Shamley Green

The War Memorial
 
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND
TO THE HONOURED MEMORY OF
THOSE WHO DIED
IN THE GREAT WAR
1914-1919

 F ABBOTT  W HUMPHRIES
N BUCK  E JENNER
J CROUCHER  J
MILES
E GRIFFIN  F OLIVER

 W OVERINGTON  P STEVENS
A ROYAL  A STREET
C RUDDOCK
  C VALLER
J SOLE   

AND IN THE SECOND
WORLD WAR
1939-1945

 R H BARNES   L E LOCK
W G BURDETT  J S B IVEY
A E HARDING  A J GOFF
J A ROOPER   R B ROOPER
H WILDEBORE-SMITH
 S J STEVENS
C F SWAYNE

 THE NUMBER WHO JOINED UP
FOR THE WAR FROM THIS VILLAGE WAS 144
 AND IN 1939-1945
135

The Grave marker for the Hodgson family

A Stained Glass Window which is hidden from view in what is now the Choir Vestry

It is dedicated to the two brothers
Cyril Arthur Godwin HODGSON and 
Charles Basil Mortimer HODGSON 

The inscription is:
Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace Goodwill toward men  

A wooden, contemporary Grave Marker on the wall of the  Church

Cyril Arthur Godwin HODGSON
Captain, Royal North Devon Hussars
He died on 20 March 1918 In Cairo of malaria contracted in Palestine

Plaque on a wall inside the Church

 IN LOVING MEMORY
OF
CAPT JOHN SELWYN MOLL
OF THE PARISH OF SHAMLEY GREEN
AND OF THE QUEEN’S
(ROYAL WEST SURREY) REGIMENT
DIED ON ACTIVE SERVICE
24TH JULY 1942

Francis Robert BAILEY

William Gay BURDETT

John George SPARKES

Donald Alexander JAMESON

Archibald Frank SALSBURY

Graham Howard SHEPARD

In the churchyard there is the grave of his Mother.
The inscription reads:
IN EVER LOVING MEMORY OF
FLORENCE ELEANOR SHEPARD
18TH JUNE 1876 - 29TH SEPT. 1927
HEART OF GOLD
ALSO OF
HER HUSBAND
ERNEST HOWARD SHEPARD
1879 -1976
AND OF THEIR ONLY SON
BORN IN 1907
GRAHAM HOWARD SHEPARD RNVR
WHO LOST HIS LIFE WHILE ON CONVOY DUTY IN 1943
AND OF HIS BELOVED WIFE
ANN FAITH SHEPARD
1907 - 1997

Graham Shepard’s father was the artist and book illustrator to whom A A Milne inscribed a copy of Winnie the Pooh with the following personal verse:
When I am gone,
Let Shepard decorate my tomb,
And put (if there is room)
Two pictures on the stone:
Piglet from page a hundred and eleven,
And Pooh and Piglet walking …
And Peter, thinking that they are my own,
Will welcome me to Heaven.

Shepard modelled Pooh not on the toy owned by Christopher Robin, Milne's son, but on "Growler", a stuffed bear owned by his own son, Graham Shepard.

Charles F SWAYNE

George Edwin VALLER

From the Australian Archives

​AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS
PRISONER OF WAR MISSION
5327 Pte STEVENS Timothy 13TH Bn AIF
 
23 7 19 Berlin Information Buro. 3 cards 2 Death and 1 Nachless.
Died Res. Feld Laz. 17 Deutsche Feldpost 744.  G.S.W. Right thigh.
Reported by Etappen Inspection 6th Armee IIe
No. 25783/17. Buried Single grave 13.
Ref IID Bez.   L.W.10.XIII. Page B1.
Nachless. Reported by Feld Laz. 17. Bantigny. Left
Property 1554/5/17. Z.H.

