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/

OUTPOSTS OF EMPIRE - GUIDED WALK

Worcester Yeomanry at the Pyramids in Egypt during the  Great War

On Sunday 21st of February there will be a guided walk entitled OUTPOSTS OF EMPIRE.

This walk will be co-led by FOBLC members Mike Guilfoyle and Peter Mealing . It will cover both cemeteries and stop at some of the graves of the soldiers, missionaries, adventurers, surgeons and others whose lives and deaths spanned some of the further outposts of the British Empire - from Madras to Malta.

All welcome.  It is free though any donations are appreciated - the walk starts at 2:00pm from the Ladywell entrance and lasts approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

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

Lance Corporal Debenham, killed in action 100 years ago at the Battle of Loos

On the pathway adjacent to Ivy Road in Ladywell cemetery, mournfully cradled by wreaths of ivy, lies the family grave of Lance Corporal Frederick Ernest Debenham -1894-1915 (1/20th London Regiment) killed on the first day of one of the most intense and bloody battles fought by the British Army in 1915 namely the Battle of Loos on September 25th.

The Battle of Loos was part of a joint allied offensive on the Western Front - dubbed the 'Big Push' which began on the 25th September 1915 and engaged 54 French and 13 British divisions, including many of Lord Kitchener's New Army units, on a front of 90 kilometers in Northern France from the small town of Loos in the north to the famed Vimy Ridge in the south. Casualties were simply appalling - 60,000 of whom died on the first day (the names of those killed in the opening fighting filled four pages in the London Times) in an attempt to breakthrough German lines (8,000 yards of enemy trench were captured) but the failure to exploit these gains has been the subject of much subsequent bitterly contested commentary. The battle also marked the first time that the British Army used poison gas as part of its military offensive. Battle of Loos Lance Corporal Debenham who worked as an Accounts Clerk before the outbreak of the war lived at the family address on Stanstead Road , Catford. He was killed on September 25th in the intense fighting that characterised the opening days of the battle and his name is remembered on the Old Dunstonian RFC Roll of Honour 1914-1918  Lance Corporal Frederick Ernest Debenham1/20th London Regiment

An outline of the contribution made by Old Dunstonians RFC who fought in G Company 20th London Regiment at the Battle of Loos notes the following significant information :

When the unit went to France in March 1915 the Old Dunstonian Platoons went with it, and this is the only recorded example of a single unit of Old Boys from one school serving overseas together. The Platoons went through fighting at Festubet and Givenchy with only light casualties, but on 25 September 1915 the unit attacked Loos as partof the 47th (London) Division and were almost destroyed. During the initial attack the Platoons led the attack through Loos village, and had further casualties in the following days of fighting as the Germans counter attacked. Most of the survivors were of officer standard and were commissioned into other units, and by the end of 1915 G Company had lost its unique Old Dunstonian character.

Rudyard Kipling, perhaps best-known for his classic children’s novel The Jungle Book (1894), wrote a haunting elegy to his son, and all those young men like LC Debenham who was aged 21 years when he was killed, who where lost in the great war, Second Lieutenant John Kipling who was killed in action on the 27th September at Loos :

That flesh we had nursed from the first in all cleanness was given…

To be blanched or gay-painted by fumes – to be cindered by fires –

To be senselessly tossed and retossed in stale mutilation

From crater to crater. For this we shall take expiation.

But who shall return us our children?

LC Debenham whose body was never recovered is also remembered on the Loos Memorial

Loos Memorial, France 

The WW1 scandal of the sinking of Submarine E13

Following the recent cutting back of overgrowth by Bereavement Services employees in the Ladywell section of the cemetery we were particularly pleased to be able to locate the family grave of Able Seaman Alfred J Payne. 

