Home
 
The Memorials
Memorials
Town - First War
Town -Second & later
Hardenhuish Church
St Pauls Church
St Andrews Church
Congregational Church
Liberal Club
Secondary School
Causeway Church
Pewsham Streets
 
The Names
First War Names
Second War & After Names
Not Forgotten
Civilians
 
 
 
Chippenham Cemetery
 
Site Author









 

 




 























CHIPPENHAM WAR MEMORIALS

Although a small market town in North Wiltshire, the men of Chippenham played their part in the First and Second world wars, as well as subsequent conflicts, by volunteering to serve in the country's armed forces. Sadly, the town paid a high price for the acts of patriotism in the number of men who did not return. This is visible today in the quantity of war memorial and the number of names inscribed on them around the town.

In this site,  I have tried to add personal details to each of the names inscribed on the memorials. Hopefully in this way the men will become more 'real' rather than just a bare name on the memorial.

Each memorial is listed on it's own page. The page gives details about the memorial and the list of men inscribed there. The names are linked to the details of each person.

Unfortunately the details on the memorials can be as little as surname and initial. With this little information I have managed to trace most of the men but some details are still sketchy if not blank. If you are able to help complete the details please contact me so that I can update the site and make it a complete record of the men from Chippenham who gave their lives for this country.

The site has a pages which lists all the men and the memorials on which they are listed. It quickly became apparent that a man could appear on more than one memorial. View the Memorials page to see who is listed on which memorial.

Perhaps the largest and least known memorial in Chippenham part of the Pewsham estate. This was built in the early 80s on the east of Chippenham. Rather than using all the usual street names, Chippenham Council decided to name the streets after men whose names appear on the memorial. Effectively a large part of the estate has become a war memorial. I doubt very much if many if any of the residents of those streets or even Chippenham know who the streets are named after - I know I didn't until I was told by the former Chippenham Museum Curator who had been asked to draw up a suitable list of names.

During the my research for the site, I have found details on a number of men that appear to have been left off the memorials for whatever reason. For reasons of completeness, I have included them in this site. View these names that are not on any memorial. In 2006, the Royal British Legion and Town Council raised funds to refurbish the Town Memorial and asked for any names which were missing so they could be recorded. I put forward names, I had but due to the number of names, it was decided that only the families should put forward the names. I initially disagreed with this decision but on reflection, it was the right decision. If a relatives decided at the time not to have the soldier's name on the memorial and their decision should be respected. Although with the passing of time, it is almost impossible to say if the name was left off at the request of the family or because they were forgotten.

Whilst talking about those who have been left off the memorials, I found a whole group of Chippenham people do not appear on any memorials in the Town when they were killed because of enemy action. These are the civilians who were killed in enemy air raids or through accidents due to the war.

I have included details of the servicemen who are buried in the Chippenham cemeteries. Most were not from Chippenham but died in the local area and were not returned to their home towns. The majority seem to have been from RAF Hullavington and were killed in aircraft crashes whilst learning to fly. Why they were not buried at Hullavington is a decision that appears to have been lost over the years.

The site is still very much work in progress and will be updated with any new material I find. I would very much like to add photos of the headstones / memorial inscriptions for each person so if you have a photo of these, please send me a copy. I have higher quality copies of most of the photos on the site, if you would like a copy, again please contact me. I have tried to acknowledge those who have let me use the photos I have used on the site. I apologise if your name is not credited. Again let me know and I will correct it. Otherwise all photos are ones that I have taken. I am indebted to Dave Adams who very generously let have his notes for when he was researching for the Council so they could name the streets in Pewsham. The notes have formed the basis of many background notes on the names.

If you are interested in a particular person, please contact me and I will let you know if I have any further details or photos that haven't been uploaded so far.

17 Nov 2021

Headstone photos for Sylvester Cook added

14 Apr 2020

Headstone photos for William Granger added

16 Apr 2019

Memorial photo for Albert Bright added

Headstone for Harry Button added

Details added to George Fields

Details and headstone added to Stanley Collett

26 Jun 2018

Headstone and more details added to Simon Evans (Northern Ireland)

2 Apr 2018

Headstone photo added for Frederick Bull added

17 Feb 2018

Street sign memorial for George Chandler added

8 Sep 2017

Basra Memorial photo names added to Arthur Hiscox

27 Aug 2017

Basra Memorial photo names added to George Duck, Frederick Goulding, Ladas Hancock, Arthur Payne, William Sutton and Ernest Townsend. Photos courtesy of Bob Pike

16 Apr 2017

Wilfred Brinkworth page updated and photos of memorial added

Reginald Warrilow page updated

13 May 2017

Leopold Jordan page updated with photos

28 May 2017

George Lewis headstone photo added

Sidney Allen headstone photo added