The Fallen from WW1 who are named on the War Memorial
 
Frederick ABBOTT
Private, 1st Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 100 Brigade, 33rd Division, Army no. G/15026
He died of his wounds on 1 July 1917 in the Somme. At this time there was no major battle so his death probably resulted from one of the daily incidents in trench warfare. He was 25.
He was the son of Annie Abbott and the late Mr Abbott who lived next door to the Bricklayers Arms in Shamley Green
He is buried in grave VI E 17 Grevillers British Cemetery near Bapaume
Additional information
He does not appear on the Wonersh War Memorial even though he was born there

Nelson BUCK
Private, 30th Battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force. Army no. 3761
He was killed in action on 9 August 1918. He was 26
He was the son of Charles and Jane Buck, Gaston Cottage, Cranleigh
He is buried in grave I C 19 Heath Cemetery, Harbonnières

J CROUCHER
It is suggested that his forename was John but I cannot confirm
this. There is an 1887 birth locally for a John W Croucher
There is no Croucher in the CWGC with a link to Shamley Green. There is Percy James Croucher born in Holmwood. Mr Michael Harding, a local historian, believes that the Croucher family arrived shortly after the war and were part of a sect centred around Lords Hill and in Loxwood. If this is correct, there would be no military record linking the man to the village. It is also a thought that if our man was a member of this sect his military involvement would be non-combative and there does not appear to be anyone who fits that profile.
It would be a normal practice to include the loved ones of new/post war arrivals in a village.

Ernest John GRIFFIN         
Sergeant 17th (Duke of Cambridge's Own) Lancers, 7 Cavalry Brigade, 3 Cavalry Division. Army no. L/13267
He died on 8 May 1918. He was 37
He was the husband of Ella Griffin
He is buried in grave II A 8 Vignacourt British Cemetery

Wilfrid John HUMPHRIES
Rifleman, 13th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own), 111 Brigade, 37th Division. Army no. 49030.
He was killed in action in the Battle for Albert on 25 August 1918. He was 19
He was the son of John and Rachel J Humphries, Willinghurst Farm, Shamley Green 
He is buried in grave I F 5 Gomiecourt South Cemetery near Bapaume
Additional information
Gomiecourt was captured by the 3rd Division on 23 August 1918 just 2 days before he was killed
            
Ernest James JENNER
Private, 10th Battalion, The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), 123 Brigade, 41st Division. Army no. G/15627
He was killed in action in the Battle of St Quentin on 23 March 1918. He was 32
He was the husband of Eliza E Hampshire (formerly Jenner), Run Common, Shamley Green
He is remembered on bay 7 of the Arras Memorial
​
James MILES
Private, 28 Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps. Army no. 80168
He was killed in action on 23 April 1918 during the Battle of the Lys. He was 29
He was the son of Annie and the late George Miles of Shamley Green.
He is buried in grave A 11 Grootebeek British Cemetery, Belgium
Additional information
In April 1918, during the Battles of the Lys, a cemetery was created by field ambulance personnel and fighting units near Ouderdom. It was later renamed Grootebeek British Cemetery from the stream
(Grootebeek) which runs beside it.

Frederick George OLIVER
Gunner, A Medium Trench Mortar Battery, Royal Field Artillery. Army no. 255537
He died on 18 September 1918 probably from disease. He was 29
He was the son of George and Ellen Oliver
He is buried in grave VI C 18 Doiran Military Cemetery, Greece

William Otway OVERINGTON
Private, 8th Battalion, The East Surrey Regiment. Army no. 36360
He died on 24 August 1918. He was 35
He was the son of Obed and Caroline Overington of Loxwood and the husband of Margaret Overington
He is buried in grave XI D 8 Berlin South-Western Cemetery
Additional Information
He was a Prisoner of War in Germany. 
He is on the War Memorial in Loxwood

Arthur Charles ROYAL
Able Seaman, HMS Good Hope, Royal Navy. RN no. SS/1439 RFR/PO/B/4308.
He died on 1 November 1914. He was 28
He was the son of Charles and Emily Royal, Lords Hill Common, Shamley Green.
He is remembered on 2 Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Additional information
HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth was sunk in the Battle of Coronel off the Chilean coast by the German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau under Admiral Graf von Spee. 
The entire crew of 900 men aboard HMS Good Hope were lost.

