Epsom & Ewell War Memorial & Epsom Cemetery

The entrance to Epsom Cemetery.  One of our regular readers (hello Morag!) commented the other day on the lack of text accompanying a recent ‘Back in Blighty’ post so, moving swiftly from the sublime to the ridiculous, or maybe the other way round, this post might make up for it somewhat.  In the future this kind of detail will still remain an exception to the rule regarding the posts in this category – I simply don’t have the time to do this sort of thing for all of them.

So, come with me and explore the cemetery of a decent-sized Surrey town, certainly in the top ten population-wise, although, before we do, a little further down the road,…

…perhaps we should visit Epsom & Ewell war memorial first,…

…and then visit the cemetery afterwards.

The memorial remembers the dead of both wars, as you would expect,…

…the names of the 265 local men who fell in the Great War,…

…remembered on five panels behind the Celtic cross.

These gates were padlocked,…

…probably a good thing, as it turned out,…

…as I may have missed the dedication tablets…

…to the men of 18th, 19th, 20th & 21st Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) who fell during the Great War, had the gates been open.

The gates on this side of the memorial panels, as you will have already noticed, were wide open,…

…and on entering it’s clear this is a pretty big place,…

…with what appears to be a screen wall ahead of us, from behind which a Cross of Sacrifice pokes its saintly head.

And a screen wall it is (the cemetery entrance we just used on the left), 149 men who are buried in this plot remembered by name on the panels behind the Cross,…

…the grass lawn in front of the Cross marked with inlaid stones above, I presume, each burial.

Ah, the sun.  That’s better.

Time to introduce the cemetery plan, on which I have marked a number of areas of interest.

The war memorial is marked in orange to the centre left, with the nearby burials and screen wall in Plot K marked in green; we shall encounter the other two marked areas later.

The fifteen bronze panels on the screen wall are inscribed with the names of the 149 men interred here, but just before we view them in detail, on the far left of this picture,…

…and this one,…

…are two memorial headstones, one casualty from each World War, and both inscribed with the words, ‘Buried in Horton Estate Cemetery’; on the left Private H.W. James, Pioneer Corps, who died on 7th February 1941, and on the right Private P. McMahon, Royal Army Service Corps, who died on 1st December 1918, aged 36.

The cemetery register should be found here, in this small recess between the Horton Estate headstones and the bronze panels. Unfortunately, it has presumably been nicked so many times they can no longer keep it here.

So, behind the Cross of Sacrifice,…

…the fifteen bronze panels, from left to right.

The panels were paid for from a fund set up by the Horton (County of London) War Hospital, the Horton Hospital, the Manor (County of London) War Hospital and the Woodcote Park Military Convalescent Hospital.

At which point it’s high time we broke out into the cemetery proper.

There are casualties buried or remembered here from the Boer War and both World Wars, as well as a few other interesting headstones I noticed as I pottered about, so on this occasion we shall pay our respects to these men and women, with a few exceptions (for photographic reasons), according to the date on which they died.

Which means we begin in South Africa at the turn of the 20th Century,…

…with Ellison Blair McMinn Murray, London Scottish Volunteers Company, attached (illegible) Gordon Highlanders, aged 21, killed in action on 24th July 1900.

A second casualty of the Boer War is also remembered here,…

…Captain & Brevit Major Frederick Dymoke Murray, 42nd Royal Highlanders, Black Watch, commanding 2nd Regiment Scottish Horse, who was also killed in action, in his case at Brakenlaagte, on 30th October 1901.

William Maunsell Reeves was one of 128 passengers and crew, out of a compliment of 144, who were lost on the night of 20th February 1907 when the S. S. Berlin went down after encountering terrible storm conditions throughout her crossing from Harwich to the Hook of Holland, finally impaling herself on a granite breakwater within sight of her destination.

And so we find ourselves in the early months of the Great War,…

…and the inevitable early casualties; Privates William Andrewartha & T. Simms, both 2nd Bn. Manchester Regiment, both died of wounds, on 16th & 17th October 1914 respectively, and Corporal Edmond Buchanan, Royal Irish Horse, who died on 23rd October 1914 aged 23.

