After the Great War the people of Little Baddow decided to commemorate their loss by making a gesture for the benefit of the whole community. Through voluntary donations the Old Hall was purchased and a memorial arch was added as an entrance. The building would be used by the community for meetings, concerts, dances and parties.

On 11th November 1922, Armistice Day was commemorated inside the hall with a special evening service and the unveiling of a wooden board containing names and photographs of the men from the village who had given their lives in the war.

Disaster struck in 1959 when fire destroyed the hall and the Roll of Honour board was lost.

Fortunately the arch was saved and was relocated as a standalone structure in the grounds of the new and renamed Memorial Hall, where it stands today. Little Baddow lost an important tribute to those who gave their lives during the Great War in 1959, and over time the significance of both the hall and the arch have dimmed.

In 2012, in readiness for the start of the 1914 – 1918 centenary commemorations, research into the Great War servicemen of Little Baddow and their families was started and information was gathered from the Little Baddow History Centre, the Parish Magazine, Local Newspapers, the Essex Regiment Museum and many public archives. Descendants and other family members came forward and we were able to build a vivid picture of our village at the time of the Great War.

In 2014, with the permission and approval of the Parish Council, the Little Baddow War Memorial Steering Committee was formed with the dual objectives of raising awareness of the arch and its special significance in relation to the Great War and raising funds to have the Roll of Honour reinstated, this time in stone within the arch itself, while extending it to include those lost in World War II and subsequent hostile actions.

Fund-raising commenced in 2015. Invitations to contribute were distributed to individuals, groups and businesses in and around the village and to organisations hopefully empathetic to the project.

Events were organised; coffee mornings, talks, film nights and even a Halloween Scarecrow ‘Spooktacular’. Responses were wonderfully enthusiastic and generous.

Meanwhile, using our earlier research and other memorial plaques in the village a comprehensive list of servicemen and civilians from the village who had lost their lives in both World Wars was compiled.

With all the community effort, generous individual donations, Parish Council support, Essex Heritage Trust and Western Front Association contributions, our target of £15,000 was reached in less than nine months and we were able to have the work completed in time for a Rededication service on Armistice Day, 2016, just as the original dedication had been made on Armistice Day in 1922.

Click here for a short film of the re-dedication.

Our Re-dedication was conducted by our village clergy and attended by more than one hundred villagers and guests, including The Lord Petre JP, Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Colonel Stephen P. Foakes TD DL Regimental President, Essex Yeomanry, Colonel Charles Thomas, County Colonel of the Royal Anglia and Essex Regiment, Ian Hook, Curator, Essex Regiment, Chelmsford Museum, representatives of the Western Front Association, descendants of named servicemen, Scouts and Brownies.

Just as in 1922, the WI served Refreshments to our village community in our Memorial Hall.

Now that the project is complete, the remaining balance has been handed to the Parish Council for use at an annual Remembrance Day Ceremony and for future maintenance as required. Our sincere thanks go to everyone involved in this appeal.

Further information about the fallen and those who served in the World Wars, along with other material related to the history of Little Baddow, may be found at the Little Baddow History Centre.

The War Memorial, its re-dedication on Armistice Day 2016, and the fallen of Little Baddow

These photographs are from the original exhibition at the History Centre in the Autumn of 2014.

The cascade and field of poppies around the Memorial Arch…

The opening afternoon of the exhibition in 2014…

World War I Servicemen

Private Alfred (Edward) BARKER
Born: 1872 to Charles and Dorcas Tyler (Woodham Ferrers), Carpenter
Lived: Runsell Green, Danbury, Essex
Service No.: 16143
Service History:  2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment
Killed in Action: Flanders, France 13th March 1915
Buried: Never identified
Commemorated: Remembered with Honour on Panel 39 on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial
Other:  2 brothers, Mark Wilfred and John Frederick served with Essex Regiment