George Henry RUDDOCK     
Lance Corporal, 2nd Battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force. Army no. 2907
He died on 5 October 1917. He was 31
He was the son of George and Mary A Ruddock, Stroud Lane, Shamley Green and the husband of Annie M Ruddock, Walton Road, West Molesey
He is buried in grave C90 Molesey Cemetery
Additional information
He died of Carcinoma of Liver in 1st Southern General Hospital,
Edgbaston

James Robert SOLE  DSM
Leading Seaman, Royal Navy Siege Guns (Dunkerque). RN no. 240147. 
He was killed in action on 6 August 1917.  He was 25
He was the husband of Alice E Sole, Bleak Cottage, Down Road, Merrow.
He is buried in grave II E 2 Coxyde Military Cemetery        

Percy STEVENS
2nd Cooks Mate, HMS Mohawk, Royal Navy. No. M17228 (Po)
He was killed in action on 27 October 1916.  He was 29
He was the son of William and Rose Stevens, Shamley Green,
He is buried in grave LW 8 St James Cemetery, Copt Hill, Dover
Additional information
In October 1916, the German Flanders Flotilla grew to 23 large torpedo boats and went on the offensive. Their first target was the Dover Barrage and any allied shipping.
In their first engagement, they destroyed 6 drifters, who deployed the barrage, and damaged three others and the trawler H E Straud, before withdrawing.
Six British destroyers, HMS Amazon, Mohawk, Viking, Tartar, Cossack and Nubian went on the attack, deployed in two loose groups, one consisting of Viking, Mohawk, and Tartar and the other Nubian, Amazon and Cossack. Nubian was the first to reach the scene of the fighting and unsuccessfully attempted to ram a German MTB but was struck by a torpedo that blew off her bow and reduced her to a drifting hulk.
HMS Amazon and Cossack soon arrived to aid Nubian, and began engaging the German boats. The Germans scored several hits on Amazon, knocking out two of her boilers before withdrawing.
Meanwhile another half flotilla of German boats had caught the empty British transport Queen off Goodwin Sands, removed her crew and sank her.
HMS Viking′s division of boats also clashed with Kaiserliche Marine torpedo boats. The German 18th Half Flotilla was heading back to Zeebrugge when it sailed into the destroyers, engaging them as they passed.
HMS Viking escaped unscathed but HMS Mohawk suffered several hits before the Germans broke to the safety of the coast.
The raid had destroyed 6 drifters in addition to Flirt and the transport Queen. Besides these, several British vessels were damaged, including three destroyers, three drifters, and a naval trawler. The loss of life was also heavy with the British suffering 45 men killed, 4 wounded and 10 taken prisoner. Only one German torpedo boat SMS G91 suffered any damage and there were no German casualties.

Albert STREET
Rifleman, 1st/8th City of London Battalion (Post Office Rifles), The London Regiment.  Army no. 372628
He died on 10 February 1918 probably in the influenza epidemic. He was 30
He was the son of Thomas and Charlotte Street of Shamley Green.
He is buried in grave XXXI F 2 Étaples Military Cemetery

George Edwin VALLER
Private, 7th Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 55 Brigade, 18th Division. Army no. G/37827
He was killed in action on 23 March 1918. He was 37
He was the son of Charles and Charlotte Valler and the husband of Minna Valler
He is remembered on panel 14 and 15 of the Pozières Memorial


The Fallen who do not appear on the Memorial

William Thomas BAKER
Private, 1st Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) 19 Brigade, 33rd Division. Army no. 12982,
He died of his wounds on 21 September 1918. He was 40
He is buried in grave II A 7 Domino British Cemetery, Epéhy
Additional information
The village of Epéhy was captured in April 1917 and lost on 22nd March 1918.  It was retaken in the Battle of Epéhy on 18 September by the 12th (Eastern) Division. Domino British Cemetery was named after the 33rd Divisional emblem.

Gilbert Victor FOSTER
Private, 6th Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 100 Brigade, 33rd Division. Army no. 13449
He died of his wounds on 21 April 1917. He was 31
He was the son of Eliza Foster of Cranleigh and the late Reuben Foster and the husband of Bessie Adams, formerly Foster, Thatched House, Dunsfold
He is buried in grave O IX G 4 St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen

Frederick Alfred HART
Corporal, 236 Company, 17 Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), 17th Division. Army no. 86270. He was formerly with 5th Battalion, The East Surrey Regiment. Army no. 20059.
He was killed in action on 5 April 1918 on the Somme. He was 26
He was the son of George Hart of Epsom and the late Emily Hart and the husband of Florence M Hart, 12 St Andrews Road, Epsom
He is buried in grave III A 9 Bouzincourt Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme

Charles Basil Mortimer HODGSON  Croix de Guerre with Palm (France) 
Captain, attached to 2nd/24th (County of London) Battalion (The Queen’s) London Regiment, 181 Brigade, 60th Division. He was formerly Captain, 3rd Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment).
He died from his wounds on 1 April 1918. He was 37
He was the son of Charles D and Emily Hodgson, The Hallams, Shamley Green and the husband of Mary A Hodgson, North Canonry,
Salisbury. He was the brother of Cyril, see the next entry.
He is buried in grave O 143, Cairo War Memorial Cemetery
Additional information
Probate granted 20 June 1918 to his widow.  His address is stated as London SW1

Cyril Arthur Godwin HODGSON
Captain, 1/1st Royal North Devon Yeomanry then formed into (Royal 1st Devon and Royal North Devon Yeomanry), The Devonshire Regiment, 229 Brigade, 74th Division 
He died on 20 March 1918 from malaria. He was 33
He was the son of Charles D and Emily Hodgson, The Hallams, Shamley Green,
He is buried in grave O 135 Cairo War Memorial Cemetery.
Additional information
This was a cavalry regiment based in Alexandria, Egypt but they “dismounted” in 1917.
Captain Cyril Arthur Godwin Hodgson, Deceased. Pursuant to Statute 22 & 23 Vic., cap 35:  NOTICE is hereby given, that all persons having any claims against the estate of Cyril Arthur Godwin Hodgson, of The Hallams, Shamley Green, a Captain in the Royal North Devon Hussars, deceased (who died on 20 of March, 1918, and whose will, with two codicils, was proved in the Principal Probate Registry, on 5 of July, 1918, by Archibald Sanford Hodgson and Harry Moubray Merriman. The executors named therein), are required to send particulars of their claims to the undersigned, on or before the 31st day of August, 1918, after which date the executors will distribute the estate of the deceased, having regard only to the claims of which-they shall then have had notice.—Dated 11 July 1918. 
Baileys, Shaw & Gillett, 5 Benners Street, London W1 Solicitors to the
Executors. Probate was granted on 5 July 1919 to Archibald Sanford Hodgson, land agent and Harry Moubray, stock broker. 

George Frederic Albert RICHARDSON
Private, 17th (Empire) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), 5 Brigade, 2nd Division. Army no. K/1464
He died of his wounds on 18 November 1916. He was 29
He was the son of James and Sarah C Richardson, 1 Sussex Row, Brighton Road, Horsham
He is buried in grave V B 14 Couin British Cemetery, near Doullens

Frederick RISBRIDGER
Private, 2nd/5th Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), 170 Brigade, 57th Division. Army no. 28581.  He was formerly with the Labour Corps. Army no. 67923,
He was killed in action on 26 October 1917 in the second battle of Passchendaele. He was 29
He was the son of Henry and Catherine Risbridger, Selhurst Common, Bramley
He is remembered on panel 18 to 19 of the Tyne Cot Memorial

Timothy (Tim) Stevens
Private, 13th Battalion, Australian Infantry, AIF. Army no 6327
He died of his wounds on 15 April 1917. He was 29
He is buried in grave IV A 30 Ontario Cemetery, Sains-Les-Marquion
He died as a result of being wounded in the right thigh by gunshot. At the time he was being treated in a German Field Hospital, Res. Feld Laz. 17 Deutsche Feldpost 744
Additional information
A message from his Great Niece: I have lived in Shamley Green all my life, my mother and her parents were all born here. My father was born in Wonersh. My grandmother, Martha Heather (nee Stevens) lost her brother, Timothy Stevens (born 1888) in April 1917. He was a carpenter who emigrated to Australia in 1913 due to lack of work in England. With the onset of WW1 he enlisted in the AIF and served in Europe, unfortunately dying in France from a leg injury as a POW, and is buried in Bantigny.

