Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

KIA

George Augustus Broom

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G. A. Broom
Service no. 95439
Corporal, Royal Field Artillery, “D” Bty. 63rd Bde.
Killed in action on 30 November 1917
Remembered at Cambrai Memorial, Louveral, Nord, France

George Augustus Broom, born in Lambeth in January 1895, to Frederick and Lucy Ann Broom. He was baptised at St Anne’s, South Lambeth on 31 May at which time his parents gave their address as 15 Bonnington Square, Kennington. In 1911 George lived with his parents, four of his eight siblings and a boarder in six rooms at 105 Old South Lambeth Road. He was engaged in motor work. His father was a coke porter at the gasworks.

Walter Branson

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W. Branson
Service no. 204513
Private, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 1st Battalion posted to 1st/2nd Battalion
Killed in action 27 August 1918
Remembered at Summit Trench Cemetery, Croisilles, Pas de Calais, France

Information from the 1911 census

Walter Branson lived with his family in 4 rooms (including kitchen) at 71 Dorset Road in 1911. His father, John Branson, 51, was a baker, born in Clapham; his mother Emily, 40, was born in Lambeth. Emily was, possibly, not John’s first wife – they had been married 14 years, and the census gives the oldest child as 19 (the census shows relationship to the head of the household only). Of Emily’s 8 babies, only 4 survived.
The children on the census were
Bertram Branson, 19, a bottler in a distillers, born in Lambeth
William Branson, 17, an errand lad, born in Lambeth
Ellen Branson, 15, born in Lambeth
Walter Branson, 12
Ellen Farley, a 76-year-old widow, described as a “relative” and born in Mitcham.

British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920

Walter Branson joined the Army twice. He enlisted first in the East Surrey Regiment (Service no. 13223), but after 180 days’ service was discharged at Witley on 21 January 1916, “having made a mis-statement as to age.” He was only 17 but claimed to be 19.
Branson was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weight 9 stone 9 pounds, was 34 inches around the chest (with 3½ inches expansion), had a fair complexion, with blue eyes and light brown hair. Despite his youth, he managed to impress his officers. They judged him to have a “good’ military character.

Herbert Alfred Blick

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H. A. Blick
Service no. 295157
Private, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 2nd/4th Battalion; formerly 553758, 16th London Regiment
Killed in action on 21 September 1917, aged 37
CWGC: “Son of John and Jessie Blick, of 128 Grove Road, Balham, London; husband of Emily Elizabeth Blick, of 202 Clapham Road, Stockwell, London. Served with the City Imperial Volunteers in the South African Campaign.”
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ypres, Belgium

Information from the 1911 census

Herbert Alfred Blick, 31, a ladies and gents tailor born in Stockwell, lived in 6 rooms at 202 Clapham Road, London SW9, with his wife, Emily Elizabeth Blick, also 31 and born in Clapham, and 8-month old son, John Herbert Blick, who was born in Clapham. Baby John Herbert died in April 1917.

Albert John Blackmore

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A. J. Blackmore
Service no. 2966
Trooper, 1st Life Guards
Born in Wandsworth
Killed in action on 30 October 1914
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial

This identification is somewhat tentative. This the only A. J. Blackmore in both the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database and in the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919. There is an Albert Blackmore on the 1911 census, living at 1 Kielers Cottages, Clapham Road with his parents, Walter Blackmore and Fanny Blackmore, both 53, and from Devon (Puddington and Sandford). This Albert, aged 15, was a lift attendant in a mansion block. There is no evidence that this and the Blackmore in the military databases are the same person.

Sydney Walter Billingsley

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S. W. Billingsley
Service no. 4001
Rifleman, London Regiment (First Surrey Rifles), 1st/21st Battalion
Killed in action age 18 on 12 September 1916 (Billingsley’s enlistment record shows that he claimed to be 19)
CWGC: “Son of Mrs A. H. Handel, of 18a Morat Street, Brixton.”
Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, France and on the war shrine at St Michael’s Church, Stockwell Park Road, London SW9 0DA

Brother of George Frederick Billingsley
Stepson of Harry Frank Handel

Information from British Army WWI Service Records

Sydney Walter Billingsley, 5 foot 2, 8 stone and 33 inches around the chest, enlisted at Camberwell on 28 May 1915. He was 19 and his war lasted just 1 year and 107 days.

The military record Army Form W. 5080, undated but probably completed in 1919, shows that he was survived by a full brother, Albert William Billingsley, 26; full sisters, Winnie Billingsley, 17, and Eva Billingsley, 23, as well as three half-siblings: Robert Handel, 10, Arthur Handel, 7, Ida Helen Handel, 3, and his mother, Ada Handel. His brother George Frederick Billingsley died in 1918 at the age of 24.

Billingsley was hospitalised at least 4 times – each time with pyrescia or fever. He was disciplined at least 10 times, his crimes including “breaking out of camp” (twice) and having dirty equipment; hesitating to obey an order; being late for parade. It is clear that he and Army life were not a good combination.

Before joining up, Billingsley was an electrical engineer’s assistant. He lived with his family at 2 Arlington Mansions, Morat Street, London SW9.

William Albert George Benson

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W. A. G. Benson
Service no. 634829
Private, London Regiment, “A” Coy. 20th Battalion; formerly TR?10/108398, 23rd T.R. Battalion
Killed in action on 1 September 1918, aged 19
Son of William Albert and Rose Louisa Benson, of 34 Willington Road, Stockwell
Remembered at Sailly-Saillisel British Cemetery, Somme, France

Information from the 1911 census

William Albert George Benson, who was 11 in 1911, lived with his family in 5 rooms at 4 Tandridge Place, Stockwell, SW9 (Tandridge Place has now disappeared – I think it was in the area of Clapham North tube). William’s father, William Albert Benson, 36, was a carman (transporting grain and manure), born in Bermondsey. His mother, Rose Louisa Benson, 38, was from Sydenham. The children on the census were
Eleanor E. A. Benson, 14, born in Bermondsey
William A. G. Benson, 11
Frederick C. E. Benson, 9, born in Bermondsey
Rose L. Benson, 4, born in Clapham
Jessie V. Benson, 2, born in Clapham