2nd Lieutenant Stephen Timmis BARON
Born: 1891 at Newcastle –under-Lyme Staffordshire, the only son of Thomas Baron who married Martha Timmis, 1866 at Wolstanton, Staffordshire in 1890
Lived: 1911 Census, aged19, living in 147, Masons Hill, Bromley, Kent, listed as a Tailor, and his mother,widowed, a Housekeeper, resident in the home of Arthur Hall, Head of household, a Chemist.
Service No:
Service History:  Commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant, in 2/6th Gloucestershire Regiment, a pre-war Territorial Battalion which was later split into two. The regiment spent many months training firstly in Northampton then in April 1915 moved to Chelmsford. Billeted in Little Baddow.  Arrived in France 19th July 1916, probably joining the battalion between 20th- 31st July 1916.  Operational mention- 8th August 1916 as billeting party.  In trenches between 6th-10th December 1916
Killed in Action:  8th December 1916 during ‘intermittent bombardment’ nr Aveluy
Buried: Aveluy Communal Cemetery Extension, north of Albert, Departement of The Somme. Recorded in The Parish Magazine of March 1917
Commemorated: Roll of Honour, United Reformed Church, Little Baddow
Other:  While in Essex, Stephen became closely associated with the United Reform Church in Little Baddow and is recorded in unpublished memories of the late Hilda May Clark, MBE, a member of Little Baddow URC

Lieutenant Jesse Dell BERRIDGE, M.C.
Born: 3rd July 1896, the oldest of 4 sons of the Rev. Jesse Berridge and Edna Adeline Berridge, née Dell
Lived:  Little Baddow Rectory
Service No:
Service History: Royal Engineers “J” Special Company. Applied for a commission in February 1915. Embarked for France 12th July, wounded in December, 1915, and 1916. In 1918 the Parish Magazine reported he had been awarded The Military Cross. At the end of the War his family received his other decorations, the 1914/15 Star and the War and Victory Medals.
Killed in Action:  24th May 1918 (Age 21)
Buried:  Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery, Bailleulval
Commemorated:  St Mary’s Church, Little Baddow

Private George BRAZIER
Born:  1894 in Tottenham to Reuben and Ellen S Brazier, one of 16 children
Lived:  Birchwood, Fir Tree Lane, Little Baddow. Parents had a dairy farm and small holding.
Service No:  5285 and 275876
Service History:  Essex Regiment, 6th Battallion. Probably enlisted on 17th July 1915 at West Ham recruiting office, with his brother Leonard. Served in Gallipoli from 6th October 1915 and saw action in Egypt where he died of his wounds in the Third Battle of Gaza
Killed in Action:  08 November 1917 Age 23
Buried: Kantara War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt Plot No. C.92
Commemorated: War Memorial plaque for old scholars of Downsell Road School, London
Other:  More information can be found in the research papers by Christine Williams “The Brazier Brothers during the First World War”.

Private Joseph BREWER
Born: February 1888 in Little Baddow to William Brewer, Labourer (died 1917) and his wife, the former Caroline Peacock.
Lived: November 1915 Sycamore Cottage, Danbury with his mother and brother, George. Occupation-Carrier
Service No: 25523
Service History: Enlisted 17th November, 1915 into 2nd Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment. Embarked to Boulogne on 7th November 1916 and to field action on 20th November.
Killed in Action:  Seriously wounded in side and face and returned to Wimerieux   British Hospital Centre 4th March, dying from his wounds on 24th March 1917.
Buried:  Wimerieux Communal Cemetery
Other:   His mother re-married William Harris and they are buried in St Mary’s Churchyard, Little Baddow.

