Britain at War - 09.2019

'Britain at War' Magazine,PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1NA | [email protected]

FIELD POST

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Local Hero Remembered

Dear Editor,

I was most intrigued to read

the gripping account of Captain

Edward T Welchman DSO in the

Local Hero feature in your most

LEFT The street sign honouring one

of Heckington’s most noble sons.

(DR PIERS THOMAS)

Church, as described in your piece.

Readers may be interested to

know that to commemorate the

anniversary of the start of the Great

War, the Heckington Parish Council

decided that the road names for

any new housing built in the village

would honour the names of those

on the war memorial. The first of

these new streets was therefore

named ‘Welchman Way’ and the

sign also has a small plate giving

details of the man honoured.

Additionally, a grove of trees was

planted at the time, one for every

name on the memorial – a fitting

tribute to those that fell from what

interesting magazine. I spent my

boyhood in Heckington village and

well remember seeing the memorial

plaque to this heroic individual's

memory in the nave of St Andrew’s

Lost Records

Dear Editor,

On reading the article about the

second battle of Gaza [Hell En

Route to the Holy Land, August

issue], I recall my father telling a

neighbour over the hedge many

years ago that he fought in that

campaign. He was serving in the

Essex regiment at the time and

he was wounded sometime in

1917, but I do not know where

or how as the records were

apparently destroyed in the

London blitz.

Neil Farrow

Via email

D-Day Avengers

Dear Editor,

The excellent article in the

July issue described the Fleet

Air Arm operations during the

D-Day period and mentioned the

Avengers attached to the RAF’s

157 Wing. One of these was

involved in a bizarre and unique

incident during one Channel

patrol on July 9, by which time

the Germans had unleashed their

V-1 flying bomb offensive against

southern England.

Flying from RAF Hawkinge in

Kent, Grumman Avenger JZ554/4K

of 854 Squadron was flown by Sub

Lt David Davies and carried out a

‘Channel Stop’ patrol. At 5.10am

on July 10 towards the end of their

lengthy patrol, the Telegraphist

Air Gunner, Leading Airman Fred

Shirmer, spotted a flying bomb

approaching the Avenger from

behind, and gradually overtaking

them. As the flying bomb passed

about 700 yards (640m) down

the port side Shirmer had the

opportunity to fire on it from the

turret with the 0.50in machine

gun. His aim was good and

although he only fired 20 rounds,

the V-1 went down. It was the only

success over a flying bomb by a

Fleet Air Arm aircraft, and Shirmer

was Mentioned in Despatches for

his initiative – and marksmanship!

Tom Spencer

Via Email

CORRECTION: On page 8 in our July issue, we incorrectly referred to the light cruiser HMS Durban as HMS Duncan. Our thanks to the keen

eye of Colonel Andrew Duncan LVO, OBE for pointing this out, and our humble apologies for the error.

in 1914 would have been a very

small community.

There are various similar

memorials to individuals here

in Melbourne too, and I expect

elsewhere in Australia and

I hope that others may be

inspired to write about a ‘Local

Hero’ from their community.

Dr Piers Thomas MSc

MBBS FRACS MRCP DTMH

South Yarra

Victoria

A Hero Among Many

Dear Editor,

Being born and bred in Lichfield,

I found the feature on my local

army unit in the Staffordshire

Regiment Museum feature [August

issue] was right up my street. My

grandfather, who I am named

after, served in the unit in the

Great War, as part of the 137

Staffordshire Brigade, part of the

46th North Midland Division, in

1918. Our family know relatively
      little of his time in the military,
      as like so many of his generation
      he didn’t like to talk about his

experiences. All we know is that he

served in the trenches and was at

the front for a long period of time.

There’s a famous photo of troops

from the unit on the banks of the

St Quentin Canal after crossing

the Hindenburg Line in September

1918. I wonder if grandpa is in that
      photo? I intend to pay the museum
      a visit soon, and will find out more
      about what he and the 137 Staffs
      did in the Great War. Many thanks
      for a great magazine.
      William Keen
      Lichfield, Staffordshire

ABOVE Members of the 137 Staffordshire Brigade at St Quentin Canal shortly before

the end of the Great War. (VIA THE STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT MUSEUM)

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