"They shall grow not old, as we that
are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."
Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)
Pte Jack Herbert Bentley
Born on 14 August 1915 in Thakeham. In 1939, lived with his parents, William and Louisa, at 3 Church Road, Angmering. Before WW2, he was employed as a bricklayer. Buried in Catania Cemetery, Sicily (Plot 11, Row E, Grave 18). Husband of Eva Elsie Bentley.
Bentley Close - off Roundstone Lane - is named after him.
Major George Woodthorpe Chaplin, MC
Born 1914 in Angmering. Died 02 December 1944 in Italy. Commemorated on the Cassino Memorial (Panel 3). George was married to Jocelyn Paterson and they had one daughter. He volunteered for war service in the late summer of 1940 and following Sandhurst was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards. After training in Scotland, and with the 5th Battalion fought in Tunisia and Italy. As a Captain, he was Intelligence Officer for the Battalion during the Anzio campaigns of January/February 1944, during which he was involved in action for which he was awarded the Military Cross. He was promoted to Major in 1944. George was killed in action at Monte Sole on 2 December 1944. His father was Dr Clement Chaplin - Angmering's village doctor from 1907 to 1946 - who lived in the High Street. See www.angmeringvillage.co.uk/history/memorial.htm for George's Military Cross citation.
Pte Charles William Espin
Born on 14 July 1924 in Driffield, Yorkshire. In 1939, he lived with his parents, Marshall and Annie Espin at New Cottage in Angmering Park. His father was in charge of the stud farm and Charles helped him there before joining the RAVC. Buried in Schoonselhof Cemetery, Antwerp (Plot V, Row A, Grave 87), Belgium..
Pte Charles Leslie Frank Greenough
Born April 1926 in Easthampstead, Berkshire. Died 1 February 1945. Buried Reichwald Forest War Cemetery, Germany (Plot 35, Row E, Grave 2). Attached to the 6th Airbourne Division. No records found with links to Angmering
Gunner Alan Victor Reginald Hilton
Born on 23 March 1923 in Angmering. In 1939 he lived with his parents, Frank and Rhoda, at 1 The Cotteralls, Angmering. Before joining the R.A., he was employed as a golf caddie. Died 26 August 1944. Commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial (Panel 93, Col. 2). Husband of Peggy Pauline Maud Hilton. Also commemorated on the Thornbury & District Museum: 6th Maritime Regiment Memorial, Bristol.
On the day of his death, Alan was serving aboard the British Steam Merchant 'Ashman. J. Clough', part of convoy EBC-82, on route from Barry in Wales to Utah Beach Normandy, carrying a cargo of 1200 tons of military stores. At 08.30 hours on 26 Aug 1944, north of Cherbourg, the ship was torpedoed by U-boat U-989, broke in two and sank within 2 minutes. The master, 11 crew members and four gunners, including Alan, were lost and the 19 survivors were picked up and landed at Cherbourg.
Lt.Cdr.(RN) Gerald Hildred Elsdale Molson
Born in 1895 in Chelmsford. His first posting was as a midshipman seconded to the Australian Navy in 1913. He died on 23 November 1939 onboard HMS Rawalpindi when she was sunk north of the Faroe Islands bravely fighting the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. . He purchased Pigeon House in the High Street, Angmering in 1934 and owned it until his death. Commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial (Panel 33, Col.1). He is also commemorated on the Molson family grave monument in St Mary Church burial ground, Goring by Sea. He was posthumously mentioned in despatches in the 2 July 1946 edition of The London Gazette.
His father, a Unionist MP, owned and lived at Goring Hall until his death in 1925, after which his mother lived in the Pound House, Angmering, until her death in 1932
Cpl Alfred John Reene
Born July 1926 in Angmering. Died 18 September 1947, presumably from war related injuries. Son of Alfred and Mary who lived at Irmay (now Teazlewood Cottage) in the High Street, Angmering. In 1939 he was employed as a builder's labourer. Buried in St Margaret's churchyard, Angmering.
A/C (1st Class) George Frederick Reeves
Born April 1924 in Brentford. Died 2 March 1945. Commemorated on Singapore Memorial, Kranji Cemetery, Singapore (Co. 454). Son of William John and Jane Reeves, of 7 Weavers Hill, Angmering. In 1939, George was employed as an electrician.