Lance Corporal George Destas CLARK
Born:  1882 in Pimlico, London, son of George Clark of Maldon, Essex and his wife Caroline Maria of   Soham, Cambridgeshire.
Lived:  Family moved to Little Baddow by 1911 where father was Licensed Victualler of The General’s Arms Public House, North Hill.
Service No:  323167
Service History: 1916 2nd/6th Bn. London Regiment ( City of London Rifles)
Killed in Action:  10th November 1917 Age 35
Buried:  Etaples Military Cemetery

Gunner Frederick ‘Leonard’ DAY
Born:  1893 Stratton St. Michael, Norfolk. Son of Henry Day, Farm Labourer, of that parish and his wife Jane from Freshingfield, Suffolk. Known as Leonard
Lived:  1911 Census –Ashfields, nr Hammonds Farm, Little Baddow. Worked as Grocers Assistant.
Service No:   96362
Service History: 17th Div. Ammunition Col., Royal Field Artillery. First serving in France from 15th July 1915
Killed in Action:  11th May 1917
Buried:   Duisans British Cemetery, Etrun
Commemorated:  United Reformed Church, Little Baddow with his brother Edward ‘John’ Day
Other:  1919 Mother recorded as living at 6, Ebenezer Terrace, Great Baddow when brother ‘John’ was demobilised

Private Frederick ENEFER
Born:  1892 at Woodham Walter, Essex, an elder son of Adolphus  and Emily Enefer.
Lived:  1901 Runsell Farm House, Danbury,Essex.
Service No:   3988 Pre- war enlistment Territorial Battalion of 5th Essex Regiment.
Renumbered 251184 on transferring to regular army of 5th Essex Regiment
Service History: Gaza
Killed in Action: 26th March 1917 Age 25
Buried:  Gaza War Cemetery
Commemorated:  Chelmsford Memorial. Significant regimental losses are recorded in Essex Regiment Museum, Chelmsford and remembered annually with 3 Little Baddow men, Sergeant Percival Robert Humphreys and Private Rodney Wiggins
Other:  Little Baddow Parish Magazine April 1917 records his death. His mother Emily remarried William Enefer after the death of Adolphus, and bore 14 children in total. The family descendants remain in the area to the present day.

Private Joseph Charles GAMBLE
Born:  1899 son of Charles George Gamble and Alice Eliza (married in Battersea 1898)
Lived:  1901  3 Wickhay Cottages, Little Baddow where Charles was a Horseman (d 1906).  1911 Census shows Alice, widowed living in Little Baddow with 4 children, remarrying in 1916 to Charles Cottee, now living at 2, Vica Cottages, North Hill, Little Baddow.
Service No:  G/24369
Service History:  11th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment. Possibly enlisting under-age, late 1916/early 1917 at the start of conscription.
No service records survive but recorded as ‘NM’ (Naval or Military) in 1918 Register of Electors at 2 Vica Cottages. Regiment at Kemmel Ridge and Scherpenberg between 17th-29th April 1918
Killed in Action: 29th April 1918 Age 19
Buried:  Voormezeele Enclosure No.3
Commemorated: St. Mary’s Church Memorial Little Baddow

Private William Joseph HEDGES
Born: 1895 in East Hanningfield, Essex, youngest of 4 children of William J. Hedges, a Carpenter,  from Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire and Minnie Jane Hedges from Ely, Cambridgeshire who died in 1895, when living in Cold Norton, Essex. Occupation suggests mobility for work, brought them to Essex.
Lived:  1901 Widowed Father, William J. recorded as living in Butts Green, Sandon, also Maude Minnie (daughter, sister to William Joseph) and her husband, Albert Edward Lodge (1881, Sandon) an Agricultural Machinist, owning a Steam Thrashing machine. William Joseph, son, working as a Houseboy, Domestic
Service No:  1551
Service History: 5th/Essex Regiment- enlisted in Territorials of Essex Regiment. In May 1915 became part of 54th (East Anglian)
Killed in Action: Gallipoli Campaign, Suvla Bay  27th August 1915 Age 27
Buried: Azmak Cemetery, Suvla

