Bookham War Memorials - WWI War Memorial Cross, St Nicolas' Churchyard

The Origin of the War Memorial.

At a Parish Committee meeting, 12 Dec 1918 the Rector was asked to write to the Secretary of the Royal Academy requesting suggestions for a Memorial suitable for the fallen of the Parish. It was suggested that there should be a widely publicised Public Meeting at an early date. The Rector had visited men serving in France towards the end of the war.

In March 1919 Walter Read, one of the Church Wardens, chaired a meeting in the Barn Hall which agreed that a War Memorial should be erected to the design of PM Johnston, the Church Architect of St Nicolas, in the form of a 'Crucifixion' inscribed with the names of those who had fallen in the war. This is about 3.5 metres tall. The names were on a list prepared by the Rector;

"Unless some good reason be given for including others, the names of those who have fallen and to be inscribed on the memorial should be those whose homes were in Great Bookham or who were living in Great Bookham when they joined the 'Colours'."

This information is based on 'Faculty' papers lodged in the London Metropolitan Archives.

The Services Register of St Nicolas records that on 2nd February 1921 "The Crucifixion in the Churchyard was unveiled by General E. Hall Stevenson; the Church was packed full.

On Easter Day, 27 March 1921 the Memorial Tablet in the Church was dedicated."

postcard of the Memorial, the unclear postmark
date on the back is early 1920s
source - Goff Powell collection.

ABOUT THE NAMES

Where a name is hyperlinked this is to what appears to be the
relevant record in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
(CWGC) database or to a page about the person.
# see Notes for more detail or comment on the inscription.

PC ASHLEY see WWII page	A AYRES see WWII page	Pte ERNEST MICHAEL BARNES - story 7th Bn, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) Age 36 QUEANT ROAD CEMY, BUISSY/F
Pte ERNEST BARTHOLOMEW - story 7th Bn. The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Age about 23 DANTZIG ALLEY BRITISH CEMETERY, MAMETZ/F	Rfm ALBERT [GEORGE] BUNGAY - story 16th Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps Age 37 ARRAS MEMORIAL	2nd Lt JOHN STANLEY BURTON - story Grenadier Guards, attd 2nd Bn Age 31 - Window in church YPRES RESERVOIR CEMY/B
MHC CANDY see WWII page	E CARTER see WWII page	Pte ARTHUR CLAPSHEW story 1st Bn, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) Age 20. He is also on the Leatherhead WM. RED CROSS CORNER CEMY, BEUGNY/F
Pte GEORGE THOMAS COOK - story 2nd/8th Bn, West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) Age 19 MONT HUON MILITARY CEMY, LE TREPORT/F	JC CUNNINGHAM see WWII page	Pte ALBERT DIMENT # 7th Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Age unknown THIEPVAL MEMORIAL/F see also the Fetcham War Memorial
WILLIAM EARLE #	Stkr 1 DOUGLAS AUBREY EDSER story Royal Navy HMS Queen Mary Age 26 PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL also on the Leatherhead War Memorial	Pte WILLIAM EDWARDS 7th Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Age 32 CHAUNY COMM CEMY BRITISH EXTN/F
HENRY ETHERINGTON #	Pte FRANCIS HANDLEY # 2nd Bn, York and Lancaster Regiment Age unknown THIEPVAL MEMORIAL/F	Pte PHILIP HOLLAND 8th Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Age 19 THIEPVAL MEMORIAL/F
PA KLEBOE see WWII page	Pte CHARLES REUBEN LEWER 1st/5th Bn, York and Lancaster Regiment Age 20 YORK CEMY, HASPRES, Nord/F	Pte EDWARD WILLIAM LEWER 2nd Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Age 28 CATERPILLAR VALLEY CEMY, LONGUEVAL/F
Rfm SAMUEL ROBERT JAMES LEWER 13th Bn, King's Royal Rifle Corps Age 22 THIEPVAL MEMORIAL/F	Pte WILLIAM LIDBITTER 2nd/4th Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Age 20 SOISSONS MEMORIAL/F	DC LONGHURST see WWII page
CA MOORE see WWII page	HARRY MILLARD #	Pte FREDERICK WILLIAM NOAKES # 1st Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Age 19 THIEPVAL MEMORIAL/F
EA OVENS see WWII page	Capt WILLIAM GORDON PENDER MC - story Royal Flying Corps 40th Squadron Age 30 ARRAS FLYING SERVICES MEMORIAL/F	Pte FRANK PENFOLD # 2nd Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Age unknown LE TOURET MEMORIAL/F
D POPE see WWII page	Pte CHARLES RANGER # 7th Bn, Royal Fusiliers Age unknown ANCRE BRITISH CEMY, BEAUMONT-HAMEL/F	R RANGER see WWII page
L/Cpl THOMAS REID 3rd Bn, Worcestershire Regiment Age 27 ST. NAZAIRE (TOUTES-AIDES) CEMY/F	Rfm GEORGE HENRY ROLLINSON 11th Bn, London Regiment (Finsbury Rifles) Age 31 GAZA WAR CEMY	GEORGE SHEPHERD #
Pte ALFRED SMITH # 2nd Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Age unknown ST. SEVER CEMY, ROUEN/F	WALTER SMITH #	CSM ARTHUR STEMP 1st Bn, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) Age 36 YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL/B
ALBERT TOMSETT #	Gnr ERNEST TOMSETT # 324th Siege Bty Royal Garrison Artillery Age 26 MENDINGHEM MILITARY CEMY/B	Pte GRANVILLE WALKER-SMITH D Coy, London Regiment (London Scottish) Age 33 GREVILLERS BRITISH CEMY/F
AJ WHITE see WWII page	WILLIAM WILLIAMS #	Drv HENRY WOODS C Bty, 93rd Army Bde Royal Field Artillery Age 24 CANADA FARM CEMY/B
Sjt ERNEST WYETH 10th Bn, Rifle Brigade Age 24 MONT HUON MILITARY CEMY, LE TREPORT/F