Dkm Albert Charles Smitherham
Born on 26 October 1909 in Cardiff, he was married to Ena and lived at 28 Council Cottages, Arundel Road, Angmering. In 1939, he was employed as a stoker at a 'refuse destruction' plant. S.S. Fintra was sunk by a U-Boat on 23 February 1943 north-east of Algiers. Albert is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London (Panel 49), naming merchant seaman with no known graves.
W/O Lawrence Edward Swain, MM
Born 1907 in Durrington. Died 14 April 1941, Cyrenaica, Libya . Commemorated on Alamein Memorial, Egypt (Col. 17). Husband of E.A.M. Swain (?). Location in Angmering unknown (possibly at 62 Arundel Road, where his parents lived). It was initially believed he was a prisoner of was but this later proved incorrect.
An article in the Worthing Herald on 6 June 1941 said: "An Angmering man who was decorated early this year for conspicuous gallantry in Libya is now beleived to be a prisoner of war in German hands. He is Troop Sargeant-Major Lawrence Edward Swain of the Royal Armoured Corps. The news that he was ' missing beleived prisoner' was received by his parents, Mr & Mrs Swain, of 62 Arundel Road a short time ago. Swain's expoit, which won him the Military Medal, took place at the end of last year, when the Army of the Nile commenced its surprise sweep into Libya. The citation read: "While a squadron of tanks [text lost ] ..... coolness and organising ability". The account ended ".... that the squadron was withdrawn from under heavy fire without the loss of a tank". Born in Durrington, Lawrence Swain came to Angmering 20 years ago, where he finished his scooling. He has been a serving soldier for 15 years, four of which were spent in Egypt. He is 35, the youngest member of the family, having two elder brothers and three sisters. Mr & Mrs Swain are still waiting for definite news of their son. So far they have received no word from him"
Boatswain
Born 1 March 1907 in Portsmouth. Died 24 May 1941 when HMS Hood was sunk. Robert entered the Navy as a Boy at H.M.S Ganges in 1922. He saw spells of training at H.M.S Excellent firstly as a Seaman gunner and later as a Turret Director Trainer. In 1936 Robert reached Warrant rank as a Boatswain. He joined Hood as her Boatswain and remained in her until she was lost. Commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial (Panel 45, Col. 3). His mother apparently lived in Angmering at the time of the sinking.
CASUALTIES NOT INSCRIBED ON WAR MEMORIAL
2nd Lieut. Moran Geoffrey White
Born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire 1914. Died Angmering 8 September 1940. Buried in St Margaret's churchyard, Angmering. Worthing Herald, Friday 13th September 1940:. "An Army officer was fatally injured at Angmering during the black-out on Sunday. He was Lieut. Moran Geoffrey White, of the Royal Artillery, and he was riding a motor-cycle when he was involved in a collision with an Army truck near the Thatchway. At the inquest at East Preston on Monday a verdict of death from shock following fracture of the base of the skull and other severe injuries - accidental death was returned".
Sgt. John Grenville Anderson
Born 26 September 1881. Died in Angmering on 1 August 1941. Buried in St Margaret's churchyard, Angmering. Sgt Anderson was accidentally shot through the head while instructing musketry to a boy messenger in the Home Guard and another boy at his own home at Brentnor, Station Road, Angmering. Sgt Anderson, a retired electrical & mechanical engineer, had loaded what he thought was a 'dud' round into a rifle, but this proved to be a live one. The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death..
I would welcome any additions/amendments/photos to the foregoing list. See Contacts page.
Neil Rogers-Davis
December 2023
Principal Sources of Information:
Commonwealth War Graves
Commission website - www.cwgc.org
Ancestry: Births & Marriages, 1901
& 1911 Censuses, 1939 Register of England & Wales -
www.ancestry.co.uk
Roll of Honour website -
www.roll-of-honour.com
H.M.S. Hood Association website
- www.hmshood.org.uk
Angmering Village Life website -
www.angmeringvillage.co.uk
Worthing Herald
Littlehampton Gazette
"Clement Woodthorpe Chaplin (1876-1949) - A
dedicated doctor & parish councillor" (2010) by Neil Rogers-Davis
Image by Freepik