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Boughton, Dunkirk & Hernhill
War Memorials



Boughton-under-Blean War Memorial Dedication

On Sunday 11 December 1921, Boughton War Memorial was unveiled and dedicated.  

The following report of the event appeared in the Faversham and North East Kent News on Saturday 17 December 1921:


BOUGHTON WAR MEMORIAL


UNVEILING AND DEDICATION


Speeches by Lt. Col Philip Neame V.C.  and Canon Maxwell Spooner.



By the unveiling and dedication last Sunday of the memorial to the men of Boughton parish who fell in the war, another of the numerous memorials in this district is consummated.


As in a number of instances, the memorial takes the form of a cross as its main feature, but this one at Boughton is distinguished by a setting, which is very effective in design.


The memorial is situated on the high ground in front of St. Barnabas Church in the middle of the village street, that was so familiar to the men whom it commemorates and who went gallantly forth in a great cause never to return.


The cross stands close to the footpath and is open to it, a portion of the wall on the left of the entrance gateway to the church having been removed.


Masonry in semi-circular form is built around it, with the insertion of five double panels on which the names of the fallen are inscribed.  The whole work has been very admirably carried out by Mr. James Bruce, late of Messrs. Millen and Chrisfield.   The ground was given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the care of the memorial is being undertaken by the Parish Council.  On the front of the base of the cross is the inscription:


TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH

WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1918


“Lest We Forget.”


On the panels are thirty-nine names inscribed, the list being as follows:-


George Blackford, Herbert Bramble, Alfred P. Branchett, Edward T. Curling, George H. Dennett, Robert W. Downs, Richard E. Ellender, Ernest P. Forster, Herbert J. Foster, William J. Foster, William J. Fuller, Robert C. Gilham, Henry E. Hogben, Frederick W. Hogben, Bertram H. Hooker, George Hubbard, Charles Jenkins, William J. Matcham, Edward E. Millen, Frederick Eve, Robert H. Owen, Walter F. Page,

Frederick Percival,  Sydney Raines, Stanley Rook, Victor Rook, Clarence W. Smith, Gordon A. Smith, Richard Stanley, Ernest Swinyard, Maurice Swinyard, Herbert T. Waters, Arthur Weatherall, Thomas R. Wellard, Albert A.  Weller, John F. Willis, Arthur D. Wilson.


The whole of last Sunday afternoon’s service took place around the memorial, and there was a very large gathering of the parishioners.  Places immediately in front were reserved for the relatives of the fallen, all of whom came with some floral tribute, to be deposited later at the memorial.  Behind the relatives were lined up the returned ex-Servicemen of the parish, who had mustered in Bull Lane, and marched up under the command of Lieut. Walker.  Members of the Boughton Division of the St. John Ambulance Brigade also paraded under the command of Supt. Smith.


On the bank above the memorial were the combined choirs of the local churches, who gave a good lead to the singing.


The Vicar, Rev. W.E. Watson, and the resident Wesleyan Minister, Rev. H. Clucas, both took part in the service.  The unveiling ceremony was performed by Lieut.-Col Philip Neame, V.C., D.S.O., and the dedication by the Rev. Canon Maxwell Spooner.  For the unveiling a more fitting selection could not have been made, for Col Neame’s family was for some time resident in the parish and the whole district is proud of his achievement.  The invitation to Canon Spooner, too, was also a happy one, for he was Vicar of Boughton for some years in the early part of his ministry.  Among others present at the ceremony were Sir Walter and Lady Berry, Mr and Mrs Frederick Neame, Mr Eric Neame, (Chairman of the Memorial Committee), and Mr W.J. Wilson and Mr William File (Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Parish Council).


After the opening sentences by the Vicar, the hymn “For all the Saints, who from their labours rest” was sung. The Lord’s Prayer followed, and then came the unveiling.


Lieut. Col Neame made an excellent speech,  after removing the flags which covered the memorial.  


He thought that at a time like this two things should be uppermost – first of all remembrance of the patriotism and self-sacrifice, and secondly, feelings of pride in the deeds of the men of all our fighting forces, and especially, of course, of the thirty-nine men of Boughton whom they were commemorating.  What were the motives that would impel men to give their lives for their country in the way these men did?  When we looked back over the history of the world, we found that men had been impelled by various causes.  


He recalled the fact that England had once before been the means of saving Europe.  That was a century ago, in the days of Napoleon.  The great Emperor at that time swayed the whole of France to his will because he knew how to influence the hearts of men by the magic of his own personality.  In that case they had one man impelling the whole of a country to fight for him.  But that was the impressionable country of France.  He (the speaker) liked to think, in fact he was convinced, that the men of Britain were impelled by deeper motives.  That deep down in the hearts of all of us there were feelings of love of country, and that although we did not talk much about these feelings, he thought they came uppermost in our minds in times of emergency.


He thought he could not more aptly illustrate that, than by quoting the great order of Sir Douglas Haig, the British Commander in Chief, in October 1918, when things were at their worst from the point of view of Britain.  The Field Marshall at that time, said that we had our backs to the wall, that we must fight on, believing in the justice of our cause, that each one must fight on to the end, and that the safety of our homes, and the freedom of mankind depended on the conduct of each one, at that critical hour.  Those were the motives that had impelled the soldiers of this country – motives of duty and patriotism, and, as Sir Douglas Haig put it, the freedom of mankind, the safety of our homes, and the justice of our cause.


These, then, were the things to remember, and he would suggest that in these motives, there were lessons for all of us – lessons which we should teach to the children, so that they too, might believe in the motives of duty and patriotism.  In conclusion, the speaker again made reference to the Boughton men, and remarked that the feelings that the memorial should awaken were not feelings of sorrow, but feelings of pride, for what they did.


Canon Spooner gave an address after the dedicatory prayer.  He alluded first of all, to his early ministry in Boughton, and said it had been a great satisfaction to him to have been asked to take part in this interesting and solemn ceremony.  He went on to say that the whole community should recognise the debt it owed to those who were “faithful unto death.”  They were prepared to sacrifice themselves for the good of their country, for their home and their Fatherland, and, as Col. Neame had reminded them, for a great and noble cause, the maintenance of  liberty and freedom throughout Europe.  A memorial like this then, was a reminder first of all, of God’s great mercy to us as a nation.  We thought of the winning of the war, but we did not always remember that there was One Who sat above the water-floods, be the nations never so unquiet, and Who directed the course of our human lives.  Each time we dedicated a memorial like this, we ought to have in mind the glory of God, and gratitude to Him for having saved the nation in its time of dire necessity.


Reverting again to our obligation to the men who fought, he pointed out that it was a debt we could never repay.  We had only to think what our position would be, had the result been otherwise, and we had an army of occupation here, instead of our own armies of occupation elsewhere.  Just in proportion, as we could imagine that so we  might be able to understand the debt we owed to those who gave their lives for us.


In conclusion, Canon Spooner alluded to the present and the future.  He spoke of the problems confronting us, almost as difficult to solve as those that confronted us during the war, and urged that if we were to solve them successfully, there must be the same national unity that was the secret of our victory in the war.


Prayers by the Vicar and the Rev. J.H. Clucas followed, one commending to God’s mercy those who had fallen in the service of their country, and the other a prayer for the British Empire.  Then the hymn “O God our help in ages past” was sung, and the ceremony ended with the Last Post, Blessing and the National Anthem.


The floral tributes were afterwards deposited about the memorial.  First a beautiful  floral cross from the Memorial Committee was placed by Mr.Eric Neame, then a wreath from the ex Service men of Boughton, with the brief inscription “We Remember”, and next one from the members of the St. John Ambulance Brigade in remembrance of their comrades who fell, viz., A.P. Branchett, Robert H. Owen, and Victor Rook   (Boughton), Frederick Horn (Hernhill) and Frank Foster (Dunkirk).  Relatives followed with their tributes, which were very numerous.

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