Tonbridge War Memorial Gardens The Tonbridge War Memorial Gardens are located between the High Street and the river Medway. On Friday 25 April 1952 the local newspaper, the Tonbridge Free Press published a detailed article about the amount of work that had been involved in respect of the Tonbridge War Memorial Gardens and the actual war memorial. The newspaper reported on a meeting of the War Memorial General Committee, which had taken place on Thursday 17 January 1952, it being the first such meeting that had taken place since 1950. Amongst a whole range of different discussions which took place at the meeting, was to decide which of the Tonbridge casualties would be commemorated on the war memorial. Consideration was given to the possibility of having the names of the local Boer War and Great War fallen included on the new memorial. Councillor Leslie Le May said, The executive was not in favour of having the two existing memorials in the garden. They felt it would spoil the whole atmosphere. In any case the memorial at the traffic lights could not be moved without knocking it to pieces. The meeting decided that the memorial should be inscribed with the names of the casualties from the two world wars, and also those of the then still raging Korean War. The meeting also decided (quite rightly), that the relatives of those commemorated on the new memorial should be invited to attend the unveiling and dedication ceremony, which was to take place during the 1
afternoon of Sunday 20 April 1952. Fortunately the War Memorial Gardens were bathed in sunshine, and were packed with people for the dedication and unveiling of the war memorial. About 200 relatives of those whose names were inscribed on the memorial panels, were given seats within the sunken paved area of the garden. The privilege of unveiling the war memorial was given to Councillor R. Norton, who was the Chairman of the Tonbridge Urban District Councillor, and the service of dedication was carried out by the Reverend Canon Russell B. White (1896-1978), who was the Vicar of Tonbridge from 1945 to 1959, and the first Bishop of Tonbridge for the following nine years until 1968. In recent years for quite some time, a not insignificant number of individuals and organisations had voiced their concerns to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, the Police, and the local branch of the Royal British Legion, regarding the general overall state of the Tonbridge War Memorial Gardens, and the unacceptable activities which its secluded location is purported to attract. Very commendably, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council listened to the concerns which had been expressed, and at a meeting of the Council, the current issues affecting the War Memorial Gardens were outlined, included the overall deterioration of the Memorial, limited hard standing areas, the poor condition of the paving, inadequate security measures, the need for an effective Public Address system, difficult access for people with disabilities and, a lack of public awareness. The comprehensive raft of the proposed improvements, would address the current issues which were causing concern by providing a high quality scheme, and retaining the fundamental purpose for which the War Memorial Garden had originally been constructed back in 1952. The Chief Leisure Officer indicated that costs would be significant, and that they were estimated to be in the region of 100,000. Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council have now made a commitment to contribute 25,000 to the scheme, with the remainder of monies to be sought from donations. A project launch was held on Wednesday 12 May 2010 at a very well attended open forum, which was organised jointly by the Tonbridge Branch of the Royal British Legion, in partnership with Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council, at which time a War Memorial Gardens Fundraising Committee was formed. An Appeals Committee, chaired by a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent Group Captain Patrick Tootal O.B.E., D.L., R.A.F. (Retd), has been created to secure additional money, by either seeking further contributions or initiating a variety of fund raising measures. It was noted that the project would be a partnership scheme, working with the Royal British Legion, the Lord Lieutenants' Office, the Tonbridge Civic Society and other local organisations and individuals. Other committee members are Councillor Vivian Branson, Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council; Miss Rachel Lucas representing the Tonbridge Branch of the Royal British Legion Womens Section, Mr. Vivian Oakley representing the Tonbridge Branch of the Royal British Legion, Mr. David Smith representing the Clergy; Mrs Pat Mortlock of the Tonbridge 2
