Service no.

46659

Unit

21st Reserve Battery, Royal Field Artillery

Died

29 March 1920, aged 31

Buried

Aylesford (SS. Peter and Paul) Churchyard, Kent

Family

Husband of Angelina Rosina Barden, later Mrs Hughes, of 27 Eccles Row, Eccles

Inscription

“Rest in peace”

Charles died more than a year after the Armistice, while still serving, and so is counted among the war dead. He was brought home and buried in Aylesford churchyard. His widow later remarried and was living at 27 Eccles Row.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives his initials only, so his full forenames are still to be confirmed, as is the cause of death. No record yet shows whether he was related to George Barden.

Service no.

G/4781

Unit

1st Battalion, The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)

Died

6 May 1915, killed in action at Hill 60, near Ypres, aged 36

Commemorated

Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium, Panel 45

Family

Son of the late Isaac and Harriet Barden of Bull Cottages, Eccles; husband of Caroline Barden, later Mrs Browning, of Bull Cottages, Eccles

George was killed in the fighting for Hill 60, south-east of Ypres, in May 1915. He has no known grave and is named on the Menin Gate. Both his parents and his wife lived at Bull Cottages, Eccles.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as George Isaac G. Barden.

Not yet identified. The two men of this name found in the war-dead records (a B. Betts of Hull, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, and a Benjamin E. Betts of the Yorkshire Light Infantry) have no Kent connection. The 1911 census for Eccles and Soldiers Died in the Great War are the next places to look.

Service no.

11619

Unit

7th Battalion, The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)

Died

3 October 1916, aged 21

Buried

Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France. Grave VIII. B. 7.

Family

Son of Amos and Jane Brook, of Eccles

Inscription

“He died that we might live”

William served with the 7th Battalion through the Battle of the Somme. Warloy-Baillon was a village behind the lines where field ambulances were based, which suggests he died of wounds, though no record found says so.

Service no.

G/4939

Unit

2nd Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

Died

28 September 1915, Battle of Loos

Commemorated

Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France, Panels 15 to 19

Alfred was killed in the closing days of the Battle of Loos, on the same day and in the same battalion as James Butcher of Eccles. Neither man has a known grave.

The memorial reads Alfred H. G. P. Brown, matching the war graves record. His age and family are still to be found.

Service no.

L/9326

Unit

2nd Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

Died

28 September 1915, Battle of Loos, aged 21

Commemorated

Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France, Panels 15 to 19

Family

Son of James and Jane Emma Butcher, of Victoria Street, Eccles

His L/ number shows James was a regular soldier who had enlisted before the war. He was killed alongside Alfred Brown at Loos.

The memorial reads James F. Butcher; the records found give only James. A James Frederick Butcher lost on H.M.S. Vanguard in 1917 is a different man.

Service no.

L/10145

Unit

6th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

Died

7 October 1916

Buried

Bancourt British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Grave VI. M. 2.

Family

Son of Mr J. Chevous, of 24 Belgrave Street, Eccles

Sydney was killed during the later stages of the Somme battles in October 1916.

The war graves record gives his initials only; his age is still to be confirmed.

Service no.

G/5841

Unit

The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)

Died

4 August 1916, Battle of the Somme

Commemorated

Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

A likely match, but his battalion, age and next of kin, and so his link to Eccles, are still to be confirmed from the full war graves record.

Service no.

S/154

Unit

The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)

Died

22 February 1915, aged 35

Buried

Aylesford (SS. Peter and Paul) Churchyard, Kent

Charles died in England and is buried in Aylesford churchyard, where he is named on a shared war-grave headstone for six soldiers who died in service and lie in the churchyard.

His battalion, next of kin and cause of death are still to be found.

Not yet identified. No Edward Hawkes with a Kent connection has been found in the war-dead records. There was a Hawkes family in the parish, as a William Hawkes is buried in Aylesford churchyard. The spelling Hawks is also worth checking.

Not yet identified. One possible lead is Lance Corporal Albert Head, 899, 1st/3rd Kent Field Company, Royal Engineers, who died on 28 October 1915 and is named on the Helles Memorial at Gallipoli. Nothing yet ties him to Eccles.

Service no.