The Fallen named on the War Memorial WW2

Robin Harold BARNES
Sergeant, 102 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 1311751.
He died on 25 June 1943. He was 29.
He was the son of Ada D and the late James Barnes and the husband of Gwendoline I Barnes, Shamley Green. 
He is remembered on panel 141 of the Runnymede Memorial
Additional information
102 Squadron, Halifax JB834 DY-C was part of an operation against
Wuppertal. The aeroplane took off at 23.00 hours from RAF Pocklington, East Yorkshire and was lost over Germany.
Sergeant P A G Warwick is buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery. Sergeant J A Marsden, Sergeant J S R Ablett, Flying Officer J E Lewis, Pilot Officer J A Perkins, Sergeant R H Barnes and Sergeant T A Hicks are all remembered on the Runnymede Memorial.
More than 200 bombers were lost flying from RAF Pocklington between 1941 and 1945

William Gay BURDETT
Captain, 4 Supply Personnel Company, Royal Army Service Corps. Army no. 115832
He was killed in action at sea on 15 May 1940. He was 31
He was the son of Halford G and Helena G Burdett and the husband
of Doris B Burdett of April Cottage, Shamley Green.
He is remembered on panel 15 column 2 of the Brookwood Memorial
Additional information
William Gay BURDETT, Deceased. Pursuant to the Trustee Act, 1925.  ALL persons having claims against the estate of William Gay Burdett late of April Cottage Shamley Green in the county of Surrey formerly of April Cottage, Wentworth, Virginia Water in the said county of Surrey, a Captain in His Majesty's Army deceased who was killed in action at sea on the 15th day of May 1940 and whose will with one Codicil were proved by Harry Holbeche Radcliffe Dolling and Nancy Tremenhere the executors therein named on the eighth day of December 1941 in the Principal Probate Registry of His Majesty's High Court of Justice, are required to send particulars thereof to the undersigned the Solicitors for the said executors on or before the roth [sic] day of March 1942 after which date the executors will proceed to distribute the assets having regard only to the claims of which they shall then have had notice.—Dated this 5th day of January 1942. Hore, Pattisson and Bathurst, 48 Lincolns Inn Fields, London, WC2 Solicitors for the said Executors.
Why Brookwood? The Brookwood Memorial commemorates nearly 3,500 men and women of the land forces of the Commonwealth who died during WW2 and have no known grave, the circumstances of their death being such that they could not appropriately be commemorated on any of the campaign memorials in the various theatres of war. They died in the campaign in Norway in 1940, or in the various raids on enemy occupied territory in Europe such as Dieppe and St Nazaire. Others were special agents who died as prisoners or while working with Allied underground movements. Some died at sea, in hospital ships and troop transports, in waters not associated with the major campaigns, and a few were killed in flying accidents or in aerial combat.

Arthur John GOFF
Sergeant, 21 Light Artillery Regiment, Royal Artillery. Army no. 1458291
He died whilst a Prisoner of War of the Japanese Forces on 26 July 1945. He was 25
He was the son of Arthur J M and Emily M Goff of Hove
He is buried in grave P B 10 Labuan War Cemetery, Borneo
Additional information
21 LAA Regiment RA deployed one Battery to Eastern Java on
airfield defence with 48 Battery in the Soerabaja area. The third Battery was possibly that which Wavell had ordered to be sent as reinforcements for Koepang (now Kupang) in Timor.
The Allied Forces surrendered in March 1942 and over the next few weeks the PoWs were concentrated in large camps, mainly in the
Batavia area, where from October 1942 regular drafts of 'slave labour' were sent either to Japan to work in the coal mines or to Thailand, via Singapore, to work on the infamous 'Burma' Railway.
It is most likely that he died from an illness.
His address for probate was Beverly, Stonards Brow, Shamley Green

Albert (Bill) Edward HARDING
Commissioned Boatswain, HMS Warspite, Royal Navy
He died on 22 May 1941. He was 40
He was the son of Walter and Rosina E Harding and the husband of Marion N L Harding of Shamley Green.
He is remembered on panel 41, 2 of the Chatham Naval Memorial
Additional information
In May 1941 the Germans invaded Crete and the Mediterranean fleet
took serious damage during the campaign. HMS Warspite and HMS Valiant took up position 100 miles west of Crete at dawn on 20 May, to guard against the Italian fleet. The real danger turned out to be from German aircraft and, on 22 May, the battleships moved north to support a cruiser squadron that was under attack.
Soon after the two squadrons met, HMS Warspite was hit by bombs, destroying her starboard 6 inch and 4 inch guns and killing 29 of the crew. She escaped back to Alexandria but then left the eastern Mediterranean for repairs.