The grave lies a few yards from the path that runs alongside the boundary with the Brockley side. In the early hours of August 19 th 1915 the British E -Class Submarine E-13 under the command of Lieutenant Geoffrey Layton RN ran aground on the Danish Island of Salthom (Denmark being a neutral country in WW1). A Danish torpedo boat arrived on the scene, and as was the convention, communicated to the E-13 that she had 24 hours to recover herself and depart, otherwise she would be impounded and the crew interned. When all efforts to refloat her had failed at 09.00 am two German Kriegsmarine Torpedo Boats Destroyers arrived, and after raising a commercial flag, Cmdr Layton had no time to respond before a torpedo was launched and the second boat opened up with all her guns which caused the Submarine to catch fire and the call to abandon ship was issued.  But for the timely intervention of one of the Danish Torpedo boats which moved to place itself between the E-13 and the German warships the casualties would have been much greater. 15 sailors were killed including Able Seaman Payne 4317. Another fifteen Officers and men survived and spent the rest of the war interned, although Cmdr Layton later escaped and made his way back to England.

The incident resulted in International Outrage , with one leading Swedish Newspaper characterising the act as ' wilful murder' http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/20051888 The London Times headline ran as follows : STRICKEN E 13 SHELLED OUTRAGE IN NEUTRAL WATERS DANISH PROTEST

The story of the E-13 went around the world happening as it did three months after the sinking of the Passenger Liner Lusitania. The German authorities explained that they had violated Danish neutrality due to the fact that British submarines operating in the Baltic Sea had earlier fired on their battleship 'Moltke'.  Three days after the outrage the dead sailors funeral service was held at the St Albans English Church in Copenhagen following a memorial service which representatives of the Danish Navy and Government attended. The steamship Vidar ( ironically sunk in 1940 by a U -Boat) then transported the deceased sailors to Hull where thousands gathered and full naval honours were accorded. A remarkable silent newsreel film records this event http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//BHC_RTV/1915/09/02/BGT407040765/?s

The Danish Queen Alexandra sent wreaths of lilies for the hearse drawn coffins through the streets of Hull. The CWGC remembers Able Seaman Payne http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx?cpage=1 and for those who might at some point stroll amongst the bosky pathways into this part of the cemetery, might stop to recall for a brief moment the tragedy of the E-13.

For a fuller account of the tragedy readers are invited to visit this link :

http://thedanishscheme.co.uk/Articles/Story%20E13%20english.pdf

'Up The Line': Evening Performance in Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries, 11th November

This is a guest post from John McKiernan (ex of Moonbow Jakes) about 'Up the Line' an event he is organising in Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries for Armistice. The event will take place on 11.11.09 from 7.30 until 8.41 (1 hour 11 minutes).

"War is ultimately about death and destruction, avoiding war is by remembering the pain and suffering associated with it rather than victory or defeat. There is probably no more a war in history that teaches us this than the Great War.

With the passing of the last witnesses to WWI there appears a need to entrench the memory of this war, more than any other, on people of today. On all sides a whole generation was lost and to avoid repeating a mistake often means a strong reminding once in a while.

Brockley Cemetery is a beautiful, almost unaltered space, with two very poignant memorials to those who died from their wounds on their return to the UK during WWI. Local men in the main, from early teens to their forties. Many, if not most local people know little or nothing of the memorials or those who are engraved on the walls, including those who perished in Deptford during the first London Blitz of WWI from the Zeppelin attacks.






















On Armistice Day, November 11th at 7.30 an event is to be held to recognise the sacrifice of these young men and others and the work of those who have tried to keep their memory alive. The intention is to create a simple experience that is sober rather than sombre yet powerful enough to lodge deep in the mind of those who attend. It is not intended as a history lesson but a history reflection that will be easy for all ages.

The event will be a lantern lit walk through the cemetery during darkness and regardless of the weather conditions. The route can be from either Brockley Road to the Ladywell gates or vice versa. The route will have poets and classical performers reciting from appropriate pieces and writings of the time. Contemporary dance will capture the essence of passing and a silent film and soundscape expressing the 'ordinariness' of how the War became during this period.

