FH STORIES | WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
THE MEN FROM THE MARSH WHO WENT TO WAR
Around six million Britons were mobilised in World War I – and tragically, some 700,000 of them never came home.
This is the story of the Dymchurch War Memorial, and of some of the 113 men from the surrounding area who went to war.
A POIGNANT MARKER
Dymchurch War Memorial stands on a beautifully kept stone-walled triangle just outside St Peter and St Pauls church, and opposite the Ship Inn.
It was unanimously agreed at a public meeting in January 1919 that a Memorial Cross should be erected on the site, and subscriptions were invited from the public. By October 1920, £267.18s8d had been raised and local labourers duly erected the sandstone memorial.
The inscription reads
1914-1919
1939-1945
THE GLORY OF GOD, AND IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF DYMCHURCH AND EASTBRIDGE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WARS FOR RIGHT AND FREEDOM
DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY
There are 10 names engraved on the memorial, but in fact a total of 29 men from the district gave up their lives in World War I. The site is also where the Dymchurch gallows once stood, back in the smuggling days.
SOME SOLDIERS’ STORIES
Thomas William Underhill was a 2nd lieutenant, 8th Battalion, The East Kent Regiment, The Buffs. Born in 1897, he enlisted for the war at the age of 17, by which time his mother Edith was living in Dymchurch. In France with the British Expeditionary Force in October 1915, he was invalided home with a wound, and after making it back to France died when a shell burst in the trench he shared with three other soldiers during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, aged just 23. Adored by his men, they made a wooden marker for his grave which was brought home and is now on display in St Peter and St Pauls Church in Dymchurch.
Four of the Upton boys went to war – and all four came home safely. Anthony, Montague, Henry and Thomas Upton served in diverse theatres, including the British Expeditionary Force and India but despite various injuries and medical discharges on the grounds of ill-health, they all came home, some to work in the family’s antique business, and all to marry and have families.
(James) Jimmy and Walter Sterndale-Bennett were the recipients of the Military Cross and the DSO & Bar respectively, and Walter was also recommended for the Victoria Cross. Two of the eight grandchildren of the eminent composer Sir William Sterndale Bennett, the family home in Dymchurch was the venue for long summer holidays every year. Walter died from his wounds at Ypres in 1917, while Jimmy was repatriated from a German prisoner of war camp on Christmas Day 1918.
TO WAR ON THEIR BIKES
In World War I, Pals Battalions were recruited across the country – men who had enlisted together locally and been promised that they would be able to serve alongside their friends.
12 Romney Marsh lads joined the Kent Cyclist Battalion and were sent out on bikes, the majority of them going on to serve in India – and amazingly they all came home safe!
THANK YOU
Our gratitude goes out not just to those who served in the Great War and others before and since, but also to Colin and Margaret Walker of the Dymchurch & District Heritage Group, whose painstaking research and work has informed the contents of this feature. Margaret sadly passed away in 2021, and is much missed by all who knew her.
