World War Memorials
This page within the ‘People’ section of the website includes information on those listed on local war memorials, church plaques, etc. and who died in the two World Wars.
Stansted War Memorial - WWI
Betts, Alfred Thomas
Alfred was born in 1887 and from 1915 served in the Royal Army Service Corps – one of the many soldiers who did sterling work keeping things moving behind the scenes. He did not serve overseas and in 1917 died of pulmonary tuberculosis in London.
Blackman, Henry George
George Blackman was a gardener in Stansted when he rejoined the Grenadier Guards and went to France. He was injured in 1914 before being killed in action in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme aged 33. He had a wife and two children.
Bowyer, Frederick Charles
Frederick Bowyer was born and brought up in Fairseat as part of a family of nine children. He was a father and husband when he died of illness in Mesopotamia in 1917. He was a driver supporting the Indian Army in its action against the Turks and is buried in Baghdad.
Brown, Lionel Vernon
As a member of the British Expeditionary Force, Lionel Brown had the misfortune of being amongst the first allied troops to die in WW1. His family, including his younger brother Victor who was also to die during the war, lived at Linden Wood Villas on the Gravesend Road.
Brown, Victor Randolph
Victor Brown had been a professional golfer and enlisted just 5 months after his older brother Lionel was killed at the beginning of WW1. He was a driver and succumbed to tuberculosis before being posted abroad. His headstone is in St Mary’s churchyard.
Burnett, Ernest John
Ernest Burnett had already served in the military and re-enlisted in 1915 whilst living at the Back Horse PH. He was a lifetime resident of Stansted and was killed in action aged 35 whilst serving for the Royal West Kent Regiment at the battle of the Somme in 1916.
Goodman, Gilbert Anthony
A marble plaque in St Mary’s Church records the names of the fallen on the War Memorial with the addition of Lt Gilbert Goodman who died in action in Italy in 1918 aged 23. Gilbert’s uncle, Frederick Everett, lived in Fairseat for some time and the 1911 Census records him at Evergreen Cottage, Fairseat.
Johnson, James Frederick
James came from Macclesfield where he had been a cotton weaver at the tender age of 13. He died at Ypres in 1916 leaving a wife, Daisy, and a 4 week old daughter. Tragically, 10 years later Daisy herself was killed in a motor accident on Wrotham Hill.
Kemball, Arnold Henry
Arnold Kemball was born in 1861 in India into a military family and as a young man lived in Fairseat House. He retired from the army in 1910 and became a farmer in Canada. He re-enlisted in 1914 and was killed in action at Vimy Ridge, France on 1st March 1917 aged 56.
Kirton, Alexander Mann
Alexander died in 1916 when a live grenade exploded during a training class. Elizabeth Bailey Mann lived in Stansted and in the 1911 Census she was listed as residing in one of the two Hillside Cottages, Stone Rocks, Stansted.
Martin, John Alfred
Alf Martin lived in Fairseat Lodge Cottage before emigrating to Western Australia in 1911. He returned as part of the Australian Imperial Force before meeting his death in France in 1918. Additional research on his life in Cuballing, Australia has been provided by Polly Falconer.
Pitt, James Maxwell
James Pitt was among the first British soldiers to set foot in France after the outbreak of war and he was killed in action on 13th October 1914 aged 26. He was unmarried. Less than two years later his older brother William was also killed in action. His parents lived at Fairseat House (after the Kemballs had moved away).
Pitt, William Neville
William Pitt served in the Boer War and retired from the Army in 1910 to pursue a career in the Church. He re-enlisted and was killed in action near Lille, France on 20th August 1916 aged 35. He was married and had two sons. His younger brother James had died earlier in the war and his parents lived at Fairseat House.
Soloman, Arthur ‘Leonard’
Arthur Solomon (or Leonard as he preferred to be known) lived almost his whole life at Goodman’s Farm in Stansted before being killed in the battle of the Somme in 1916. He was 26, unmarried and had eight brothers and sisters.
Streatfield, Benjamin Ralph
Ben Streatfield was born and bred in and around Stansted and spent his life working with farm horses. He was one of over 19,000 British fatalities on the first day of the battle of the Somme. Three of his brothers and a cousin served in WW1 and survived.
Roll of Honour, St Mary's Church
The Great War (1914 – 1918)
Within St Mary’s church is a roll of honour listing the 64 men from the Parish who served overseas in WW1, and includes members of families still resident in the Parish today. Inevitably, some who returned would have suffered physical injury, and in all probability, most would have been psychologically scarred, but in common with the values of that time, never spoke of their experiences.
Stansted War Memorial - World War II
Colegate, William Arthur
William Colegate was born in April 1916 at Dartford, Kent. Leading Stoker Arthur Colegate died in action at sea in Norway on the 8th June 1940 aged 23. He was married and had no children. Dick Hogbin summarises his background and the naval disaster of 1940.
Gould, Edward Roy
Edward Gould lived in Stansted for almost the whole of his life, latterly at the Horse and Groom pub where his father was the publican. He lost his life aged nineteen at the very end of world war two and was the very last person from the Royal Scots Regiment killed in that conflict.
Hohler, Craven Goring
Craven Hohler was already in the RAF when he inherited Court Lodge Stansted from his uncle in 1934. He was Wing Commander of 148 Squadron and was en route to Egypt in a Wellington bomber when he and his crew became victims of an Italian attack on a convoy near Malta. They were lost at sea in November 1940 and are recorded on the RAF Memorial at Runnymede.
Hooper, Charles Kingsley
Charles Hooper had served in the Royal Navy since 1924 and was a member of the sick berth staff of HMS Eskimo when he was killed in action during the Second Battle of Narvik in 1940. His wife Muriel lived in Fairseat with her parents and gave birth to their only daughter exactly six months after his death. This account of Charles’ life has largely been supplied by his daughter, Rosemary Crabtree.
Lance, Geoffrey Charles
Geoffrey Lance was born in Fairseat and was a career soldier. His mother Gladys was Sir Phillip Waterloo’s daughter and had lived in Trosley Towers. Geoffrey was killed in action at the bloody battle for Hill 112 near Caen, France in 1944. He left a wife and two children.
Nash, Peter Albert
Although married in the Church and commemorated on the War Memorial, little is known about Peter as it is likely he trained overseas as a pilot and was based in the Midlands upon his return. What is known is that he lived at Parsonage Farm and flew on Bomber Command’s most costly operations of the War: Nuremberg and Mailly le Camp. Mike Goddings explores Peter’s operational career and the traumatic events leading up to his death in 1944 in a tribute to men who lived under incredible stress: able to enjoy the normality of an English pub one night, whilst living with the prospect of violent death, injury and/or captivity the next.
Further information on the Stansted War Memorial, and the casualties commemorated, is available in two reports. The first by Zena Bamping published in 2000 and a second by the Kent War Memorial Transcription Project (KTP). These two reports are available via the links below.