The intention is not to create an education event or an exploration of people's opinion of war; the intention is to lodge an experience in the mind that will create questions and memory. The purpose is to attract as many families and younger people as possible, to have an unusual experience in an unfamiliar environment that will bond in the psyche. In the days, months, years that follow it would be hoped the audience will occasionally remember the evening of poetry, classical music, dance and a beautiful local cemetery and by association WWI, and the impact and loss it caused.

People are encouraged to come with differing generations of family, friends and neighbours including the young and the senior. A slow walk will take approximately 25 minutes maximum you can arrive anytime up to 8.25pm. The Rivoli ballroom have kindly offered to open for people to gather to discuss and chat regarding their experience of the evening.

This event involves many individuals and organisations who have made this event a reality. Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries, the Royal British Legion club in Crofton Park, many departments, officers, councillors and the Mayor of Lewisham Council, Lewisham Police who will be organising a guard at each entrance, Max Media Arts (Brockley Max), Mr Lawrence's, Rivoli, Oscars of Ladywell, South London Press and a huge array of talented artists from across London who will be performing in silhouette on the night.

Full details will be on the Brockley Max website and the event is bought to you by Moonbow Jakes events. This is a borough wide event to honour all those who died from and in Lewisham and remembering those from overseas who are also laid to rest on our behalf."

The story of WW1 Ace Walter Southey

We thank Kelvin Adams for bringing to our attention another war hero who is buried in the Brockley and Ladyell Cemeteries. He has kindly provided the following account.



Captain Walter Alfred Southey, legendary RFC and RAF fighter ace, was sometimes known as Peter Southey. He was awarded the D.F.C. plus bar. Originally 19th Royal Fusiliers. Regimental number, 6741. He enlisted in February 1916, joining the RFC on 5th August 1916. He flew Bristol Fighters with 48 Squadron and was wounded on 4th June 1917 and out of action till March 1918. He scored 20 victories with 84 squadron, between May and October 1918, flying the S.E.5a. His father was clearly stated to be a warehouseman in the lace trade, though this may be open to doubt - perhaps he was a manager. Walter is stated to have been born in Bermondsey, the family later living in Brockley and New Cross, with addresses in Arabin and Drakefell Roads.




His early death from skull fracture was due to a motorcycle accident. I am indebted to his relative, Roger Goulder, for this information. Southey had been discharged from service, and his inscription reports that he was "late RAF". However The Air Ministry handled a claim from Drakefell Road in November 1920. His parent's names were Walter and Emma and they are buried with him. Walter Southey was one of the great pilots, taking on the enemy at a time when they had their finest planes and pilots and odds balanced heavily on their side. It is understood that Walter may have been a pupil at Christ's Hospital - the Bluecoat school - perhaps further suggesting that his father was more than a warehouseman.

Southey accounted for the following:
1 x Albatross D.V : 3 x Rumpler C
1 x Focker DR.1 : 8 x Focker D.VII
5 x Balloon : 2 x LVG.C

"A gallant and skilful officer"
"An officer of ready resource whose skilful leadership is of the greatest value to his squadron"


To find his memorial - start at the Ladywell entrance, pass the chapel (going under the arch), turn abrupt left and abrupt right. The Southey plot is 103J. It is in an edge section, facing south towards the well populated sections U,X and Y. I was suprised to find members of a supposed working family buried in such a prime position. The plot is just after the reddish-brown obelisk and the Cameron/Laxton plot.

Commander A W Buckle DSO,RNVR

Continuing our series on war heroes buried in the Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries, David Platt and Michael Martin have written this account of the life of Commander Buckle


Located in the Brockley section of the Cemetery is the headstone of Archibald Walter Buckle. He rose from a private to command the Anson Battalion in the Royal Naval Division (RND). He was the only officer to be awarded the DSO with three bars; he was recommended for the Victoria Cross, was wounded three times and mentioned in dispatches five times. Winston Churchill referred to Buckle as one of the `salamanders born in the furnace,' who survived `to lead, to command, and to preserve the sacred continuity.'