PRIVATE WALTER GEORGE HOLE
Born: 1890 at Farnham, Surrey, the youngest of the eleven children of Henry and Margaret (née Sharpson)
Lived:  Farnham with his wife Edith (née Trimmer) and two children, George (1914) and Dorothy (1915) where he worked as at a block flooring factory
Service No:   35139
Service History: Conscripted in 1916 Walter was posted to the 13th (Home Service) Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment which was moved to Danbury for battle training in 1917. Walter was billeted in No.1 camp, just off the Ridge in Little Baddow.
Died:  1st July 1917, Little Baddow
Buried:   St. Marys Church Little Baddow
Other:  The sad story of Walter Hole is available to read at Little Baddow History Centre

SERGEANT PERCIVAL ROBERT (PUNCH) HUMPHREYS
Born:  1890 in Little Baddow to George Frederick and Helen Humphreys
Lived:  Hill Cottage Little Baddow (1901) and remained in the village until his marriage to Edith Baynes in 1913 when the couple moved to Waltham Cross.
Service No:  2288 & 250408
Service History:  A member of the Territorial Force prior to 1914 and enlisted on the outbreak of  war to serve with the 5th Essex Regiment. In 1915 he served in Gallipoli and then in Egypt and Palestine.
Killed in Action: 26th March 1917 at the first campaign at Gaza alongside two other Little Baddow men, Frederick Enefer and Rodney Wiggins
Commemorated:  Jerusalem Memorial
Other:  His son John was born in 1915

PRIVATE HERBERT WILLIAM KING
Born:  1897 Little Baddow, the eldest son of coal merchant William King and his wife Matilda née Bashford
Lived:  Mill House Little Baddow
Service No: Essex 3070; Cambridgeshire 8103 & 329344
Service History: Joined the Essex Regiment Territorials early in the war and then as a Private/Bandsman he was transferred to 1st battalion Cambridgeshire Regiment
Killed in Action: 25th May 1917, age 20
Buried:   Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery near Ypres
Commemorated: St. Marys Church Little Baddow
Other:  Choirboy and organ blower at St. Mary’s Little Baddow

FREDERICK LINDSELL
Born:  c 1878 Witham, the son of Abraham and Hannah
Lived:   1881/1891 Near Cuckoos Little Baddow
Service No:  12752
Service History:  6th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Killed in Action:  Lost at sea 5th December 1915
Commemorated: Doiran Memorial, Greece

PRIVATE ALBERT EDWARD LODGE
Born:  1882 in Sandon Essex, the son of Thomas and Harriet
Lived:  1911 in Little Baddow with wife Maud née Hedges before moving to Southend-on-Sea
Service No:   8185
Service History:  Already a soldier at the outbreak of warin the 2nd battalion Essex Regiment he was sent to France via Le Havre in August 1914 to relieve the British Expeditionary Force
Killed in Action: Died from his wounds on 23rd November 1914, possibly in the hospital at Bailleul. Reported in Little Baddow Parish Magazine
Buried:  Bailleul Cemetery Nord
Commemorated: Sandon Church and St. Marys Church Little Baddow
Other:  Both Albert and his brother John were thrashing machine workers and his father a traction machine worker in 1901

2ND LIEUTENANT GEORGE ERNEST MARTIN
Born: 1892 in Upper Norwood Surrey, the son of Frederick (originally from Chelmsford) and Kate
Lived:
Service No:
Service History:  Pilot in the Royal Flying Corps becoming an Assistant Training Instructor in November 1917
Killed in Action: in an ‘aero accident’ on the 29th November 1917 just a fortnight after being appointed
Buried:   Tidworth Military Cemetery
Commemorated:
Other:  George’s family had links with Little Baddow through his father who was a  commercial traveller in jewellery, living in Chelmsford for a time and his sister, Christabel, who had studied with members of the Woodhouse family.  His cousin William Harod Martin was also killed in action.

2ND LIEUTENANT WILLIAM HARROD MARTIN
Born:  1889 in Upper Norwood Kent the only son of Herbert (solicitor) and Grace née Harrod who subsequently moved to Hill Cottage Little Baddow
Lived:
Service No:  5459 & 722394
Service History: London (Queens) Regiment. Enlisted early in the war and went to France in March 1915
Killed in Action: 14th September 1916 at High Wood, France
Buried:  Flatiron Copse Cemetery Mametz
Commemorated: St. Marys Church Little Baddow
Other:  Graduated with a B.A. from Oxford. His cousin George Ernest Martin was also killed in action.

