thousands and the attack came to a standstill almost everywhere. Survivors sought cover wherever they could find it and at night they crawled back to their own lines, often dragging a wounded soldier with them. Only in the south were any advances made with the attack on Fricourt and Mametz. Over 19,000 British soldiers were killed on this day, including 2,500 from London.

The 56^th (London) Division and the 46^th (North Midland) Division carried out the diversionary attack on Gommecourt. It was intended to draw German reserves away from the main battle further south and to pinch out the Gommecourt salient. It failed on both counts. The German defences at Gommecourt were among the strongest any British attack faced on 1^st July. Nevertheless 56^th Division’s attack on the southern edge of the salient began promisingly. The first two German lines were taken but they could get no further. 46^th Division’s attack came to grief on the uncut wire and by the end of a very bloody day, all but the dead and injured were back in their own trenches. On 1^st July, 169 Brigade, 56^th Division attacked with 5^th London and 9^th London (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) with 16^th London detailed to pass through them once they had taken their objectives and captured a German stronghold called the Quadrilateral. But events did not work out as planned. The wire had not been cut properly and there were only a few gaps in it through which the attacking troops of 9^th  London could pass and whilst they waited they were hit by concentrated machine gun fire. Despite this some did make it through and into the German trenches. At this stage the German artillery opened up with full force, plastering no-man’s land and preventing supplies and reinforcements getting across. By now the German defenders had emerged from their deep dug outs and were pouring fire on the Londoners from their strongly held reserve trenches. Even so, some of the attacking force managed to push on to Nameless Farm road, a sunken road, but this is as far as they got. To show one’s head above the 4 ½ foot bank of the sunken road meant instant death. By midday the Londoners were running short of grenades and they were under strong bombing attacks from Gommecourt Park which  forced them back.  There was little help from British artillery and the wounded began crawling back across no-man’s land.  By 2pm they were still holding parts of the German 1^st & 2^nd line and the southern part of Gommecourt Park.  But their position was doomed.  There was no further attack from 46^th Division and to the south news came of the failure of 31^st Division.  Nevertheless they continued to resist but by 4pm the Germans had retaken their 2^nd trench and had footings in the 1^st. Before dark the Londoner’s numbers had been reduced to 70 holding a small part of Ferret Trench 200 yards from Gommecourt Park and at 9.30pm the last party made it back suffering badly en route. The planned renewed attack did not take place. 

Kenneth’s name is one of 72,196  British and South African servicemen on The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918, with no known grave.

War poet David Jones commemorated with maroon plaque

The unveiled plaque to David Jones

On Wednesday 2nd December at 67 Arabin Road, SE4 there was an unveiling of a maroon plaque to commemorate the Great War poet, soldier and artist David Jones (1895-1974), who is buried in the  Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries. Born in Brockley in 1895 he served in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers during the Great War, having interrupted his studies at Camberwell Art School, and was wounded at the Battle of Mametz Wood during the Somme Offensive in July 1916. Of all the Great War poets he served the longest on the Western Front and his superb poetic memoir 'In Parenthesis' published in 1937 won the prestigious literary award The Hawthorden Prize and was described by writer T.S. Eliot as a 'work of genius'.  A convert to Catholicism, he spent time with the sculptor and artist Eric Gill and his calligraphy and brilliant artistic outpourings were compared by the art historian Kenneth Clark to those of the artist William Blake. He suffered greatly from the trauma of the trenches which resulted in nervous breakdowns and much of his artistic imagery is defined by these formative experiences.  Following the publication of his second long poem 'The Anathemata' in 1952 his critical acclaim as a poet and artist merited the accolade from Poet WH Auden as' probably the finest long poem written in English this century'. David Jones died in Harrow in 1974 and was buried in the family grave in Ladywell cemetery.  On November 11th 1985  the Poet Laureate Ted Hughes unveiled a memorial stone in Poets Corner Westminster Abbey to sixteen Great War poets including David Jones.

Vice-chair Mike Guilfoyle and Nicholas Elkin 

great-nephew of David Jones 

The campaign to recognise Brockley's most illustrious poet, soldier, artist has been spearheaded by the Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries and all the funding to pay for the maroon plaque was sourced from the generous donations of admirers of David Jones with the support of the Homeowners and Lewisham Archives.  The maroon plaque celebrates the achievements of former residents of Lewisham Borough. The unveiling was undertaken by Nicholas Elkin, trustee of the David Jones Society and great nephew of the war poet, Nicholas Elkin, seen above with Mike Guilfoyle, Vice-chair of FOBLC.

There is also a video of some of the event on YouTube

The unveiling of the plaque to David Jones has been widely covered in the local press including the South London Press.

Commonwealth War Graves Tour

Commonwealth War Graves Tour 22/11/15 2pm to 3:30pm, meet Ladywell Chapel

Our next guided walk will concentrate on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials in Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries as part of their Living Memory Project. .  We are also intending to have a small relevant display of photos and other information in the Ladywell Chapel from 1:30pm to 3:30pm.