Above & below: Second Lieutenant Samuel George McClelland, 8th Bn. King’s Own Scottish Borderers, aged 19, presumed killed after the Battle of Loos, 25th September 1915.

Above & below: Arthur Joseph Edward England, 1st/14th Bn. London Scottish, aged 19, who died of wounds on 2nd October 1915 and is buried at Etaples Military Cemetery, where we visited a couple of years back.

Two CWGC headstones, on the left,…

…Lance Corporal W. Heffern, 3rd Bn. East Surrey Regiment, who died on 3rd September 1918 aged 42., and on the right,…

…Officer’s Steward 3rd Class John Treays, Royal Navy, H.M.S. “Victory”, who died of illness on 28th March 1916, aged 21.

Private F. Rasey, 3rd Bn. Bedfordshire Regiment, who died on 8th July 1916.

Lance Corporal Harry Allan Cumming, aged 43 and born in Epsom, 28th Bn. Australian Infantry, A.I.F., who died on 20th July 1916.

Driver William Matthews, Royal Field Artillery, who died on 11th October 1916 aged 21.

Private Horace Paul Cath, 7th Bn. The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), who was killed on 18th November 1916 aged 34, and whose name can be found on the Thiepval Memorial.

This is the sort of memorial that is always worth checking out; although the main inscription holds nothing of interest to us, and there’s a personal tragedy on the side with the accidental death of a young family member in 1946,…

…the reverse remembers Second Lieutenant Robert John Ledger, 7th Bn. Royal Sussex Regiment, who died in France on 11th March 1917 aged 26, and is buried in Avesnes-le-Comte Communal Cemetery Extension, to the west of Arras.

The headstone says he died of wounds, but it may actually have been from accidental injuries.

Driver Albert Maskell, 5th ‘C’ Reserve Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, who died on 7th April 1917.

Private Walter Skelton, 3rd Bn. Australian Infantry, A.I.F., another man born in Epsom who must have emigrated to Australia at some point before the Great War.  Killed in France on 5th May 1917 aged 28, his body was lost and his name is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Australian National Memorial.

Rifleman Raymond Norrington, Queen’s Westminster Rifles, killed on active service in Belgium, aged 20, on 16th August 1917.  His name can be found on the Menin Gate.

Private W. J. Thornton, 3rd Bn. Scots Guards, who died on 25th October 1917.

Above & below: Private Oliver Tresize, aged 22, 19th Bn. Australian Infantry, another Epsom native in the A.I.F., who died of wounds on 5th November 1917 and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery near Poperinghe.

Two more CWGC headstones, the cemetery chapel in the background,…

…on the left, Second Lieutenant John Prosser, 16th (The Queen’s) Lancers, who died on 28th December 1917,…

…and on the right, Private Ted Potterton, 43rd Bn. Canadian Infantry, who died on 7th July 1917 aged 27.  Ted Potterton’s headstone can be also be seen much earlier on in this post, beyond one of the two Boer War memorials.

Sister Dorothy Maud Chandler, Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service, who died on 15th November 1917 aged 31.

Above & below: Serjeant Trefelyn Roland Cropley, 1st/16th Bn. London Regiment (Queen’s Westminster Rifles), killed in action in France at Moeuvres, Cambrai on 30th November 1917, aged 24, and remembered on the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval.

Regimental Sergeant Major John Caldwell, Canadian Army Medical Corps, born in Liverpool and a veteran of the Boer War, who died aged 37 on 17th December 1917.

Above & below: Driver G. Hyde, No. 5 ‘C’ Reserve Brigade, was a Royal Field Artilleryman who had served on the Indian North-West Frontier, and who died of bronchitis on 27th December 1917 aged 44.

Second Lieutenant Arthur Ball, Royal Flying Corps (not R.A.F., as his headstone – close-up below – would have us believe, for obvious reasons), who died on 17th March 1918 aged 25, and is buried in Edinburgh (Seafield) Cemetery.

