Swanley History Group – Media Report – October 2014 meeting
How many names are on the Swanley War Memorial? 110 said Les Ayres during his presentation at our October meeting - but in his opinion there are about 19 more names that should be included and he questioned if two names commemorated, F Turner and T Turner could be the same person. Les has become an authority on the subject through his research for the Imperial War Museum on the people commemorated on the Memorial and through his successful campaign to raise funds for the refurbishment recently completed.
There are 60,000 war memorials of different types. Swanley’s is unique and designated a grade 2 listed building by English Heritage because of the high quality of the bronze statue of ‘The Spirit of Sacrifice’, by the sculptor Louis Frederick Roslyn, which is mounted on top of the tall Portland stone obelisk. Also because among the names recorded is that of Staff Paymaster Joseph T. Gedge of Swanley, the first officer to be killed in action in The Great War when HMS Amphion was sunk in the Thames Estuary on 6 August 1914. Les showed photographs of the unveiling ceremony in March 1922 at the original site. It had to be moved to it’s current location in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin Church in 1980 when Asda was built.
As well as a brief overview of the reasons for the start of World War One and how various countries became involved in the conflict which took so many lives, Les also provided personal information on some of the local people commemorated, a sample being the Chitty brothers from Hextable, Frederick Selvage who had emigrated to Australia, Robert Mills a submariner rammed by mistake and Herbert Randall of Crockenhill who died when giving assistance to others under heavy fire - names recognised as relatives by several members of our audience.
The subject of our next meeting on Tuesday 4 November is ‘Magic Lantern slides of North West Kent’ -7.30 pm start at The Clocktower Pavilion, St Mary’s Road, Swanley.
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser
How many names are on the Swanley War Memorial? 110 said Les Ayres during his presentation at our October meeting - but in his opinion there are about 19 more names that should be included and he questioned if two names commemorated, F Turner and T Turner could be the same person. Les has become an authority on the subject through his research for the Imperial War Museum on the people commemorated on the Memorial and through his successful campaign to raise funds for the refurbishment recently completed.
There are 60,000 war memorials of different types. Swanley’s is unique and designated a grade 2 listed building by English Heritage because of the high quality of the bronze statue of ‘The Spirit of Sacrifice’, by the sculptor Louis Frederick Roslyn, which is mounted on top of the tall Portland stone obelisk. Also because among the names recorded is that of Staff Paymaster Joseph T. Gedge of Swanley, the first officer to be killed in action in The Great War when HMS Amphion was sunk in the Thames Estuary on 6 August 1914. Les showed photographs of the unveiling ceremony in March 1922 at the original site. It had to be moved to it’s current location in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin Church in 1980 when Asda was built.
As well as a brief overview of the reasons for the start of World War One and how various countries became involved in the conflict which took so many lives, Les also provided personal information on some of the local people commemorated, a sample being the Chitty brothers from Hextable, Frederick Selvage who had emigrated to Australia, Robert Mills a submariner rammed by mistake and Herbert Randall of Crockenhill who died when giving assistance to others under heavy fire - names recognised as relatives by several members of our audience.
The subject of our next meeting on Tuesday 4 November is ‘Magic Lantern slides of North West Kent’ -7.30 pm start at The Clocktower Pavilion, St Mary’s Road, Swanley.
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser