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First World War
Gertrude Anna Middleton O.B.E – The Recent Discovery of a Heroine of the Great War in Ladywell Cemetery
Gertrude Anna Middleton O.B.E. Or Gertie as she is known on her headstone. A grave that has been passed by many over the years without giving a second glance. For what you see from the pathway is her mother Emma, look to the other side and you will find Gertie with her father Henry Milnes…
Nurse Sophie Hilling who gave her life for her country in the 1918 Flu Pandemic
Wedged between a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross, John George Pattison and the famed educational pioneers the McMillan sisters on the Old Deptford Town Hall Board of Honour (unveiled in 1919) is the name of Sister Sophie Hilling A.R.R.C. Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Reserve : a native and lifelong resident of the Borough of…
Guided Walk – Rounding off the Great War – Sunday 15th September 2pm-3.30pm
FOBLC historian Peter Mealing will be leading this guided walk (assisted by Mick Martin and Mike Guilfoyle) bringing together the strands of the First World War reflected in the memorials to some of those who fought and perished in the conflict, military and civilian, in the two Cemeteries as well as looking at its profound…
Death of a Local Hero : Major Charles Edward Fysh DSO MC and Bar. Killed in Action on the Marne, France July 28th 1918
Major Charles Edward Fysh (1894-1918) Located alongside one of the inner pathways in Ladywell cemetery lies the headstone (see photograph below) on which the name of Major Charles Edward Fysh is inscribed with those of his parents. He was with British troops taking part in Marshal Foch’s large scale and highly successful counter offensive of…
Messages, Medals, and Memorials – public art exhibition in Ladywell Cemetery Chapel Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th September 11am – 4pm
Messages, Medals, and Memorials – a public art exhibition which will be in the Chapel of the Ladywell Cemetery on Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th September 11am – 4pm, commemorates the contribution of Colonial troops and the Labour Corps to the war effort in the First World War. Though never fully acknowledged, Europe’s Great War…
A Tribute to Second Lieutenant Hugh Gordon Langton- killed at Passchendale October 25th 1917
One of many iconic images of the Passchendaele battlefield in 1917 Passendaele (Passendal) is a small village five miles north-east of Ypres in Belgium and is the name by which the final stages of the Third Battle of Ypres are better known. Along with the Somme, it has come to symbolise the Great War for…
Frederick Innes OBE (1864-1921): Silvertown Explosion 1917
Contemporary newspaper illustration of the Silvertown explosion Close to the Ivy Road pathway in Ladywell cemetery enveloped in its chitinous grassy embrace lies the Innes family grave of Frederick Innes, who died aged 57 years on the 14th December 1921. Grandfather to FOBLC stalwart Ron Innes, Frederick was intimately connected to the biggest explosion ever…
The Somme Revisited
On Monday 25th April I accompanied three of my FOBLC colleagues Geoffrey Thurley (the Chair), Mick Martin and Peter Mealing (the driver) across the channel, following the route that General De Gaulle once called the ‘fatal avenue’, the sweep of low lying country in Northern France heading towards the much visited Somme battlefield (the Somme is the name…
THE DAY TSAR NICHOLAS II MET BROCKLEY AVIATOR
Russian aviator and inventor Captain Sergei Alexandrovich Oulianine (aka Ulyanin) 1871 -1921 Part hidden off the pathway heading towards the near seamless boundary between Ladywell and Brockley cemeteries, topped by a broken cruciform headstone, lies the final resting place of the distinguished Russian aviator and inventor Captain Sergei Alexandrovich Oulianine (aka Ulyanin) 1871-1921. He lies…
Welcome To Hell: The battle for Lone Pine
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PRIVATE HAROLD GREENAWAY AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY KILLED IN ACTION 7th AUGUST 1915 GALLIPOLI On the pathway heading away from the Ladywell Chapel just before the wall of remembrance (Heroes Corner) lies the family grave of Private Harold John Greenaway who was killed in action on Saturday 7th August during the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign of 1915. Born in…
Wrenches, Trenches, and Stenches: a public art exhibition commemorating the start of the First World War
Ladywell Chapel hosted a two day art exhibition commemorating the start of the First World War. on Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd August 2014. The First World War – or the Great War 1914-1918 was fought on 3 continents and saw 14 million killed and 34 million wounded. This year commemorates the 100th year anniversary…
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…