John Seaton Burns IVEY
Lieutenant, A Squadron, 142 Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps previously 7th Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment.  Army no. 200955
He died on 28 July 1944. He was 31
He was the husband of Grace F Ivey of Hove.
He is buried in grave VI F 13, Florence War Cemetery
Additional information
Following the fall of Rome to the Allies in June 1944, the German retreat became more disciplined. Successive stands were made on defensive positions known as the Trasimene, Arezzo, Arno and Gothic
Lines. Florence, which was taken by the Allied forces on 13 August 1944, was the centre of the Arno line and the point where from the attack on the German Gothic Line defences in the Apennines was launched.

Lionel Edward LOCK
Gunner, 11th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. Army no. 968704
He died on 6 August 1944. He was 28
He was the son of George R and Sarah H Lock, Bramley.
He is buried in grave VI D 30 Arezzo War Cemetery, Italy
Additional information
On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side. Progress through southern Italy was rapid, but the advance was checked for months at the German
winter defensive position known as the Gustav Line which included Monte Cassino.
The line eventually fell in May 1944.  Rome was taken by the Allies on 3 June. The Germans made a stand in front of Arezzo in July 1944 and there was fierce fighting before the town was taken by the 6th Armoured Division with the aid of the 2nd New Zealand Division.

John Anthony ROOPER
Lieutenant, HMS Ark Royal, Royal Navy
He died on 11 June 1941. He was 24
He was the son of John R and Isobel I Rooper of Shamley Green and brother of Ralph, see next entry.
He is remembered on bay 1 panel 7, Lee on Solent Memorial 
Additional information
John was a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, serving on the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. It is understood that his aeroplane was involved in a flying accident.

Ralph Bonfoy ROOPER  DSC
Lieutenant, HM MTB 417, Royal Navy
He died on 16 March 1944. He was 25
He was the son of John R Rooper and Isobel I Rooper of Shamley Green
He is buried in plot 2, row A grave 2 Bergen General Cemetery, Netherlands
Additional information
His Motor Torpedo Boat (no. 417) was ordered on 12 February 1942 and completed on 8 September 1942.  It was lost on 16 March 1944 through the gunfire of German surface craft off Calais. Sub Lieutenant Thomas G Hughes DSC, RNVR, the First Lieutenant was also killed.
Somewhat confusingly the cemetery in Bergen is on the Dutch coast 43 kilometres north-north-west of Amsterdam

Sydney Thomas STEVENS
Sapper, 84 Field Company, Royal Engineers. Army no. 14379779
He died on 10 June 1944. He was 34
He was the son of William and Rose Stevens of Shamley Green and the husband of Honor Stevens of Aldeburgh, Suffolk.
He is buried in grave 1 E 10 Hermanville War Cemetery, Normandy
Additional information
The date of his death and the location of his burial tell us that he had been involved in the Normandy Landings. Michael Harding states that he was killed whilst he was engaged in clearing mines and booby traps from the invasion beaches

Charles Frances SWAYNE
Signalman, 45th Division Signals, Royal Corps of Signals. Army no. 5677056
He died on 29 March 1943. He was 26
He was the son of Mr and Mrs Sidney G Swayne of Shamley Green.
He is buried in the Churchyard of Christ Church, Shamley Green

Hugh Deane WYLDBORE-SMITH
Lieutenant-Commander, HMS Hood, Royal Navy
He died on 24 May 1941.  He was 34
He was the husband of Rachel C L Wyldbore-Smith
He is remembered on panel 45, column 1 Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Additional information
Hugh Wyldbore-Smith was Signals Officer on HMS Hood when it was sunk. HMS Hood had been operating in the area around Iceland when war was declared and spent several months hunting between there and the Norwegian Sea. After an overhaul to her engine plant, she sailed as the flagship of Force H and participated in the destruction of the French Fleet.  Then Hood was dispatched to Scapa Flow, and operated in the area as a convoy escort and later as a defence against a potential German invasion fleet. In May 1941, she and the battleship HMS Prince of Wales were ordered to intercept the German battleship Bismarck which was en route to attack convoys in the Atlantic.
On 24 May 1941, Hood was struck by several German shells early
in the Battle of the Denmark Strait and exploded.  The loss had a profound effect. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the Royal Navy to "sink the Bismarck", and they fulfilled his command on 26–27 May