K/28369 (Chatham)

Unit

H.M.S. Mary Rose

Born

27 August 1879, Maidstone

Died

17 October 1917, killed in action when the Mary Rose was sunk about 70 miles east of Lerwick

Commemorated

Chatham Naval Memorial, Panel 24

Family

Married Ellen Elizabeth Seager in 1914 (Maidstone district)

Henry joined the Navy in October 1915 and served in the destroyer Mary Rose from January 1916. He was lost when she was sunk by the German cruisers Brummer and Bremse while escorting a convoy from Norway, the same action in which Hamilton Milligan died.

The Eccles link is not yet proven. A possible 1891 census entry places him with his parents at Mackenders Cottages, Aylesford, where Jesse Hills’s parents were living that year, so the two may have been brothers.

Service no.

18876

Unit

Machine Gun Corps

Born

1889, Aylesford

Died

5 May 1918, aged 29

Buried

Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Grave LXVIII. A. 27.

Honours

Military Medal

Family

Son of John and Mary Hills, of Mackenders Cottage, Park Road, Aylesford (1891)

In 1901 Jesse was living with an aunt and uncle in Varnes Street, Eccles. He rose to Corporal in the Machine Gun Corps and won the Military Medal for bravery. Etaples was the largest hospital base on the coast of France, so he probably died there of wounds or sickness.

He may have been a brother of Henry Hills.

Unit

The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

Died

13 October 1915, near Loos, aged 29

Commemorated

Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

Home

Belgrave Street, Eccles

Benjamin was killed on the same day as Charles Tupper and Isaac Wheeler, when the Buffs attacked near the Hohenzollern Redoubt.

These details come from local research. His service number, battalion and parents are still to be confirmed from the war graves record.

Service no.

3510/SD

Unit

Royal Naval Reserve, H.M.S. Pembroke

Born

9 November 1882, Malling district

Died

17 October 1917, aged 34

Buried

Grimsby (Scartho Road) Cemetery, Lincolnshire

Home

Belgrave Street, Eccles

Edwin served as a deck hand in the Royal Naval Reserve, which manned the trawlers and drifters used for minesweeping and patrol. Grimsby was a major base for them.

The memorial reads Edwin L. Ivell. His cause of death is not yet known; he is not among the men lost at sea that day.

Service no.

2502

Unit

Household Battalion

Born

1890, Wouldham

Died

10 October 1917, killed in action near Passchendaele

Commemorated

Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium, Panel 3

Family

Son of James and Eliza Jane Jenner of Wouldham; married Annie Capon in 1914 (Malling district)

A waggoner by trade, Samuel served in the Household Battalion, formed from reservists of the Household Cavalry to fight as infantry. He has no known grave.

The only Samuel Jenner found among the war dead, and from the next village, but an Eccles address is still to be confirmed.

Service no.

88862

Unit

122nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery

Died

30 October 1918, aged 32

Buried

Roisel Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France. Grave I. E. 11.

Family

Son of George and Louisa Annie Jones, of 1 Varnes Street, Eccles

Inscription

“Rest in peace”

Charles died less than a fortnight before the Armistice. Roisel was a casualty clearing station centre in the last months of the war.

Service no.

G/393

Unit

6th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

Died

19 July 1915, aged 20

Buried

Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France. Grave I. C. 107.

Home

Varnes Street, Eccles

Ernest’s number sits in the run of Eccles men who joined the 6th Buffs together in 1914. Bailleul was a hospital centre behind the Ypres front.

His parents are still to be found.

Service no.

L/9804 (Chatham)

Unit

H.M.S. Mary Rose

Born

5 November 1889, Croydon

Died

17 October 1917, aged 29, when the Mary Rose was sunk in the North Sea

Commemorated

Chatham Naval Memorial, Panel 25

Family

Son of John Samuel and Harriet Milligan of Croydon; married Fanny Ann Elizabeth in 1917

A chef before the war, Hamilton joined the Navy in February 1916. He married in 1917 and was lost a few months later with the Mary Rose, alongside Henry Hills.

He was a Croydon man. His Eccles connection is probably through his wife, but her maiden name and address are still to be found.

Service no.

G/40443 (formerly G/12654, Royal Sussex Regiment)

Unit

2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment

Born

1880, Eccles

Died

16 August 1917, killed in action near Zonnebeke, Battle of Langemarck, aged 37

Commemorated

Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium, Panels 113 to 115

Family

Son of Henry and Susan Neville, of Mackenders Lane, Eccles; married Alice Savage in 1908; six children

Harry was an Eccles man born and bred, and a bricklayer. He enlisted at Maidstone in December 1915 in the Royal Sussex Regiment and was transferred to the 2nd Middlesex in 1916. He was killed in the attack near Zonnebeke in August 1917, leaving Alice with six children.