FORGOTTEN BATTLEFRONTS OF WORLD WAR ONE
With the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War later this year, the FOBLC will be undertaking a ‘curtain raiser’ guided walk to the family graves of some of the soldiers and seamen who gave their lives for King and Country in some of the lesser known war zones of World War 1. Men of the 1/5th Battalion of…
Francis Paget Hewkley: awarded Military Medal for bravery at the Somme
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Many thanks to Stuart Hallifax who has written a great piece on Francis Paget Hewkley in his Great War London blog. Hewkley was brought up in London, emigrated to Australia in 1912 and then enlisted a signalman in the Australian infantry. He served at Gallipoli before transferring to the Western Front where he won a Military Medal for…
British Lion and Great War hero
The somewhat run down family grave of Forest Hill Wine Merchant Bruce Beveridge Todd and his wife Phoebe lies next to the Dissenter’s Chapel in the Ladywell section of the cemetery. However that of their son Alexander Findlater Todd born 20 th September 1873 , known as ‘Fin’ to his friends, is sadly missing from…
Commander Archibald Buckle’s grave in Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries restored
The grave of World War 1 hero Commander Buckle in Brockley Cemetery has been refurbished by members of the British Army Association. Sir Winston Churchill has referred to Buckle as one of the “salamanders born in the furnace,” who survived “to lead,to command, and to preserve the sacred continuity”. His history has been featured on…
Lewisham Zeppelin raid appeal
Below is the text of a letter from the FOBLC published in the Wednesday December 15th issue Lewisham Mercury Dear Editor, Following the successful ‘Up the Line’ remembrance event in Brockley & Ladywell Cemetery ( Thursday 11th November), friends of the cemetery expressed an interest in restoring the broken memorial to the civilian victims of…
Thank you for ‘Up The Line”
Over 450 came to see the beautiful and moving ‘Up The Line’ event to mark Armistice Day. The feedback received has been incredible and organiser Johm McKiernan enthused “we managed to create an amazing evening that achieved its goal of encouraging people to consider the sacrifice and suffering of World War One.” He went on…
‘Up The Line’ Event confirmed’ for 11th November
The FOBLC is delighted to have received confirmation from the organisers that following on from the hugely successful 2009 event there will be a bigger and more beautiful evening performance of ‘Up The Line’ in Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery, two weeks tonight, 11.11.10 from 7pm Poets, musicians, dancers, soundscape and film will begin their performance…
Up The Line event announced for 2010
We’re delighted that following on from the massively successful ‘Up The Line’ event last year, organiser John McKiernan has announced that it will hopefully happen again this year. The event will take place in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries on 11th November 2010 – Thursday 7.30pm to 9.30pm. The unique remembrance event will see visitors…
Tome of the unknown soldier
The World War 1 poet David Jones, who lies buried in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries, is the subject of an article in the New Statesman by David Wheatley. To read more click here In responsse FOBLC member and literary expect Mike Guilfoyle has written the following letter to the New Statesman commenting on this…
David Jones: war poet and genius: by Mike Guilfoyle
It is humbling to think that this ‘modern genius’ at once painter, poet, essayist, and engraver’ lies almost unknown in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries(close to the graves of Ernest Dowson & Fernando Del Marmol) even though David Jones is critically acclaimed as one of the five greatest modern writers along with Eliot, Joyce, Woolf…
Up The Line – 11th November 2009
An evening event at Brockley and Ladywell CemeteriesClassical Music . Poetry . Film . Contemporary Dance . Soundscape . Children’s Procession You are warmly invited to a short walk through Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries during darkness to experience a unique remembrance event. A lantern lit path will take visitors past a police guard through the…
‘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 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.…
Remembrance Day: a memorial to the fallen from Crofton Park
Whilst we commemorate the fallen on this Remembrance Day it seems a particularly appropriate time to bring you this research by FOBLC members David Platt and Michael Martin into the story of Reginald Mines and the other soldiers from Crofton Park commemorated by the Celtic cross in front of St Hilda’s church. Great War Commemorations…
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…
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…