And those buried in the churchyard:  WW1 Burials

William Geoffrey MESSENGER DSC
Lieutenant, HM Trawler Kunishi, Royal Naval Reserve
He died of illness probably the Spanish Influenza pandemic on 30
December 1918. He was 33
He was the son of William H Messenger and the stepson of Lillian Messenger
He is buried in the Churchyard of Christ Church, Shamley Green
Additional information
His address for probate was 2 The Old Barracks, Lodmoor Hill, Weymouth.
I believe that he was the husband of Maude E Messenger

WW2 Burials

Francis Robert BAILEY       
Lance Sergeant, 144 Battery, 35 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. Army no. 1547024
He died on 19 October 1940. He was 27. BA (Oxon)
He was the son of John N and Agnes E Bailey of Westminster.
He is buried in the Churchyard of Christ Church, Shamley Green
Additional information
Each battery in a Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment comprised 18 Bofors 40 mm guns. The day that Francis Bailey died was during the Battle of Britain and, for the record, that night heavy raids took place on London and Coventry. Mile End Hospital was partly destroyed. Regrettably, we have not established where in Great Britain, he was stationed.
The record for this date, 19 October 1940 is:
Attack on London
At 14.30 hours, two enemy raids totalling about 60 aircraft flew over
Dungeness and Maidstone, some penetrating to Central London, with plots also at Biggin Hill and near Hornchurch. The raids are reported to have been composed of fighters, some carrying bombs. They turned about and returned to France on a reciprocal course, the country being again clear at 15.10 hours. 5 Squadrons were despatched to meet this attack; three reported having sighted the enemy.
Our losses were two aircraft and one pilot missing.
Reconnaissances (flights by German Aircraft)
East:   In the morning several reconnaissances were plotted off East Anglia and one flew across Suffolk to the Coventry area. A section of fighters sighted this aircraft, but it escaped in cloud.
South East:     During the morning reconnaissances were plotted at intervals in the Straits, a few penetrating inland, and one Ju88 was destroyed near Maidstone. After the attack on London, patrols in the Straits were particularly active.
South and West:         A few reconnaissances appeared between Cherbourg and the Isle of Wight, one of which was damaged by
fighters. Slight activity continued, and late in the afternoon a Ju88 was
destroyed near Falmouth.
Night Operations - 19/20 October 1940
Activity commenced at dusk and for the first 4 hours was abnormally heavy, then continuing on a large but more usual scale. The main attacks were against London, but Liverpool, Manchester and Coventry received considerable attention.
19.00 to 21.00 Hours  Hostile raiders were extremely active, 14 from Le Havre, 33 from Dieppe, 20 from Belgium, 14 from Holland, and 18 from Baie de la Seine concentrating on London and its suburbs. In addition, at least 10 raiders from Cherbourg penetrated to Liverpool and Manchester, Birmingham and Coventry, with plots also showing over Bristol and South Wales. Three raiders from Holland also visited North Eastern areas.
21.00 to 22.00 Hours  17 raids from France over Kent and Sussex. 23 from Holland and Belgium came via the Thames Estuary, concentrating on London, with a few raids in East Anglia. 7 further raids from Cherbourg flew to the Coventry and Liverpool areas, with plots as far North as Barrow and at Bradford.
21.00 to 23.00 Hours A few additional raids entered from Cherbourg to the Midlands and Lancashire. 12 from France and 9 from Holland to London, and 6 from Holland to East Anglia and Lincolnshire

Nigel Harold CAIN
Flying Officer (Pilot), 129 Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 120418
He died on 22 December 1943. He was 21
He was the son of Harold N and Hilda R Cain and the husband of Joy L Cain, Shamley Green.
He is buried in grave H 69, Canadian War Cemetery, Hautot sur Mer, Dieppe 
Additional information
129 Squadron was a fighter squadron equipped with Spitfires that had moved to the Orkneys to provide local air defence between
September 1942 and February 1943.  The squadron then returned to the south coast to resume an escort role. Anti-shipping strikes were also carried out at this time.
In June 1943 the squadron had become one of the founding members
of Second Tactical Air Force, the British contribution to the massive Allied air fleets created to support the D-Day landings.
His address for probate was New Barn, Wonersh and he appears on the Wonersh War Memorial