Archibald Buckle, a school teacher by profession, joined the RNVR in 1908, and at the outbreak of war was a Petty Officer. He cut short his honeymoon, returning to London on the 4th August 1914, responding to the call up of Royal Naval reservists. When the mobilisation was completed the Admiralty found it had a huge surplus of Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves, this after manning the fleet and shore establishments to maximum capacity. Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, decided to form them into two naval brigades which, together with the Brigade of Marines, would make up the Naval Division. The First Brigade comprised of the battalions Benow, Collingwood, Hawke and Drake; the Second Brigade comprising the battalions of Howe, Hood, Anson and Nelson. Buckle joined the ill fated expedition to defend Antwerp as part of the Drake Battalion, and on his return was he was commissioned as Temporary Sub-Lieutenant in December 1914






The invasion of Turkey through Gallipoli, was the idea of Winston
Churchill, the ultimate aim was to knock the Turks out of the war by threatening their capital, Constantinople. When the attempt to smash the central defences of the Dardanelles by naval means failed on 18 March, a military force was assembled and plans were made to capture the shoreline of the Gallipoli Peninsula and so allow the naval campaign to be resumed. It was decided to use the ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corp), the 29th Division and the RN Division to achieve this, although other Army divisions were added to the fray later in the campaign.


Buckle was promoted to a Lieutenant in March 1915 and transferred to the Anson Battalion, and there followed a trying period for him, but extremely useful to the Division. Draft after draft of officers and men departed for Gallipoli, but time after time Buckle was retained because of his value in the training of officers and men. Like a hound straining at the leash, he longed to take his part in what he felt to be his job in the line and he had many arguments with those in authority in which Buckle was bound to come off second best. It was not until 1916 that his chance came at last and he went to France.

After the evacuation from Gallipoli the Army asked that the Royal Naval Division be disbanded but Parliament refused this request. However, the Army won the right to command the division and in April 1916 transferred the Division from the Admiralty to the War Office (Army). The War Office then decided to transfer the RN Division to the Western Front. It was at this time that the Army re-designated the RN Division the 63rd Division. In addition the
Division’s three brigades were re-designated the 188th, 189th and the 190th.





The 63rd (RN Division) was not immediately committed to the Battle of the Somme that opened on 1 July 1916. The division found itself in a support role up to the beginning of November 1916. However, the division took losses
right from the start of their deployment. During this period the Army attempted to insert control over the RN Division but were resisted by an “esprit-de-corps” that the Army never overcame. The division maintained its traditions, even to the use of ships’ bells, and the men regarded themselves as Naval Service first and foremost, even though they had to wear khaki and carry a rifle instead of being at sea. To bring the RN Division under control the Army Command appointed Major General Shute in 1916 and immediately on his arrival he ordered the RN element to wear Army rank insignia. The RN Division obeyed to the letter and wore the Army rank insignia on one arm and the Navy rank insignia on the other.

On the 13 November 1916 the 63rd (RN) Division was moved along the Ancre River in an attempt to give the lagging Somme offensive another push. On that day the division attacked at Beaumont-Hamel and their losses were fearful, although they did make gains and captured Beaucourt. This offensive continued through to 15 November 1916, by which time the division was exhausted.

The division remained on the Ancre for the remainder of the year and were still there in January 1917 when they were involved in costly operations along the river from 20 January to 27 February 1917. Buckle was involved in these struggles on the Somme, and in one incident his “old Burberry which he was wearing was riddled by bullets, and he sustained not a scratch”. In March 1917 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander.