Four CWGC headstones are evident in this shot,…

…and as we get closer this small cluster of graves actually contains seven military burials (the approximate spot is marked in blue on the cemetery plan).  So, beginning with the CWGC headstone in the front left,…

…this is the grave of Private Colin George Spence, 3rd Bn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), who died on 18th November 1918 aged 19,…

…and in the left background, directly behind Private Marshall, this is the grave of Lieutenant William Eugene Coulson, R.A.F. (the headstone says R.F.C.).  ‘Bubbles’ Coulson had been shot down over the German lines in 1918 and made a prisoner of war, and was killed whilst flying home from Cologne on 5th September 1919.

The next military burial, the cross on the left of this shot,…

…is the grave of Second Lieutenant Harry Cecil ‘Pete’ Marshall, Royal Flying Corps & General List, who died on 23rd December 1917, aged just 18.

The next CWGC headstone is that of Private F. P. Perkins, 978th Mechanical Transport Company, Army Service Corps, who died on 29th January 1918,…

…and on his right, the letters of the inscription rapidly vanishing, Sapper Clement Harvey, ‘A’ Signal Depot (Bedford), Royal Engineers, who died on 4th June 1918, aged 48.

The final two burials are those of Private J. Girling, Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), who died on 5th September 1918,…

…and Sapper Reginald Phillip Sturt, Royal Engineers, who died on 21st June 1917 aged 27.

Moving on, and returning to our chronological quest, Private Thomas Alfred Axtell, 16th (Sussex Yeomanry) Bn. Royal Sussex Regiment, was killed on 3rd September 1918 in France aged 20, and is buried in Peronne Communal Cemetery.

Private Herbert Leval Garner, 10th Bn. Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), was killed in action near Ypres on 29th September 1918 aged 37, his name now appearing on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

Second Steward John Reginald Parnham, Mercantile Marine Reserve, was drowned during the sinking of H.M.S. Otranto off the Scottish coast on 6th October 1918; we have encountered the ill-fated Otranto before, when we visited the American Cemetery at Brookwood, where you will find details on exactly what happened that morning.

Lance Corporal Edwin Stanley Brown, 10th Bn. The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), was killed in France* on 14th October 1918 aged 28; at this stage of the war his body was probably buried where he fell, before later being moved to Dadizeele New British Cemetery.

*quite probably ‘France’ on the headstone could be extrapolated to ‘France & Belgium’, as during the war France was often colloquially used in Britain to cover both countries.

The grave beneath this old yew,…

…is that of Serjeant-Major H. D. Ellis, Essex Regiment transferred to Eastern Command, Labour Corps, who died on 18th October 1918.

At the base of the cross, with its sword motif, on the right,…

…the inscription remembers Second Lieutenant Gordon Harley Grellier, 51st Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, who was killed in action on 31st October 1918 aged 33, and is buried in Poix-du-Nord Communal Cemetery Extension near Le Quesnoy in France.

The grave of Captain & Quartermaster Jonathan Locke Johnston, Canadian Army Medical Corps, who died on 3rd November 1918 aged 31.  Although from Nova Scotia, Captain Johnston was married to a native of Epsom, hence his burial here, a long way from his roots.  Interestingly, forms I have seen suggest that his original headstone was a non-CWGC one, and it was not until 1987 that his widow made a request for a CWGC headstone instead, this one (this is an early example of the use of Italian Botticino marble as opposed to Portland Stone) being duly erected in 1988.

Lieutenant Gerald Birnie, 46th Battery, 39th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, who died of wounds on 4th November 1918 aged 19, and is buried in St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen.

Sergeant Alfred Llewellyn Brown, Army Service Corps Mechanical Transport, who died on 6th November 1918 aged 26.  ‘After serving four years in France he hath fought the good fight’.

Two more CWGC headstones, with a third in the background.  On the left in the foreground,…

…Lance Corporal E. Kitcherside, 3rd Bn. East Surrey Regiment, transferred to 436th Agricultural Company, Labour Corps, who died on 12th November 1918 aged 30,…

…and on the right, Sapper Alfred Montague Simmonds, ‘L’ Depot Company, Royal Engineers, who died on 13th December 1918 aged 44.

