Portrait Gallery

Charles Clarke, son of Mr & Mrs C Clarke of 94 Tweedy Road, Bromley was a signalman in the Royal Navy. He was reported as ‘lost at sea’ in the local newspaper in mid-December 1914, when an explosion on board…

Sergeant Albert Ludlow was one of three brothers, and had lived at The Cottage, Cowper Road in Bromley Common. He was a member of the Territorial Force, 3/5th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment, He had joined from the Reserve and…

Sergeant Henry E A Squelch D.C.M. served with the Wireless Section, Royal Engineers, and was the only son of Mr and Mrs Henry Squelch of Crown Lane, Bromley Common, formerly of Keston. He was on the postal staff at Chislehurst.…

Sergeant A E Smith was the son of Mr & Mrs H G Smith of West Wickham, and had two brothers also on military services; Lance-Corporal C Smith & Private T Smith. Sergeant Smith was a member of the Royal…

Second-Lieutenant John Potter, D.S.O., was born about 1895, son of the late Mr William Manuel Potter and Mary Ann Potter, of “Clynder”, Gravel Road, Bromley Common. He was educated at Clifton College and on the outbreak of war joined the…

William Bray was an old boy of Ragland Road Boy’s School in Bromley. He was the eldest son of Mr & Mrs George Bray of Nelson Road, Bromley, and a member of one of the ‘Soldier families’. He was part…

Prisoner of War – SECOND-LIEUTENANT C.C.G. ANDERSON, R.A. Mr and Mrs Anderson of Springfield, Derry Downs, St Mary Cray, have been informed that their son, Second-Lieutenant Claudius C. G. (“Grigor”) Anderson, aged 23, who was reported missing in France, is…

Prisoner of War – Second Lieutenant Terence Thorpe-Woods, son of Mr H. Thorpe-Woods of Quantocks, Willow Grove, Chislehurst, who has been missing in France since May 21, has now been officially reported as a prisoner of war in Germany. He…

Prisoner of War Mrs G. L. Palin, 61 Newbury Road, Bromley, has received news from her husband, Lance Corporal E. A. Palin, who was reported missing on May 22, that he is a prisoner of war in Germany. Joining the…

Prisoner of War This week Mrs E. F. Belsey of Bromley has heard from her husband, Private Edward F. Belsey, R.A.M.C., that he is a prisoner of war. Previously he had been reported as missing from June 10. The son…

One of three brothers were serving in the forces during World War 2. Private Cyril Lee (22), Oxford and Bucks Regiment was educated at Raglan Road School and afterwards employed as a porter at Bickley station,. He became a prisoner…

One of three brothers serving in the forces during World War 2. Sapper Arthur J. Lee, R.E. (28), was educated at Raglan Road School, and employed by the London County Council before joining up. His parents lived at 98 Bromley…

One of three brothers serving in the forces Gunner William Lee (30), A.A. Battery, received his education at Raglan Road School, and was afterwards employed as a builder’s labourer. His parents lived at 98 Bromley Common (Hook Farm) Source: Bromley…

He was a Bandsman with the 2nd Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby), who was killed in action in France on 20th September 1914. His military number was 1045. The Bromley & Kentish Times reported that he had spent 6.5 years…

Ernest served with the Royal Field Artillery as a Gunner. A shell from one of the enemy’s large guns fell close to the gun that Nelms was serving and devastated all around inflicting terrible injuries, who was close to death…

Second Lieutenant L.M. Powell, of Chislehurst was killed in action on 17th June 1915. He is listed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database as being part of the 3rd Battalion. attd. 1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders. Please do contact me…

Private John Ludlow was one of three brothers serving in the First World War.  He was a member of the Army Service Corps and stationed in Ireland. Source: Information sourced from the Bromley & District Times 1914-1920

Son of William Henry and Eliza King, of 17 New England Road, Brighton, King was a Bromley postman and Captain of the Bromley Postal Football Club (which was a successful team) when he signed up to the war. He was…

Private Frederick Ayles was an old boy of Aylesbury Road School. His mother (a widow) lived on Simpson Road, Bromley. He had joined the army in 1902 and later served with the South Lancashire Regiment. He went to France on…

James Williams was the son of Mr & Mrs F Williams and brother to Mr W Williams who was assistant steward of Swanley Junction Working Men’s Club and Institute. James’ father had served 21 years in the British Army, for…

Harry Ludlow was one of three brother serving in the First World War. He served for the Royal Navy onboard HMS Duncan (c.1914) and then HMS Landrail. He was also an old Boy of Raglan Road School, Bromley Source: Information…

This is Private T. Smith who served in the First World War.  I want to link him to the correct reference in my Military Ancestors database. Can you tell from this photo which regiment he belonged to?   The list…

Private Ernest W. Brigden was serving with the Worcestershire Regiment when he was killed action in November 1914, aged 22. His family had lived in the Crays (Bromley) for some years and then Swanley for 6 years. Source: Information sourced…

Alfred Haffenden was the son of George Haffenden, of Eastbourne, and husband to E. A. Haffenden, of 10 Albert Road, Bromley with which he had one son (born 1904). Haffenden had left the Army, but had rejoined on 7th September…

Signaller Peter R. Marchant joined the engineering section of the G.P.O. and served at various exchanges in the South-East Section. He was a member of the Royal Corps of Signals and was in charge of a switchboard at headquarters in…

The death of Sidney Thomas Miller was reported in the Bromley & District Times newspaper, though limited information was given on the regiment he served with. A search of the Commonwealth War Commission website brings up a Private S T…

Pilot Officer Roy Achille Marchand was born on the 24th August 1918 – the only son of Mr & Mrs Rene A. Marchand of Hayes Road, Bromley. He was a member of the 73 Squadron of the Royal Air Force,…

Leslie Lock was the youngest of three brothers from Bromley serving in the H.M. Forces.  Leslie was aged 22 years who this report was published. Prior to joining the Dorset Regiment, he had been employed by different firms in the Bromley…

Private Patrick Joseph Reynolds of the Royal West Kent Regiment, was reported as missing in the Bromley & District Times newspaper on the 19th July 1940. However, he was killed in action 14 months after this initial report.  He is…

Harry William Mummery was born in Ashford, Kent  in c.1887, the son of Harry and Ellen Mummery.  He enlisted on 10th December, 1915 at Maidstone whist he was living at Star Road, Ashford. He married Frances Charlotte Grigsby on the…

The son of Thomas Edward and Elizabeth Mockridge of Shortlands, Gunner Robert Edward Mockridge married Grace Kezia Mockridge of Waldo Road, Bromley and was listed as a milkman on the 1911 census. They had a son called Robert in c.…

A nurse with the Red Cross, Miss Birkett had taken up nursing 3 years earlier. Her knowledge of French was invaluable when nursing the Belgian soldiers. She lived at Summerhill Villas, Chislehurst. The newspaper reported that she had been ill on the…

(Samuel) James Crisp was one of five sons of Mr and Mrs S. J. Crisp, of 12 Godwin Road Bromley, three of whom were serving in his Majesty’s Forces. James was a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps.  He…

Private Harry Robert Eldridge of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment, third son of Mr and Mrs E. Eldridge of 23 Albert Road St Mary Cray, was reported as missing in the Bromley & District Times on 19th July 1940. Private…

John George Crisp was one of five sons of Mr and Mrs S. J. Crisp, of 12 Godwin Road Bromley, three of whom were serving in his Majesty’s Forces. John was a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps.  He is…

Private Charles Frederick Crisp was one of the five sons of Mr and Mrs S. J. Crisp, of 12 Godwin Road Bromley, and one of three sons serving in his Majesty’s Forces. After leaving school in Bromley, he joined the…

Served with the Honourable Artillery Company. He was the son of Frederick Smart of Thornhayes, London Lane, Bromley. His brother Geoffrey Smart also served in the Honourable Artillery Company Before taking up service, Claude was an artist by profession and…

Miss Beatrix Batten was Commandant of Abbey Lodge V.A.D. Hospital, Chislehurst She was born in April 1886 and lived with her parents and sister at Foxdeane in Lower Camden, Chislehurst. Her father was a solicitor. Known as Trixie she graduated…

William was an old boy of Aylesbury Road School in Bromley.  During World War One he served in the Shropshire Light Infantry. He features in the Bromley & District Time on 11th September 1914, page 3

Second-Lieutenant John B. Bassett of the Royal Artillery, was reported as a Prisoner of War in the Bromley & District Times newspaper on 6th September 1940. His parents, Mr and Mrs W.R. Bassett of 144 Murray Avenue, Bromley, received a…

2nd Lieutenant J L Miller-Hallett (possibly John Lionel) was the youngest son of Mr & Mrs A Miller-Hallett of Goddington near Chelsfield, Orpington. He was a member of the Indian Army attached to the 3rd Fusilliers, and passed into the Indian Army at…

Cecil Henry Viney was the son of Mr & Mrs C T Viney of Dartmouth, Durham Avenue, Bromley, who had been residents at South Hill Park for many years. His father was a Church warden at St Mark’s church, Bromley.…