The memorial reads Harry L. Neville; the records give Henry Leonard. Harry was evidently the name he was known by.

Service no.

295269

Unit

2nd/4th Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)

Died

23 March 1918, aged 21

Commemorated

Pozières Memorial, Somme, France, Panels 85 and 86

Family

Son of Frederick and Laura Kate Payne, of 46 Cork Street, Eccles

Leonard was killed in the first days of the German Spring Offensive of March 1918 and has no known grave.

Not yet identified. The name is probably Sydney or Sidney. He may have served in the Royal Navy or Royal Air Force, or died after 1918, so the search needs to cover all services up to 1921.

Service no.

294058

Unit

H.M.S. Pathfinder

Born

20 December 1878, Burham

Died

5 September 1914, aged 35

Commemorated

Chatham Naval Memorial, Panel 4

Family

Son of John and Mary Sales of Blue Bell Hill, Burham; husband of Emma Elizabeth Sales, of 6 Varnes Street, Eccles

Henry was the first Eccles man to die. H.M.S. Pathfinder was sunk off the Firth of Forth in the first month of the war, the first ship ever sunk by a torpedo fired from a submarine.

Not yet identified. An Albert Sales of the Royal Engineers who died in 1918 came from Bow, London, and does not fit. It is not yet known whether he was related to Henry Sales.

Charles was the older brother of Bert Saunders. According to Bert’s family, Charles survived the war and is buried in Aylesford cemetery.

If the family account is right, his name was carved in error, or because he was wrongly reported dead. Aylesford burial registers would settle it.

Service no.

G/394

Unit

C Company, 6th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

Died

18 March 1916, killed in action, aged 28

Commemorated

Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

Home

Varnes Street, Eccles

Bert joined the 6th Buffs with the other Eccles men in 1914. His grandson has laid wreaths for him at Loos and at the Eccles memorial.

Service no.

9233

Unit

12th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment

Born

St Luke’s, Gloucester

Died

30 June 1918, of wounds, aged 27

Buried

Aire Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Grave III. G. 7.

Family

Wife, Mrs J. Langridge Smith, of Varnes Street, Eccles

A Gloucester man and a regular soldier, William was wounded five times during the war before dying of wounds in June 1918. His wife was living in Eccles. He is also named on the board at St Michael and All Angels, Maidstone.

Not yet identified. With so common a name, an Eccles, Aylesford or Maidstone address in the war graves record or Soldiers Died in the Great War is needed to pick out the right man.

Service no.

62858

Unit

Royal Fusiliers

Died

20 May 1917, aged 27

Commemorated

Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

Name, number, regiment and date are confirmed. His battalion, parents and an Eccles address are still to be found.

Service no.

G/389

Unit

The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), probably the 6th Battalion

Died

13 October 1915, near Loos, aged 21

Commemorated

Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

Home

Alma Road, Eccles

Charles was killed on the same day as Isaac Wheeler and Benjamin Huggins, when the 6th Buffs suffered heavy losses near Loos.

His second forename and his parents are still to be found.

Service no.

G/392

Unit

6th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)

Born

1889, Aylesford

Enlisted

31 August 1914

Died

13 October 1915, posted missing, then killed in action

Commemorated

Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France, Panels 15 to 19

Family

Son of Alfred and Kate Wheeler, of Varnes Street, Eccles (1901); married Lily May Goodger on 26 December 1914

Isaac grew up in Varnes Street. He enlisted in the first month of the war and married Lily that Christmas, before the battalion went to France. Ten months later he was posted missing at Loos.

Service no.

G/11795

Unit

7th Battalion, The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)

Died

29 September 1916, aged 20

Buried

Connaught Cemetery, Thiepval, Somme, France. Grave XI. C. 6.

Family

Son of Henry and Clara Williams, of Victoria Street, Eccles

Ernest was killed in the fighting at Thiepval on the Somme, in the same battalion as William Brook, who died four days later.

Service no.