The headstone in the background is that of Sub-Lieutenant J.T.G. Bates, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, H.M.S. “Norsholt”, who died on 17th November 1917 aged 42.

Captain Philip Ferguson, Royal Army Medical Corps, who died at Horton War Hospital on 27th January 1919, aged 34.

Epsom and the surrounding area had seen its fair share of war between 1914-1918.  Soldiers were billeted here, the nearby Epsom Downs were used for training purposes (the grandstand of the famous race course where the Derby is still run each June was utilised as a hospital for wounded soldiers early in the war), and the many local asylums were converted into hospitals for the duration.  Once peace had finally come the huge logistical problem of returning hundreds of thousands of men spread across the U.K., many from abroad, to their homes, began.  It was a slow process, and in June 1919 some 400 Canadians remained in Epsom, bored, frustrated, and still thousands of miles from home.

On the night of 17th June 1919 a fight broke out among Canadians drinking in the Rifleman pub, the police were called, and one soldier arrested.  On the way to the Police Station another Canadian was arrested for trying to intervene, the two men finding themselves incarcerated in the cells for the night.  Once word reached the rest of the Canadians of the arrests they descended mob-handed on the police station to liberate their colleagues, and it was during the subsequent trashing of the police station that Police Sergeant Thomas Green received a severe blow to the head which resulted in his death.  Although no one was ever charged with murder, five Canadians were sentenced to a few months in prison for their part in the riot, a small price for a man’s life, you might say; I suspect that diplomatic relations with such a close ally as Canada, after five years of war, might have been damaged had one of their victorious army been hanged by the British authorities.

Bandmaster G. H. Grinter, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, who died on 18th June 1919, the final Great War headstone I could find.  The CWGC database refers to him as a bombardier, not a bandmaster, and his documents hardly help; all seems to revolve around the interpretation of the letters ‘Bmdr’, but you’ll have to check yourself if you want to find out more.

Poor Frank Tarr, drowned in Cornwall on 28th June 1923, aged 28.

Above & below: William Franklin Penny survived the First World War, dying in 1935, but his headstone mentions that he was Mentioned in Despatches on 20th July 1917.

And, so soon, we find ourselves embroiled in another World War, the earliest casualty…

…being Aircraftman 2nd Class Frank Joseph Foster, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 12th May 1940.  A total of 49 Second World War casualties are buried here.

Corporal Harry Moore, Royal Air Force, who died on 28th June 1940 aged 37.

Major Gordon Leonard Platfoot, Royal Engineers, who died on 29th September 1940 aged 42.

Lance Corporal Eric John Savage, Corps of Military Police, who died on 21st September 1940 aged 27.

And then the first sign in this cemetery that the Second World War was indeed a Total War.  Elizabeth May Woodger, killed by enemy action, 10th October 1940; the Blitz had begun, just to remind you, on 7th September.

And then Augustus E. Veal, aged 45, killed by enemy action on 11th October 1940,…

…as was 59-year old Maude Parsons.

Ronald Walter Bowden, killed by enemy action on 25th October 1940, aged 32.

Leading Aircraftman Harry William Selman, R.A.F., who died on 20th June 1941, aged 39.

Sapper Thomas John Peddie, 107 Bomb Disposal Section, Royal Engineers, who died on 9th January 1941.

Aircraftman 1st Class Charles Clifford Gladman, Royal Air Force (Auxiliary Air Force), who died on 3rd August 1941 aged 32.

Signalman Frederick Robert Ellis Steele, Royal Corps of Signals, who died on 13th August 1941 aged 20.

Pilot Officer (Pilot) Bernard Maurice Fournier, 49 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, killed on active service on 29th August 1941 aged 21, and buried in Ameland (Nes) General Cemetery in the Netherlands.

Aircraftman 1st Class Robert John Miles, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 18th May 1942 aged 29.

According to his headstone, Roy Phillip Hallowell-Carey was a test pilot killed on active service on 23rd July 1942 aged 30.  Perhaps working for one of the aircraft manufacturers, he would have been a civilian, and therefore not entitled to a CWGC headstone, despite the inference that he was killed whilst testing a military plane.

Petty Officer (Motor Mechanic) Cyril Lewis, killed on active service on 14th December 1942 aged 22.  Lewis, a member of the crew of H.M.S. “Saunders”, is buried in Tobruk War Cemetery in Libya.

The grave of Flying Officer Louis Charles Hoslin, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 28th April 1943 aged 28.

The grave of an old soldier,…

…Surgeon Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Desmond Gimlette K.C.B., who died on 4th October 1943, aged 85.

Petty Officer George Tiplady, Canteen Manager, Royal Navy, H.M.S. “Caroline”, who died of illness on 2nd November 1943.

Leading Telegraphist William Thomas Brown, Royal Navy, H.M. Submarine “Tuna”, accidentally killed on 21st November 1943, aged 27.

Flight Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Alexander Russell, 97 Squadron, Royal Air Force, who died on 17th December 1943.

Above & below: Marine Harry Walter Mansfield, Royal Marines, H.M.S. “Copra”, who died, aged 19, on 16th May 1944.

Even during the final year of the war in Europe, civilians were still being ‘killed by enemy action’.  Interestingly, the first V1 attack on England took place in June 1944.

Lance Sergeant Ronald Ryan M.M., 2/6th Bn. The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey), aged 25, killed in action at Coriano Ridge in Italy on 9th September 1944, during the Allied attacks on Hitler’s Gothic Line.

Leading Stoker Edward J. Bird, Royal Navy, H.M.L.S.T. 215, who died of wounds on 18th November 1944.

Gunner William Ernest Tuck, 109 H.A.A. Regiment, Royal Artillery, who died of wounds on 21st November 1944.

Private Edward Frank Petherick, South Staffordshire Regiment, who died on 5th January 1945 aged 32.

Squadron Leader (Pilot) Daniel Trevor Bulmer Everett D.F.C. & 2 Bars, 35 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, killed on 7th March 1945 and buried in Hamburg Cemetery, aged 24.  Everett had enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1940, and in 1943, after training and several operations as a second pilot, he was commissioned Pilot Officer and joining No. 35 Squadron, R.A.F. Pathfinder Force.  Promoted to Flying Officer by the end of the year, Everett was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross early in 1944, the London Gazette recording; ‘Pilot Officer Everett was captain of an aircraft detailed to attack Kassel on the night of 22/23 October 1943. En route to the target the weather was particularly bad and some of his blind flying instruments became inoperative owing to the icing conditions. This officer carried on despite this handicap as he fully realised the importance of this special task and at the target he made a most successful attack, this being proved by an excellent photograph. Throughout the 33 night bombing attacks in which he has taken part, Pilot Officer Everett has consistently maintained an extremely high standard of tenacity and reliability and it is considered that the fine results he achieved in this attack fully merits the immediate (amended to non-immediate by the AOC) award of the Distinguished Flying Cross.’

In early 1945 Everett was awarded a Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross, the London Gazette this time recording; ‘This officer, now on his second operational tour, is a brilliant captain of aircraft, possessing the greatest determination on operations and the utmost thoroughness in all matters of airmanship. Since being awarded the DFC he has taken part in many attacks against the enemy on widely separated targets such as Berlin, Nuremberg, the Ruhr and Army support attacks in Normandy. Whatever the target and whatever the task, he can be depended upon to mark and bomb with the greatest reliability. Flight Lieutenant Everett continues to show the keenest desire to operate against the enemy on all possible occasions and his enthusiasm and efficiency sets an example to the entire Squadron. In recognition of this Officer’s fine record of service, he is recommended for the non-immediate award of a Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross.’

In February 1945 Everett was recommended for the award of a Distinguished Service Order, later changed to a second Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross.  The London Gazette once more; ‘One night in February 1945, Squadron Leader Everett was pilot and captain of an aircraft detailed to attack Goch. Whilst making his first run over the target his aircraft was badly hit. The starboard main plane was extensively damaged and the starboard inner engine caught fire. Momentarily the aircraft went out of control. Squadron Leader Everett quickly levelled out though and feathered the propeller of the burning engine. The flames were then extinguished. Although unable to assess the full extent of the damage sustained, Squadron Leader Everett went on to make several further bombing runs over the target, which he only left after he was satisfied as to the success of the operation. He afterwards flew the badly damaged aircraft safely to base. This officer displayed a high degree of skill, courage and resolution throughout.’