In April 1917 the 189th and 190th Brigades went into action around Gavrelle in the Battle of Arras. Buckle again proved his worth and firmly established his position as a redoubtable military leader. It was noted “How well one remembers his coolness in organising the men when practically every officer had been lost.” Although Buckle's prowess was recommended for recognition during this engagement, he did not receive any honours, although his undoubted gift for leadership was displayed, and this laid the foundations for his future promotion and success. The division experienced heavy losses around Gavrelle and spent the next months on this sector defending the gains made.

The Division was transferred to Belgium in preparation for the next big push which was the Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele Between 26th October to 5th November 1917 the RN Division was committed to the battle. When Third Ypres had run its course the RN Division were transferred to the Cambrai sector to refit for another deployment to the Ypres front. When the division was there the Cambrai front imploded and the RN Division was sent forward to help normalise the situation. It was here they experienced heavy losses.

When 1918 began the Germans were back behind the Hindenburg Line and had soaked up everything the Allied High Command had thrown at them except for a salient punched through their lines at Cambrai. In March 1918 Buckle was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, DSO. This was a high award for meritorious or distinguished service rather than an act of gallantry, although in many cases during 1914-1918 it is not easy to discriminate between these two reasons for granting an award; in fact in some cases it appears that a DSO was awarded when perhaps a full recommendation for a VC could not be justified or corroborated.





The RN Division was still up on the Cambrai Sector in March
1918 when the front collapsed when the Germans launched their Spring
Offensive. The offensive carried all before it but it met heavy resistance all
the way. The RN Division battalions were present at the bitter defences of St-
Quentin and First Bapaume. Finally the RN Division found itself back on the
Ancre River on 5 April 1918, where they had been more than a year before,
and defending that line against the massive assaults made by the German
forces.

Buckle won the 1st of his three Bars for this DSO. The London Gazzette citation reads:

T./Lt.-Cmdr. Archibald . Walter Buckle,
D.S.O., R.N.D., R.N.V.R.
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of a battalion. He
repelled the enemy's attack, organised a counter-attack, and drove the enemy com-
' pletely out of the menaced area. It was largely due to his courage, initiative and
leadership that this important success was obtained.


The German attack faltered in front of Albert. The RN Division were in the Battle of Albert (21-23 August 1918) and Second Arras (26th August to 3rd September 1918) that turned the tide against the Germans and it was from here that the period of the war called the Advance to Victory began. In August Buckle won this second Bar:

AWARDED A SECOND BAB TO DISTINGUISHED SERVICE OBDEB.
T./Comdr. Archibald Walter Buckle,D.S.O., Anson Bn., R.N.D., R.N.V.R.

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When the progress of the brigade at
a critical moment was checked by machinegun fire, he went forward himself with his
battalion staff, reorganised his battalion and led it forward on to commanding ground,
seriously threatening the enemy's retreat. The success of the operation was largely due
to his courage and fine leadership.

The RN Division was in action at the battle and subsequent crossing of the Canal du Nord between 27 September and 1 October 1918 and the division captured Niergnies, near Cambrai, on 8 October 1918, where Buckle won his third Bar. The enemy counter-attacked in force, seven captured British tanks were moving forward against the British line. For a time the situation was doubtful, but Commander Buckle and Commander Pollock (of the Hood Battalion) restored the situation, each personally putting one tank out of action, by turning on it a captured anti-tank rifle and a captured field gun respectively.



Commander A W Buckle, DSO, RNVR : 1919

Three weeks before Easter 1927 he scratched his arm while mending a car. The injury turned into a boil and despite being hospitalized (against his will) it turned septic and ‘eventually the poison crept into his old war wounds and his bones.’ He died aged just 38, on 6 May 1927.

Full military honours were accorded the deceased hero, the coffin being conveyed from the house in 33 Crescent-way, Brockley, to the Church on a gun carriage drawn by six horses with outriders. The coffin which was covered with the Union Jack also bore the Commander's sword and five medals. A number of the deceased's comrades in the Anson Battalion walked beside the coffin and the boys of the Rotherhithe Nautical School, where he was Headmaster formed a guard of honour in the church grounds.