The younger son of the late Hon Robert Marsham-Townshend, of Frognal, Sidcup, Ferdinand Marsham-Townshend was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards. He died on the 16th May 1915, aged 35. At first he was missing, but his body was found and…

James William Hodson, a native of Orpington, was a  member of the 2nd Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps. His parents, William and Mary Ann Hodson, lived at 1 Bank Cottages, Lower Rd., St. Mary Cray, Kent. He was killed in action on…

6345533 Private Albert Clarence John Boxall (aged 19) with the Royal West Kent Regiment was posted as missing on May 20th 1940. His parents were anxious for any news and “would be grateful to any of his comrades in the battalion…

Whilst working for the Standard Bank in Mombasa, Mr H.G. Milstead became the South Africa correspondent for the Bromley & District Times. Mr H.G. Milstead was the only son of Mr & Mrs H.H. Milstead of Hawes Road Bromley. He married…

Hugh Bertram Neely was 2nd-Lieutenant of the 3rd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment (attached to 1st Battalion). He was the second son of William and Clare Neely, of Ruxley House, Widmore Road, Bromley. His brother Clive William Neely also fell in World War…

Adopted son of Mr & Mrs J Thatcher and one of five brothers, Albert was the Leading Stoker on-board the HMS Destroyer “Osprey” serving in the North Sea. Mentioned in the Bromley  District Times on 30th October 1914, page 4

An obituary for Gordon Ewart Thatcher, a Petty Officer on the Destroyer “Cherwell” was reported in the Bromley & District Times, 30th October 1914, [pg 4] His pre-war military service included serving on the “Encounter” when Lord Kitchener visited New…

George Bax was the son of Mr Alfred Bax, of North Road, Bromley.  Brother to Gunner Walter Bax He joined up when war broke out and was at Tilbury Fort, an artillery fort on the north bank of the River Thames, London.  He was…

1st Class Stoker Fred Arthur Foot, the son of William Foot of Hartford Lane, Bexley, served on board the HMS Test.  He died of pneumonia while on duty in the Grand Fleet on the 24th Mar 1915, aged just 19. His funeral was held at…

Ronald Young Hedderick was the son of Robert Munter Hedderwick and Isabel Corbet Hedderwick, of Woodlands, Chislehurst, Kent. Born in London. He was a member of the Honourable Artillery Company. Ronald died on the 16th May 1915, aged 27, having just…

Edward Butcher was the younger son of Mr William Butcher of Spout Hill Cottage, West Wickham. Prior to World War 1, he was a member of the Territorial Force (Croydon) for 7 years and joined the Queen’s Surrey Regiment about…

A member of the Army Service Corps, who lived in Wharton Road, Bromley. He was reported on in the Bromley & District Times on the 16th October 1914.

Walter Bax was part member of a large family of boys, who were all in the Army.  The son of Mr Alfred W. Bax and Clara E. Bax, of 17 North Road, Bromley, Kent.  He was brother to Private George Bax. Walter…

Stanley William Reuben Friend was the son of Mr Alfred Friend and a member of the Royal Field Artillery. Mentioned in the Bromley & District Times newspaper on the 2nd October 1914

Two mentions for a ‘R.H. Hamblyn’ show up in the Military Ancestors Database. The first was published in the Bromley & District Times on the 14th August 1914 (page 5), for a R.H. Hamblyn of Bromley in the Territorials.   The…

Herbert Venters was the son of Mr & Mrs W Venters of Wharton Road, Bromley.  He had attended Wharton Road Council School. He was mentioned in the Bromley  & District Times on the 25th September 1914 as having joined up in the February and…

Private Frank Offin was one of 3 brothers who served in the First World War.  His father, Mr F Offin, lived in Vale Cottages, Mason’s Hill, Bromley. He was a member of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment, stationed at Purfleet.

Lieutenant (John) Oswald Payne was the son of Mr & Mrs Frederick Payne of New Farm, Bromley. Prior to the war, he was a junior partner in the firm of Baxter, Payne, and Lepper, (Bromley and Beckenham), and a Fellow…

Sapper Jones of Maeberry, 10 Nichol Lane, Bromley, was an old boy of the National School, and on the staff of the Bromley post office. A Reservist of the Royal Engineers, he was called up on August 15, 1939. He…

Served in the 1st Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment. An Army Reservist who had served in Malta previously. He had married Miss Bessie Hilda Thompson, daughter of Mr H Thompson of Farnborough, 3 years previously, and had 2 sons aged 1…