Historical Society, and Miss Janice Browne representing the Civic Society. Miss Rachel Lucas, Honorary Secretary of the Tonbridge Branch of the Royal British Legion, stated that "The local Royal British Legion, in upholding its Royal Charter mandate as custodians of the nation's remembrance, are pleased to wholeheartedly support this important initiative for a high quality improvement to the Memorial Gardens which will enhance and preserve this area for future generations. Our representatives look forward to working with the members of the fund-raising committee and the Local Authority to achieve the objective sought." Councillor Vivian Branson said that "The Borough Council is very pleased to support such a worthy project and I am very proud to have been asked to sit on the fund-raising committee." The photograph above and those below, were kindly provided for inclusion on this website by prolific contributor Susan F. Susan also very thoughtfully provided the details about the newspaper articles and event of 1952. Unfortunately for the time being, due to other pressing war memorial transcription commitments and similar commemoration projects, the transcriber is unable to transcribe the memorial via Susan s photographs. In order to help people viewing the panels who are checking for a particular name or names, the following compositions of Susan s photographs have been added below. Unlike the vast majority of Kent forms of the rememberance of war, the war memorial also commemorated two post Second World War casualties, on whom the transcriber had added brief additional details. As can be clearly deduced when viewing the accompanying photographs, the actual war memorial is remarkably clean and in good condition. Doubtless when the envisaged improvements are finally completed, not only will the war memorial be in a setting more worthy of its status, but hopefully it will be visited more often, and the names of those commemorated on it will be viewed far more frequently than is at present the case. Needless to say, all involved with the www.kentfallen.com website wish the Tonbridge War Memorial Gardens Fundraising Committee, and all of those involved with this hugely worthwhile project every success. GREAT WAR COMMEMORATIONS - From ADAMS, F.C. to HUNT, F.G. 3
GREAT WAR COMMEMORATIONS From HUNT, H.S. to WORTHINGTON, R. SECOND WORLD WAR COMMEMORATIONS From ARKWRIGHT, G.P.D. to HUTHINSON, F.W. SECOND WORLD WAR COMMEMORATIONS From INGLEDON, L.J. to WOOLEY, R.A. 4
LEWIS, DENNIS EDWARD. Lance Corporal, 14156836. Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). Attached to the Royal Norfolk Regiment. Died Saturday 5 July 1952. Aged 24. Born 29 February 1928. Buried United Nations Memorial Cemetery, Daeyon-ong, Pusan, South Korea. Grave Ref: Plot 22. Row 6. Position 8. Grave 1469. Commemorated on the Armed Forces Memorial, National Memorial Arboretum, Croxall Road, Alrewas, Litchfield, Staffordshire, and on the Roll of Honour in the Chapel of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London. Also on page 34 in the United Kingdom Book of Remembrance which is held at the National Army Museum, Chelsea, London. MITCHELL, ROY RALPH. Corporal, 19037862. East Surrey Regiment. Died 25 May 1951. Aged 22. Born 23 May 1929. Buried (Ashes), Kranji Military Cemetery, Singapore. Commemorated on the Armed Forces Memorial, National Memorial Arboretum, Croxall Road, Alrewas, Litchfield, Staffordshire, and on the Roll of Honour in the Chapel of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London. 5
Despite the fact that from day one since www.kentfallen.com first went on line, we have as courteously as possible made it clear, that much as we would like to we do not have either the time, or facilities to carry out additional free military or family history researches for anybody. We have noticed that amongst the plethora of questions that we have been asked, and whilst not being actually specific to the above war memorial, a fairly regular question posed by enquirers is Why are the towns of Tonbridge and Royal Tunbridge Wells, spelt with an o and a u? As was the case with many other locations within Great Britain, for many decades the spelling of both of the above nearby towns had numerous different spellings which can be found in different written records spanning several centuries. Included amongst the spelling variations of the present day Tonbridge, were Tunbryega, Tonebrugga, Tonebrige, and Tonebricge. The spelling Tunbridge, appears to have been the more common usage during the 17th century, particularly when referring to Tunbridge Wells (now Tunbridge Wells). In attempts to distinguish between the two places which are only a few miles apart, the names Tunbridge-Town and Tunbridge-Wells (or Tonbridge-Town and Tonbridge-Wells) were widely adopted. By the time that the 1839 version of Pigots Directory was published, it was opting firmly for Tonbridge (and Tonbridge Wells) with an 'o', declaring the u spelling to be an error, but it was many years before there was universal agreement appertaining to the correct (modern) spellings. It was not until the 1890 s that the Tonbridge Local Board formally adopt the o spelling, and it was as late as 1929 that the Southern Railway was finally persuaded to call the railway station Tonbridge. Royal Tunbridge Wells, meanwhile, retained the 'u' with the different spellings helping to emphasise to people from outside the area, that the towns are in fact two totally, and wholly different places. 6