GUNNER GERALD BRIAN PEACOCK
Born:  1894 in Little Baddow to George and Ellen Peacock and was the youngest of three Peacock soldiers
Lived:  Little Baddow with his wife Edith née Hedges
Service No: 124919
Service History: Royal Garrison Artillery. Went to France in June 1916 and then to Belgium
Killed in Action: 19th October 1917 at the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele)
Buried: Buffs Road Cemetery West-Vlaanderen, near Ypres

PRIVATE JOHN JAMES PORTER
Born:  c. 1895 Little Baddow the son of Daniel and Mary Ann
Lived: Hill Cottages Little Baddow and Burnthouse Woodham Mortimer where he was a farm labourer
Service No: 24592
Service History: Enlisted in 1914 and posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment. Initially stationed in Egypt the unit moved to France at the end of 1914
Killed in Action: 7th November 1916, Somme
Commemorated: Thiepval Memorial alongside 72,000 officers and men who died on the Somme and who have no known grave

PRIVATE WILLIAM JAMES ROSE
Born:  1885 Woodham Walter, the eldest son of James and Rachel
Lived:  Theydon Bois where he was a cowman 1911, then Little Baddow
Service No:   4487 Essex; 34251 Middlesex; GS/61339 Royal Fusiliers
Service History: William joined the Essex Regiment Territorial Force before the war. He enlisted in 1914 when he was placed in the Middlesex Regiment before being transferred to the Royal Fusiliers
Killed in Action: 23rd April 1917 during the battle of Arras campaign
Commemorated: Arras Memorial
Other:  Reported in Little Baddow Parish Magazine

LEADING MECHANIC ARTHUR EVAN THOMAS
Born:  1885 in Springfield, Essex the third son of schoolmaster William and his wife Elizabeth
Lived:  The National School in Little Baddow where his father was a school teacher  in the 1890s. In 1911 Arthur married Agnes Sitch from Great Baddow. 1918 living Lady Lane Chelmsford
Service No:
Service History: In 1916 Arthur enlisted in the army and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. The Royal Flying Corps merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1st April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force
Died: 11th April 1919
Buried: Chelmsford Borough Cemetery
Commemorated:  Civic Centre Memorial, Chelmsford and St. Johns Church Moulsham
Other: Arthur was taken ill with septic pneumonia two days after arriving home following demobilisation and sadly died. His funeral was conducted with full military honours

PRIVATE RODNEY WIGGINS
Born:  1887 in Little Baddow, the son of Louis, a thatcher and hay binder and Alice. He was baptised in St Marys Church Little Baddow on 1st May 1887
Lived:  Runsell Green in 1901
Service No:  703 & 250030
Service History: Before the war Rodney was a member of the Essex Regiment Territorial Force and was posted to the 5th Battalion Essex Regiment on enlistment. Initially serving in Gallipoli he was transferred to Gaza on evacuation
Killed in Action: Gaza alongside two other Little Baddow men, Percival Robert Humphreys and Frederick Enefer
Buried:   Gaza War Cemetery
Commemorated:
Other:  1914 married Annie Enefer from Woodham Walter

PRIVATE ROBERT WOOD
Born:  1894 in Great Waltham to William and Mary Ann
Lived:  Little Baddow when he enlisted at the start of the war
Service No: 12613
Service History: 9th Battalion Essex Regiment. After training in the UK the regiment was sent to serve on the Western Front
Killed in Action: 28th April 1917 on the Western Front
Buried: Feuchy British Cemetery
Commemorated: Boreham and Hatfield Peverel churches