SGDW: Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19 was originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) in 1921. It covered deaths within the period from 4th August 1914 (the declaration of war) to 11th November 1918 (Armistice Day) and, in some but not all cases, up to 25th March 1921. It lists the names of 661,960 Other Ranks. We are grateful to Ian Whitlock of Leatherhead for his help with SDGW.

GH Stephens and DF Touch are not in the above list but are on the WWII plaque in the church.

DIMENT, ALBERT - none of the A Diment records on CWGC reveal a local connection.
SDGW: born Fetcham, Surrey enlisted: Guildford, Surrey resident: Fetcham, Surrey. He is on the Fetcham War Memorial.
More information is needed about why he is on the Gt Bookham memorial.

EARLE, WILLIAM - none of the W Earle records on CWGC reveal a local connection, nor do the SDGW.
More information is needed about him.

ETHERINGTON, HENRY
The two CWGC records which appear to be possible matches are shown below. The name Henry is sometimes recorded as Harry if that is how he was known when entering the services.
More information is needed about him.

HANDLEY, FRANCIS - none of the F Handley records on CWGC revealed a local connection.
SDGW: 20519 Pte Francis Handley 2nd Bn York & Lancaster Regiment: born Leatherhead, Surrey: enlisted Marylebone, London: kia 12/10/16.
Formerly 4534 Royal Garrison Artillery
More information is needed about his connection to Great Bookham.

MILLARD, HARRY - none of the H Millard records on CWGC reveal a local connection, nor do they on SDGW.
https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-war-dead/results?initial=H%2BA&lastName=Millard&war=1
At Ashtead, HA Millard is on the St Giles plaque, regiment RFA.
Harry Albert Millard is the only match on CWGC to both RFA and the name.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/21703/
James Clapshaw, who turns up in Ashtead after 1910, reported that he and his wife had become surrogate parents from the time Harry had been aged only 1 year 9 months but his natural Mother, Florrie Millard, wrote from 67 Ste Tramontania , Valletta, Malta, on 3/10/1916, seeking to retrieve a medal which had been awarded to the boy's father and to obtain any other benefits to which she might have become entitled! This indicates that she had been widowed.
SDGW has him as Henry Albert Millard, states that he died of wounds, makes no mention of the award of an MM and like CWGC it has him as a Lt - on the St George's Memorial and St Giles' plaque he is 2nd Lt.
Brian Bouchard has had a quick look at Millard's file at the National Archives and recalls there being some Bookham connections.
It is possible that Ashtead's HA Millard is also the Harry Millard on the Great Bookham War Memorial Cross.
More information is needed about him.

Name: NOAKES, FREDERICK WILLIAM
Initials: F W
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
Unit Text: 1st Bn.
Age: 19
Date of Death: 15/07/1916
Service No: G/2066
Additional information: Son of William Henry and Alice Jane Noakes, of Haling Park Farm, South Croydon, Surrey.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Pier and Face 5 D and 6 D.
Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
He is the only WWI FW Noakes on CWGC.
SDGW: the only FW Noakes was born Lingfield, Surrey: enlisted Guildford and resident in South Croydon
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/806469/
More information is needed about his connection with Bookham.

PENFOLD, FRANK - SDGW: born and resident Bookham, Surrey: enlisted Guildford.
More detail is needed about his connection with Bookham.

RANGER, CHARLES - SDGW: born East Horsley: enlisted Leatherhead: resident Gt Bookham
More detail is needed about his connection with Bookham.

SMITH, ALFRED - SDGW: born and resident Bookham, enlisted Guildford: died of wounds 10/09/16
More detail is needed about his family and residence in Bookham.

SMITH, WALTER - 1865 WWI records on CWGC for W Smith - 'There are too many results for your search, please refine the criteria and try again.'
SDGW: has 205 Walter Smiths and none of them mention Bookham
More information is needed about him.

TOMSETT, ERNEST - SDGW: born Three Bridges, Surrey: enlisted Guildford, Surrey: resident Gt Bookham, Surrey
More detail is needed about his residence in Bookham.

WILLIAMS, WILLIAM - the very many WWI W Williams on CWGC are still to be checked.
SDGW: 373 William Williams - no obvious match
More information is needed about him.

CWGC research by Frank Haslam: If you can add to this page please contact the editor
page added 14 Feb 2009: updated 21 Nov 11: CWGC links updated 10 Nov 17: 19 Jul 20

Bookham War Memorials - War Memorial Cross, St Nicolas' Churchyard

The Origin of the War Memorial.

ABOUT THE NAMES