The walk will start at 2pm on Sunday 22nd November and we'll meet at the Chapel.   Please come along, and encourage your friends and neighbours to join us

Welcome To Hell: The battle for Lone Pine

PRIVATE HAROLD GREENAWAY

 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY 

KILLED IN ACTION

7th AUGUST 1915 GALLIPOLI

On the pathway heading away from the Ladywell Chapel just before the wall of remembrance (Heroes Corner) lies the family grave of Private Harold John Greenaway who was killed in action on Saturday 7th August during the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign of 1915. Born in Catford in 1893, Harold worked as a storeman before enlisting in Victoria, Australia in August 1914 in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) serving in Egypt before falling in action during the iconic engagement with Turkish forces at the Battle for Lone Pine which occured on the Gallipoli peninsular between the 6th and 9th August. 

The battle for Lone Pine has gone down in Australian military history as one of the toughest and most brutal ever fought by Australians in any war. A contemporary account captures something of the sheer hellishness of the battle: 'Just after midnight , the Australians launched their attack. It was a slaughter- the Turks were prepared and waiting. Australian dead and wounded covered no-mans-land, while others completely blocked the tunnel openings. Another attack was organised, and just before 4am the men charged again, but the end result was never in doubt and a fresh pile of dead and wounded Australians soon lay scattered in front of the Turkish trenches.'

Welcome To Hell: The battle for Lone Pine

In four days of intense often hand to hand fighting with Australian and Turkish trenches only yards apart. Almost 2,800 Australians became casualties in this battle ( with Turkish losses close to double that number) Of the nine Victoria Crosses awarded to Australians for the Gallipoli campaign, seven were awarded for outstanding acts of bravery over those four days. It is perhaps fitting that each Anzac Day (25th April) is conducted in the Lone Pine Cemetery , which is the largest Australian cemetery on the peninsula

With the centenary of the battle of Lone Pine fast approaching perhaps visitors who light upon the Greenaway family headstone will stay their step and in a silent moment reflect on the sacrifice of one local family whose two sons now lie buried on foreign soil. Private Harold Greenaway lies buried in Shrapnel Valley Cemetery . His brother Charles Frederick (East Kent Regiment-The Buffs) whose name is also remembered on the headstone in Ladywell cemetery was killed the following year in 1916 at Beersheba also fighting against Turkish forces during the Sinai and Palestine campaign.

Harold John Greenaway headstone: courtesy of Billion Graves

A look back at the tragic sinking of the HMS Good Hope

With the hundred year anniversary fast approaching of  one of Britain's worst naval disasters, there is something quite mournful about the leaf covered wording on the side of the Hawkes family grave a few yards from busy Brockley Road. It records the death of Able Seaman Reuben Ernest Hawkes, son of George and Amelia of Woodpecker Road New Cross, who served on the Battle Cruiser HMS Good Hope which was sunk with the loss of all hands at Coronel, off the coast of Chile, on the 1st November 1914.  The British were under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Christopher 'Kit' Cradock who had been tasked with intercepting a German squadron under the legendary Admiral Graf Von Spee which it was feared was likely to wreak havoc against vital supply routes between Britain and South America.

Grave of Able Seaman Reuben Ernest Hawkes, courtesy of Billion Graves

Cradock had two older cruisers, HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth, along with a light cruiser and an auxiliary ship, and was clearly up against a superior German force. The ships Cradock had were obsolete and he was up against a crack German squadron that had more armour and more speed. The battle saw both the Good Hope and Monmouth lost with all hands, while the light cruiser HMS Glasgow escaped by the skin of its teeth. Controversy still surrounds the decision from the Admiralty and its first Lord Winston Churchill that they had to take on this superior German naval force. Cradock had requested reinforcements but was informed that he had enough firepower to be able to handle the situation. He was blamed for this naval disaster but was unable to rescue his reputation as he perished along with 1,660 British sailors in the stormy waters off the South American coast. This engagement appears to have been nothing less than a suicide mission and the fact that he and so many of his naval crew died attests to the incredible courage on display on that fateful day.

After Coronel, at a reception with the German community at Valparaiso, Admiral von Spee was presented a bouquet of flowers for the naval victory. In his thank-you response he stated that it would do nicely for his grave.  

A painting; Battle of the Falkland Islands.

On December 8th 1914 the Royal Navy took revenge at the Battle of the Falkland Islands. Von Spee's flagship, Scharnhorst, together with Gneisenau, Nürnberg and Leipzig were all lost, together with some 2,200 German sailors, including Spee himself and his two sons; his eldest son, Lt. Otto von Spee, who served aboard the Nürnberg, and Lt. Heinrich von Spee who served on the Gneisenau. The admiral went down with his flagship, the Scharnhorst, along with all hands

The BFI are planning to screen a 1927 film recreating the Battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands