Budleigh Past and Present

Continued from 6 September 1943 'At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember him': MARINE JOHN PHILIP RICHARDS (1925-43) https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2020/11/at-going-down-of-sun-and-in-morning-we.html   The grave of Arthur John Wilson in St Peter’s Burial Ground, Moor Lane, Budleigh Salterton Strangely, only three wartime deaths of servicemen associated with Budleigh Salterton, have been recorded for the year 1943.   Only one name appears on the War Memorial for that year. The two other deaths occurred at Dalditch Camp, and were reported as suicide. Click on the above link, and you can read about the first, that of John Philip Richards.   Tragically, the second Dalditch Camp death would take place two months later. The Western Morning News of 4 November 1943 reported that Arthur John Wilson, a Marine aged 18 from Bromley, Kent, had taken his life three days earlier, on 1 November, ‘while the balance of his mind was dis...

Continued from 8 August 1943 SERGEANT CHARLES PHILIP SOUTHCOTT (1914-43)  RAFVR, 61 Squadron        https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2021/01/ww2-75-8-august-1943-thundering-through.html       The grave of John Philip Richards in St Peter’s Burial Ground Image credit: www.findagrave.com Google the words 'friendly fire' and you can’t fail to be horrified by the list of incidents in warfare where forces have been accidentally attacked by those on the same side. I was saddened by the case of Royal Marine Lt James Ayers Bayley, killed on a firing range while on a training exercise organised by Dalditch Camp. You can read about him  here   Such incidents often remain unknown for many years, as do the cases of self-inflicted  death or injury. The immense research conducted by historian Don Kindell into naval  casualties includes simply the acronym DOWS next to John’s name, noting him as a Marine of the Plymouth...

Continued from 19 August 1942 ‘Never forgotten. He was one of the best.’  PRIVATE ERNEST FRANK HARDING (1919-42)    https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2020/11/ww2-7513-never-forgotten-he-was-one-of.html   Lieutenant James Ayers Bayley’s is one of the 13 WW2 military graves in St Peter’s Burial Ground registered on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.   He died on 25 September 1942.   ‘Killed on Active Service’ and the fact that he is buried in Budleigh Salterton, along with the fact that his uncle was a respected local resident and that James' widow Elizabeth apparently came from Exmouth might suggest that his name should be on Budleigh’s War Memorial, but it is not.   And ‘Killed on Active Service’ gives no clue that this 24-year-old officer was actually shot and killed by a Bren gun while on a training exercise.   James was born on 6 September 1918, the son of Captain L.H. Bayley RN and Isa R.N. Bayley according to ...

Continued from 15 October 1944 PRIVATE ALBERT GEORGE WATKINS  (1915-44)     1 st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2021/04/ww2-75-15-october-1944-budleigh-man.html     Harry Bartlett's grave in Budleigh Salterton Image credit:  https://images.findagrave.com Harry Bartlett, usually known as Roy to his family, died of illness as a result of wounds received in Italy more than a year earlier. You might think, on seeing his grave at St Peter’s Burial Ground, with its reference to Harry as the treasured younger son of Brigadier H. Bartlett CBE, that this was a typical military officer-class Budleigh background, including, of course, a public school education. In fact, although his name appears on Budleigh Salterton’s war memorial, his only connection with the town – apart from a training stint with the Royal Marines at their Dalditch camp - was that his wife Joan was apparently a Saltertonian.   Harry’...