Donald Alexander JAMESON
First Officer, Air Transport Auxiliary, Royal Air Force
He died on 24 April 1943. He was 33
He was the son of Arthur S and Dora K Jameson of Reigate and the husband of Beatrice J Jameson.
He is buried in the Churchyard of Christ Church, Shamley Green
Additional information
He had gained his Aviator’s Certificate at Redhill on 24 May 1939. It is believed that he was flying an aircraft to Cambridgeshire.
The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British World War II civilian organisation that ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between UK factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, Maintenance Units (MU), scrap yards, and active service squadrons and airfields. It also flew service personnel on urgent duty from one place to another and performed air ambulance work.
Extract from St John's Church, Redhill and the Second World War
From the diary of the Rev. W A R Ball, then Vicar of St John's, Redhill
Thursday  29 April: I buried Donald Alexander Jameson at Shamley Green. Killed in a flying accident on 24 April

John Selwyn MOLL
Captain, 2nd/7th Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment). Army no. 132163
He died on 24 July 1942. He was 29
He was the son of Thomas and Madge Moll, Shamley Green.
He is buried in the Churchyard of Christ Church, Shamley Green
Additional information
John Moll started the war with the Northumberland Hussars, a Territorial unit and was transferred into the Queen’s in the second half of 1941.  This Battalion of the Queen’s had served briefly with the BEF in 1941 and had been evacuated from Cherbourg, not Dunkirk, on the ss Vienna.  After Dunkirk, the Battalion had mustered in Newcastle before being posted to Kent and Sussex and engaged in anti–invasion duties. It is probable that he was based in Faversham. In June 1942, the Battalion was preparing for a tropical posting. Shortly after John
Moll died, the Battalion was posted to Iraq. The circumstances of his death are not clear but the regimental archives have him listed on their Roll of Honour indicating that he died in the line of duty.

Archibald Frank SALSBURY
Colonel, Army Dental Corps and Commands and Staff.
He died on 25 November 1944. He was 53
He was the son of Frank E and Alice Salsbury and the husband of Leontine M Salsbury of Parkstone.
He is buried in the Churchyard of Christ Church, Shamley Green
Additional information
He was a Regular who had served in WW1 as he was promoted
Lieutenant on 25 June 1917 and promoted to Major in April 1921

Graham Howard SHEPARD
Lieutenant, HMS Polyanthus, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
He died on 20 September 1943 in the North Atlantic He was the
son of Ernest H and Florence E Shepard and the husband of Ann F Shepard
He is remembered on panel 80, column 1, Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Additional information
HMS Polyanthus and other ships in the Flower class escorted
convoys in the Atlantic. The scale of the Battle of the North Atlantic is
highlighted by the loss of HMS Polyanthus. On the night of 19–20 September 1943, two westbound Convoys ONS18 and ON202 were facing frequent U-boat engagements, and summoned HMS Polyanthus to their aid in the wake of the near destruction of HMS Escapade and HMS Lagan.
After successfully driving away U238, HMS Polyanthus was ordered to rescue the crew from the escort HMCS St. Croix which was sunk by U-305. HMS Polyanthus was then sunk by U952. At least 7 officers and
77 crew were lost, with the single known survivor drowning within days after another U boat attack on the ship that rescued him, HMS Itchen
There had been 29 escorts for the forty ship convoy ON-202, sailing from Liverpool to New York. Two Liberty ships were attacked by U 238. U270 fired a torpedo at HMS Lagan which hit her stern. The explosion killed 28 of her crew. The U 270 was depth charged on 22 September by one of the escorts.
Just before 22:00 hours one of the wolf pack (of no less than 17 submarines) torpedoed HMCS St. Croix I-81, another of the escorts. 148 of her crew died, 81 survivors were picked up by HMS Itchen.

The Grave of a Soldier
​
John George Sparkes
Colonel, 2nd Battalion, The Derbyshire Regiment
He died on 11 April 1928. He was 77
He was born in Bramley or Wonersh, both appear on the census
He was the husband of Mabel L Sparkes
He is buried in the Churchyard but he is not on the War Memorial
Additional information
The probate records tell us that he lived at Woodyers, Wonersh at
the time of his death.

Acknowledgments
Thank you Michael Harding for your interest, information and advice