A friend said he “sometimes appeared staccato and abrupt, not over tactful to outside appearances. But it was a tactlessness born of a love of directness, hatred of pretence or of veneer. For to Buckle sham of any sort was like a red rag to a bull, and second as a provocative only to injustice.”

His medals are in the keeping of the IWM

Sources:
The National Archive (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ )
Imperial War Museum (http://london.iwm.org.uk/)
The London Gazette ( http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ )
Naval Forces and Merchant Navy War Graves (www.rnmnwargraves.org.uk/ )

Major Leslie Andrews

During the recent volunteer work day clearing up invasive saplings, two FOBLC members, David Platt and Michael Martin, who both have a deep interest in the Great War and the graves of the soldiers who fought in it, literally stumbled upon a grave covered in ivy.



Uncovering it they found the following inscription which they researched to find this fascinating and heroic story:

Leslie Earnest Andrews joined the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment, probably in June 1915 when the 10^th Battalion was formed as a response to Lord Kitchener’s appeal for volunteers. Leslie had been a private in the Officer train Corps, and joined the Royal West Surrey’s as a 2^nd Lieutenant.

The Queen’s Royal West Surrey regiment was originally the 2^nd Regiment of Foot, and was

renamed by Charles II in honour of this wife

Catherine of Braganza, “our dearest consort, the

Queen’s Regiment.”

The 10^th (service) Battalion was formed at Battersea on 3 June 1915 by the Mayor and Borough of Battersea. It was attached to the 124th Brigade, 41st Division, which was formed in September 1915, and was part of the Fifth New Army, K5.
Most of its units had also been locally raised, often by the Mayor or Borough Councils. The Division moved to France by 6th May 1916 and became a highly dependable fighting unit.

All units were concentrated near Steenwerck, and the Division began familiarisation with trench warfare in the areas of Ploegsteert and the Douve valley, south of Ypres, Belgium, where it remained until August 1916. The Division then moved south to take part in the latter stages of the Battle of the Somme.

The Division was involved in the first ever attack with tanks on 15 September (the Battles of Flers-Courcelette). The Division remained in the line, pushing on to Courcelette over the next few days before coming out for a rest and re-fit. They went back into the line in October 1916 taking part in the Battles of Le Transloy and Ancre Heights fighting in terrible weather in an attempt to reach higher and drier ground.

Leslie Andrews was promoted to Captain at some point between June 1916 and May 1917. He would have been in command of a Company, which would have consisted of 225 heads at full establishment. The body of the Company was divided into 4 Platoons, each of which was commanded by a subaltern (a Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant). In total, the 4 Platoons consisted of 8 Sergeants, 10 Corporals, 4 Drummers, 4 Batmen and 188 Privates, plus Company HQ. He would have been aged 22 years old.

Some time between May and June 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross (MC). Instituted in 1914, the Military Cross was issued for gallantry in presence of the enemy to warrant and junior officers of the Army.

On 7 June 1917 the 41^st Division was involved in the Battle of Messines. The target of the offensive was a ridge running north from Messines village past Wytschaete village which created a natural stronghold southeast of Ypres. One of the key features of the battle was the detonation of 19 mines immediately prior to the infantry assault, a tactic which disrupted German defences and allowed the advancing troops to secure their objectives in rapid fashion. The attack was also a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, which began on 31 July 1917.

Passchendaele lasted from 31st July to 6th November 1917. At some point during this time Leslie Andrews won a Bar, or second award of, his MC. He was “Gazetted” in September 1917 ( Gazetted means his award was published in the London Gazette, as were all military awards and promotions, and still are).

The London Gazette of 9th January 1918 lists the citation as:

“T./Capt. (A./Maj.) Leslie Ernest Andrews,

M.C., R.W. Surr. R.