CAPTAIN LIONEL MOSTYN WOODHOUSE, M.C., D.F.C.
Born:  10th December 1896 in Broomfield, Essex, the eldest son of Arthur (a wine merchant) and Isabel née Leigh
Lived: ‘Tofts’ in Little Baddow from the early 1900s
Service No:
Service History: Lionel was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Essex Yeomanry on 1st July 1915 and promoted to Lieutenant in May 1916 shortly after which he was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps where he served in the 52nd Squadron. On 1st July 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross for his work on bombing missions and on 16th September the same year he was promoted to Captain.
Killed in Action: 27th September 1918 near Boursies in France
Buried:  Grevillers British Cemetery
Commemorated: St. Mary’s Church Little Baddow alongside his younger brother Mosley who was also killed
Other:  Educated at St. Peter’s Court, Broadstairs and Eton College. Posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross

FLIGHT SUB-LIEUTENANT MOSLEY GORDON WOODHOUSE
Born:  26th October 1898 in Broomfield, Essex, the second son of Arthur (a wine merchant) and Isabel née Leigh
Lived:   ‘Tofts’ in Little Baddow from the early 1900s
Service No:
Service History: Joined the Royal Naval Air Service as a Probationary Flying Officer in November 1916 and attained the rank of Flight Sub-Lieutenant. Initially posted to Dover he was soon transferred to the Frontier aerodrome at Bray Dunes in France
Killed in Action: 9th August 1917, less than two months into his operational career
Buried:  Zuydcoote Military Cemetery
Commemorated: St. Mary’s Church, Little Baddow, alongside his older brother Lionel
Other:  Educated at St. Peter’s Court. Broadstairs and Radley College, Berkshire

CORPORAL HERBERT (BERTIE) MARTIN WOOLLEY,
Born:  27th September 1883, the third son of the Reverend George Woolley and his wife Sarah, in Upper Clapton, near Hackney
Lived:   Old Riffhams, Little Baddow
Service No: 3844
Service History: Joined the Essex Regiment as a Corporal but transferred to the London Rifle Brigade in order to get a more immediate posting overseas
Killed in Action: 9th October 1916, Somme, France
Commemorated: Thiepval, Somme, France and Kew Gardens
Other:   Educated at the Merchant Taylor’s Schools in the City of London from where he went on to pursue a career in horticulture which took him from Kew Gardens to Nigeria and Borneo

World War II Servicemen

WARRANT OFFICER WALTER GEORGE BECKWITH
Born:  c. 1916, the son of George and Winifred Beckwith
Lived:  Thaxted, Essex with his wife Doris
Service No: 6009791
Service History: Joined the Territorials at the age of 17 and became a member of the Parachute Regiment attaining the rank of Warrant Officer Class II
Killed in Action: 17th August 1944, France. Reported in Little Baddow Parish Magazine and Essex Chronicle
Buried:   Ranville War Cemetery, Calvados, France
Other:   Parents lived in Pyne Cottage, Little Baddow

PILOT OFFICER JOHN ALLEN CLARK
Born:  1918, Chelmsford, the son of Reg and Jessie Clark
Lived:  Awkward Square, Little Baddow, Elm Green Lane, Danbury, Thorpe Bay, The Old Rodney from 1922
Service No:   41986
Service History:  Pilot Officer RAF. Squadron 206
Killed in Action: 22nd May 1940. Reported in Essex Chronicle
Commemorated:  Runnymede Memorial, Surrey
Other:  Choirboy in Little Baddow and chorister at Christ Church College, Oxford.

PRIVATE SIDNEY LEONARD FRENCH
Born:  c. 1921, the son of Mr. & Mrs J French
Lived:
Service No:  6017703
Service History:  Private, 5th Battalion Wiltshire Regiment
Killed in Action: 27th December 1944.
Commemorated: Groesbeek Memorial, Gelderland, Netherlands and Little Baddow Memorial Hall

PRIVATE LESLIE JOHN JOSLIN
Born:   c. 1919, the son of Frederick and May Joslin
Lived:
Service No: 1558644
Service History:  Private Royal Artillery (Pioneer Corps)119 Coy.
Killed in Action: died from wounds in North Africa 23/02/1943. Reported in Little Baddow Parish Magazine
Commemorated: Medjez-El-Bab War Cemetery, Tunisia
Other:  Monumental Inscription in the churchyard of St. Andrew’s Boreham.