G/11492

Unit

23rd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment

Died

15 September 1916, aged 19

Commemorated

Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Home

Belgrave Street, Eccles

At 19, William was among the youngest men on the memorial. He was killed on 15 September 1916, the day of the attack on Flers, when tanks were used for the first time.

The memorial reads William A. Wolfe; the records give only William. His parents are still to be found.

Not yet identified. Several men named Cyril Adams died in the Second World War, but none found so far has a link to Eccles or Aylesford. The Civilian War Dead roll should also be checked.

Service no.

6299701

Unit

2nd Battalion, The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)

Died

11 February 1945, Burma, aged 21

Buried

Taukkyan War Cemetery, Myanmar. Grave 27. D. 4.

Family

Son of John Thomas and Annie Lillian Ashdown, of Eccles

Cyril served with the 2nd Buffs in the Burma campaign, the same county regiment as so many Eccles men of the First World War. He lies in Taukkyan War Cemetery, north of Rangoon.

How he died is not yet known.

Service no.

D/JX 185104

Unit

H.M.S. Voltaire

Died

April 1941, aged 21

Commemorated

Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 49, Column 1

Family

Son of Frederick and Emily Chapman, of Eccles

H.M.S. Voltaire was a liner converted to an armed merchant cruiser. On 4 April 1941 she was sunk in the mid-Atlantic, south-west of the Cape Verde Islands, by the German raider Thor. Most of the survivors were taken prisoner. Leonard has no known grave.

The war graves record gives his date of death as 9 April 1941; naval casualty lists give 4 April, the day the ship was sunk.

Service no.

6461633

Unit

Royal Fusiliers, attached 2 Troop, No. 2 Commando

Died

28 March 1942, St Nazaire, aged 20

Commemorated

Brookwood Memorial, Surrey

Family

Son of Frederick and Lily May Eldridge; husband of Margaret Alice Eldridge, of Tunbridge Wells

Leonard took part in Operation Chariot, the commando raid on the dock at St Nazaire, sailing in Motor Launch 447. He was reported missing and later presumed killed. He was only 20, yet already a serjeant and married.

The name matches the memorial, but the only address found is his wife’s at Tunbridge Wells. An Eccles link through his parents still needs to be confirmed.

Not yet identified. The only Goodwright found among the Second World War dead is George Goodwright of the R.A.O.C., of Gerrards Cross, who does not fit. The spellings Goodright and Goodwight, and the Civilian War Dead roll, are worth checking.

Service no.

1892933

Unit

Air gunner, No. 5 Lancaster Finishing School, R.A.F. Syerston, Nottinghamshire

Died

14 April 1944, aged 27

Buried

Aylesford Cemetery, S.E. Plot, Grave 6

Family

Son of Alfred Leonard and Rose Alice Laura Gouldstone; husband of Hilda Gouldstone, of Aylesford

Inscription

“Deep in our hearts a memory is kept of the one we loved and can never forget”

Victor was an air gunner in Lancaster W4103 on a daytime training flight. At about half past four in the afternoon it collided with an Airspeed Oxford over Screveton, near the airfield, and everyone aboard the Lancaster was killed. He was brought home to Aylesford. The crew are remembered by a roadside memorial at Screveton and a plaque in the church there.

Not yet identified. It is not known whether he was related to George Hodge, whose name sits next to his on the panel.

Service no.

516781

Unit

Flight engineer, No. 1653 Heavy Conversion Unit, R.A.F. North Luffenham

Died

6 February 1945, aged 29

Buried

Aylesford Cemetery, S.E. Plot, Grave 7

Family

Son of George and Alice Hodge; husband of Sarah Eliza Hodge, of Sidley, Bexhill-on-Sea

Inscription

“For honour and his country he bravely fought and died”

George was flight engineer of Lancaster NE132 on a cross-country training flight. The aircraft flew into storm cloud, iced up and broke up in the air, the main wreckage falling on Rhinog Fawr in Snowdonia. A plaque at the crash site remembers the crew. He lies in the grave next to Victor Gouldstone.

His widow was living in Sussex, so his Eccles link is through his family and his burial at Aylesford.

Not yet identified. Two Hurrells of the Royal Air Force who died in the war, from East Ham and the Isle of Wight, do not fit.

Not yet identified. The only Kitney found so far, Sergeant Ralph Kitney of Sittingbourne, is a different man. He may be among the Civilian War Dead for Malling Rural District.