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to

duty. After his Commanding Officer had

been wounded, he took command of his

•Battalion and displayed great skill and determination,

in controlling the men under

very trying conditions. He was continually

in the front line, and by his total disregard

for danger set a splendid example to his

men, personally encouraging them and holding

them together under intense enemy bombardments.”

As a result of the above action Leslie Andrews was promoted to acting Major, in command of the 10^th Battalion. At full strength this Battalion would have consisted of up to 1000 men.

British losses during the period 31^st July to 6^th November 1917 were reported to the Supreme War Council on 25^th February 1918. The figures used at that time were 244,897 killed, wounded, missing and sick. This includes casualties of German air raids behind the fighting zone.

German casualties have never been reported in detail. The British Official History speculates that enemy losses were about 400,000.

Major Leslie Andrews was killed in action on 20^th September 1917 aged 24, on the Menin Road. He has no known grave. His name is recorded on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, which is located on the battlefield and which bears the names of some 35,000 of those who died and who have no known grave.

Sources:

The Long Long Trail (http://www.1914-1918.net/ )

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (http://www.cwgc.org/ )

The National Archive (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ )

The Victoria Cross Organisation (http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ )

The Queen’s Royal West Surrey’s (http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/)

Commemorations from the First World War: the story of the Buddells

The Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries contain several monuments dedicated to the Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen who were killed in the First World War. Those fallen in service are also commemorated in many of the family graves and two FOBLC members, David Platt and Michael Martin, have been researching this and uncovered the fascinating story of one family, the Buddells.

Early in 1915 it was decided by the British Government that it would be impossible to return all the dead from the Great War to Britain for burial. As result it became policy to not return any and that they were to be interred where they fell with their comrades. This presented problems to the families of the dead buried abroad after the war. While today it is relatively easy to visit the battlefields of Northern France and Belgium, in the 1920’s it was only the very rich who could afford to do this, unlike in America, there was no financial support offered to relatives to make these visits. The old battlefields also lacked accessibility and accommodation for the hundreds of thousands of mourners that would have liked to visit until they were finally cleared in the mid 1930’s.

It seems that, in England at least, it became common practise for families to commemorate their fallen husbands and sons on their own family graves and tombs. This took two forms; either a small monument added to an existing family grave of a relative, usually the mother or father, when one of the parents died an inscription was added to their headstone. On closer inspection of headstones of burials from the 1920’s you can find many of these inscriptions. When these dedications were new and easy to see, before weathering and nature began to reclaim these graves, it must have been a stark and startling reminder of the scale of the conflict and sacrifice of these men and their families.

Some of these inscriptions contain enough detail to build up a picture of what was involved and make it possible to relate to some of the suffering the families had to endure. Others merely give a name and country and we are left to fill in the gaps with our imagination.

The Buddells

Located in the Ladywell section of the Cemetery is the headstone of William and Elizabeth Buddell. It contains the following inscription:

Henry and Elizabeth Ann Buddell lived at 52 Garthorne Road Forest Hill. According to the headstone they had three sons who served and died during or shortly after the Great War.

Frank Buddell is recorded in the inscription as Company Quarter Master Serjeant of the 10th Royal West Kent Regiment (Serjeant is the old British Army spelling of Sergeant). The Company Quartermaster Serjeant (CQMS) in the British Army is the non-commissioned officer in a company who is in charge of supplies. The National Archive lists Frank as Colour Sergeant. Historically, Colour Sergeants of British line regiments were tasked with protecting Ensigns, the most junior officers who were responsible for carrying their battalions' Colours (flag or insignia) to rally troops in battles. For this reason the Colour Sergeant rank was considered a prestigious one given normally to courageous Sergeants who had attained accomplishments in battles. This tradition continues today as Colour Sergeants form part of a Colour Party in military parades.

In July 1915 the 10^th Royal West Kent Regiment was attached to 118th Brigade, 39th Division. In October 1915 they were transferred to 123rd Brigade, 41st Division

The 41st Division was withdrawn after the First Battle of Arras, 1918 (fourth phase of the First Battles of the Somme 1918), and sent north to Flanders where it held a sector near Ypres that was, for once, relatively quiet. Nonetheless, the average casualty rate for the British and Commonwealth forces during the Great War was around three hundred per day when not involved in a major offensive.

