Beaudesert & Henley-in-Arden Roll of Honour
Do you have any information on Wilfred Hattemore, or on any of the many other men of Beaudesert and Henley who died in the two World Wars? Dr Douglas Bridgewater has a project in hand to produce biographical details of all those who served and died in the two World Wars. The names recorded on the town memorials in St John's are:

1914-1918   George W Andrews  Harry Richard Arnold   Fred Charles Atkins Sidney Bickley   William Louis Clare Arden Cotterell Coldicott MC   William Collins William Sutton Findon   Stephen Hastings John Aubrey Hawkes   W E Hayward Lawrence J A Hodges   Harry Hugh Holt Owen Victor C Holt   Edward Hopkins Maurice E Horsnett   Tom Sadler Albert A Sammons   Harry Woodward     1939-1945   Joseph John Cave Claude Avery Gilks   Wilfred N Hattemore William Hobbins   Albert Frederick Holmes Arthur Henry Lowe   Peter John Maxwell Peter Thomas Newcombe   Samuel F Pardury Norman Frederick Parkes   Alfred John Richards Thomas Ritchings   William Frederick Smith John Henry Warren   Brian R F Woodward Kenneth Bernard Wright

However, these lists are not complete. An initial investigation of World War I casualties has found the names of 13 other men either born in Henley or living in the town when they enlisted. Another soldier is buried in St Nicholas’ Churchyard, but his name does not appear on the memorial.

The names of these men are:

Do you know the names of any other men who were born or who lived in Henley and died in World War I or World War II?

It is also surprising that the names of Peter Thomas Newcombe and Norman Frederick Parkes, who are shown on the memorial as having died in World War II, do not appear in the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

We wish to discover as much information as we can about the above-named men, both those who names are on the memorial and those whose names do not appear there. Do you have any information, letters, medals, or other memorabilia relating to them? Photographs would be very welcome and these could be copied without them leaving your home.

Alternatively, you might like to join the group researching their lives, which will involve trawling through old local newspapers, the parish registers, regimental histories, war diaries, medal records, the 1901 census and other potential sources of information. It is hoped that sufficient information can be found to enable a small book to be produced.

If you have any information about these men and/or would like to take part in the project, please contact Douglas Bridgewater.