FLIGHT LIEUTENANT WALLACE ARTHUR ROBERT KEDDIE
Born: c. 1917, the son of Frederick and Annie Keddie
Lived:  Downham, Essex with his wife Diana
Service No:  87669
Service History:  Flight Lieutenant R.A.F Volunteer Reserve 210 squadron
Killed in Action: 16th May 1942 during a reconnaissance mission. Reported in Little Baddow Parish Magazine and the Essex Newsman.
Commemorated: Runnymede Memorial, Surrey and Downham Memorial in Essex
Other:  Monumental Inscription in the churchyard of St. Andrew’s Boreham. Although not from Little Baddow, Wallace Keddie’s wife, Diana Ladner was from Waterhall in Little Baddow.  His brothers Sergeant John Maitland Keddie, R.A.F. (V.R) and Lieut. Richard George Damyon Keddie, R.N., D.S.C. also died in service.

SQUADRON LEADER JOHN LESLIE SHAW
Born:  c. 1917, the son of Stanley and Anna Shaw
Lived:
Service No: 41479
Service History:  Squadron Leader, 515 squadron, R.A.F
Killed in Action: 6th June 1944
Buried:  Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands
Commemorated: Little Baddow Memorial Hall
Other:  Brother of Richard Ernest Shaw

PILOT OFFICER RICHARD ERNEST SHAW
Born:  c. 1918, the son of Stanley and Anna Shaw
Lived:  Little Baddow with his wife Jose
Service No:  42575
Service History:  Pilot Officer, 59 Squadron, R.A.F
Killed in Action: 26th May 1940 over Belgium
Buried:  Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands
Commemorated:  Little Baddow Memorial Hall
Other:  Brother of John Leslie Shaw

PILOT OFFICER HARRY ARTHUR SHORTT
Born:  c. 1917, the son of Henry and Annie Shortt
Lived:  Holly Cottage, Little Baddow with his wife Sylvia
Service No: 100558
Service History:  Pilot Officer Volunteer Reserve 214 squadron
Killed in Action: 16th April 1942. Reported in Chelmsford Chronicle
Buried: Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Noord-Branbant, Netherlands
Other:  Played cricket for Little Baddow

Civilians

HAROLD LIONEL FOLEY
Born:   26th January 1914 to John and Elizabeth
Lived:   Post Office Little Baddow where his father was the postmaster
Killed by Enemy Action:  19th December 1944 in a direct attack on Hoffman’s, the ball bearings factory in Chelmsford where he was an Inspector of aircraft bearings
Buried:  St. Mary’s Church Little Baddow
Other:   The V-2 rocket which struck during a night-time raid claimed the lives of thirty workers at the factory and injured many more. Harold left a wife, Grace, and two children.

ANNE JANE GREGORY NICHOLSON
Born:  4th July 1862
Lived: The Duke’s Orchard Little Baddow
Killed by Enemy Action: 19th September 1944 when a doodlebug exploded on the roof of her house. Her sister Eleanor and their maid, Amy, survived
Other:  Married to Henry Nicholson, a retired solicitor. She was a gifted musician and a renowned hostess who liked to encourage art and culture. As a trained actress she set up her own theatre company based in Little Baddow, The St. Roger Folk, which toured central Essex

For those interested in the First World War…

Great War Heroes of Little Baddow and their Families

… tells the stories of many of ‘Our Boys and Girls’ and commemorates their records as well as the everyday life back home for their families.

For many years, Alan Ridgway has been researching the men of our village who served in the First World War, gathering material from many sources, with the help of researcher Joanne Phillips, including contacting some of the families of the soldiers.

Having gathered so much material, it became obvious that only a book would do justice to the contribution of those men and their families.