Frank Buddell was killed in action 24^th May 1918 aged 30. He is buried at Brandhoek, Belgium.

William Henry Buddell was a Lieutenant in the 26^th Battalion New Brunswick Regiment. Henry is listed on the Commonwealth War Graves database as Canadian, and this was a Canadian regiment. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, or DCM which was instigated by the British Army as a means of recognising acts of gallantry performed by ther ranks' (i.e. non-commissioned officers) during the Crimean War in 1854; the Distinguished Conduct Medal was regarded as second only to the Victoria Cross in prestige. Acting upon the belief that during the Great War that the overwhelming demand for medals would devalue the prestige of those already available, the Military Medal was issued as an alternative to the Distinguished Conduct Medal from March 1916. Given that William is listed as a Lieutenant this implies that he joined as an enlisted man prior to 1916. The National Archive Medal Card lists him as a Serjeant Major, Canadian Infantry.

He was appointed Battalion Adjutant on the 13th January 1919. The Battalion war diary shows that he was admitted to hospital on the 30th January 1919 with sickness. He died on the 2^nd March. His funeral took place with full military honours at Tamines, Belgium, on the 4th February.

It is likely that William died of Spanish Flu, a pandemic that lasted from March 1918 to June 1920; current estimates are that between 50 million to 100 million people worldwide died, possibly more than that taken by the Black Death. This extraordinary toll resulted from the extremely high infection rate of up to 50% and the severity of the symptoms. People without symptoms could be struck suddenly and within hours be too feeble to walk; many died the next day. Symptoms included a blue tint to the face and coughing up blood caused by severe obstruction of the lungs. In some cases, the virus caused an uncontrollable hemorrhaging that filled the lungs, and patients drowned in their body fluids.

Albert Sidney Buddell was a member of the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC). This was responsible for land, coastal and lake transport; air despatch; supply of food, water, fuel, and general domestic stores such as clothing, furniture and stationery; administration of barracks; the Army Fire Service; and provision of staff clerks to headquarters units They were not responsible for ammunition and military and technical equipment, which were the responsibility of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps..

In 1918 the corps received the "Royal" prefix for its service in the Great War and became the Royal Army Service Corps.

Albert is listed in the National Archive as a private and has a medal card. He died on the 21^st February 1925 “As a Result of war service”

The British Empire mobilized 8,900,000 men during the Great War. There were 908,000 dead and 2,000,000 wounded. Albert died of his wounds over six years after the war ended in Europe.

William Henry Buddell died in 1935 aged 76, his wife Elizabeth Ann Buddell two years later in 1937 aged 78 having seen three sons die as a result of the war.

Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries

Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting on Wednesday night in the cemetery chapel - about 25 people in total - not bad at all for a first meeting with limited publicity.

There was general enthusiasm for starting up a Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries group, although a wide range of views were expressed on how the cemeteries should be maintained. A wide range of interests and connections brought people to the meeting - some were interested in the historical importance of the cemeteries, others in the wildlife, some in photographing the memorials, some in the Commonwealth war graves and some in particular in the graves of loved ones.

Special thanks should go to local resident Jeff Hart, who shared with the group his extensive experience in setting up Friends of Nunhead Cemetery and gave us lots of useful advice and food for thought.

A follow-up meeting has been arranged for Wednesday 8th August, 7.30pm, this time in the Brockley Grove depot, next door to the cemetery. The aim of this meeting will be to decide what people want the group to achieve, how to set it up and hopefully people will start work to move things forward.

I've got the minutes to type up over the weekend and will try to post them here. Hopefully a couple of people (our 'IT sub-committee') are setting up a FOBLC blog and an e-mail list very soon