On 7th March 1945, and now acting squadron leader with over 100 missions to his name, Everett and a crew of senior airmen, flying an Avro Lancaster, led some 280 Halifaxes and Lancasters to attack the Deutsche Erdöl-Aktiengesellschaft oil refinery at Hemmingstedt, near Heide.  Hit by German flak, his aircraft crashed and all eight crew members were killed.  Originally buried by the Germans at Hemmingstedt, the bodies were later moved to Hamburg Cemetery.

Above & below: Flight Lieutenant H. L. Furnell, R.A.F., 24 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 17th April 1945 aged 24.

Three CWGC headstones on the right, and a faux-CWGC headstone on the left,…

…that of Junior Technician J. Ganley, R.A.F., aged 35, who died on 27th January 1952, long after the final date for entitlement to an official CWGC headstone.

The back-to back headstones of Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Basil Douglas Spark, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 5th July 1945 aged 24,…

…and Private Margaret Burton, Auxiliary Territorial Service, who died on 25th April 1917 aged 23.

Flight Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Alexander Russell, 97 Squadron, Royal Air Force, who died on 17th December 1943 aged 25.

Corporal George ‘Tug’ Wilson, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 18th July 1945 aged 23.

Leading Aircraftman Eric Joseph Todd, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 5th August 1945.

Private Douglas Albert Taylor, Non-Combatant Corps, who died on 28th April 1946 aged 28.

Private Basil Warsley Poole, The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), who died on 16th June 1946 aged 36.

Private Leonard Charles Shrubb, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, who died on 13th March 1947 aged 40.

Private R. Collis, Army Catering Corps, who died on 23rd May 1947.

The grave of Lieutenant Colonel R. D. Cheesewright, 4th Queen’s, who died on 18th September 1948.

Maude Glenister was killed along with seventy five other passengers when a Soviet-made T134, flying from Gatwick Airport to Rijeka in Croatia, crashed on landing at Rijeka Airport on 23rd May 1971.  Although all passengers and crew survived the initial impact, the plane then turned over and burst into flames.  In the end just one passenger out of 76, along with four crew members, survived; many of the bodies were found in their seats, seat belts still attached, victims of carbon monoxide poisoning.

This row of headstones, all Second World War casualties,…

…can be found in Plot N, and is marked in pink on the cemetery plan.

Left to right: Lance Corporal Ernest James Newman, Royal Army Service Corps, who died on 19th October 1945, aged 24, Leading Aircraftman Ernest Robert Frank Reynolds, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 13th December 1944 aged 39, and Flight Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Matthew William Hanley, Royal Air Force, who died on 22nd November 1944.

Left to right: Pilot Officer (Navigator/Radar Operator) Oliver Lilburne Rieu Hills, 488 (R.N.Z.A.F.) Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 25th November 1943 aged 32, Flight Sergeant (Air Bomber) Keith George Redford, 578 Squadron Royal Air Force, who died on 16th March 1944 aged 22, and Sergeant (Pilot) John Roderick Richmond, Royal Air Force, who died on 2nd May 1943 aged 22.

Left to right: Lieutenant-Commander Roland Harcourt Tepper, Royal Naval Reserve, H.M.S. “Leigh”, who died on 6th April 1943 aged 56, Pilot Officer (Pilot) Archibald Jack Hicks, 114 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 3rd August 1942 aged 22, and Trooper Alan Beresford Moore, 23rd Armoured Brigade, Royal Armoured Corps, who died on 22nd May 1942 aged 33.

Captain Alfred Malet West, Royal Army Service Corps, who died on 5th February 1941 aged 45 (left), and Flight Lieutenant Edwin John Alway, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who died on 5th September 1940 aged 37 (right).

A which it point it’s time to leave,…

…passing the screen wall…

…as we make our way back towards the war memorial…

…and our way out.

265 names.

One name.