V1 Victim Finally Gets a Named Grave Marker

Well done Andy.

I don’t think it was policy for CWGC to supply civilian casualty headstones – but I may be wrong. At Hastings Cemetery, for example, there are a large number of identical pattern headstones for civilians in the war graves section but I have always assumed these were supplied by the local authority.

If you have a WW1 grave that has no commemoration (presumably military?) then CWGC will always look into it and erect a headstone if appropriate. They have erected a dozen or so WW1 or WW2 stones across the years when I have discovered no marker. Two instances; Lt Swallow at Eastbourne, a few recent WAAFs mentioned on this forum and Plt Off Marchand at Bromley – although the latter case had some unusual background, shall we say.

Bravo Mr Saunders, and Bravo Mr Munday as well!

I’m surprised, given that she is listed in the CWGC site under Civilian War dead, that Doris has no CWGC stone – is that pending, or are WW2 civilian casualties recorded on the roll but not given a tombstone?

Adrian
(considering trying a WW1 non-commemoration for size, but there’s a strong piece of evidence that says “unlikely”. Ah well.)

The sad thing is, of course, that this incident seems to be linked to RAF fighter action and although I have not yet delved into local ARP records to get a timing for the incident, I am assuming that it may have been at around 19.00 hrs. Maybe Peter Wood could verify from his data base?

Well done, Andy. You are one of the few who actually do things rather than just talking about it.

You are wonderful men, more thought and kindness than most.

Andy

Great story with a happy conclusion. Well done to Ken. Wish there were more stories like this one on the forum. Love a bit of WW2 History. More please guys. :eagerness:

True, very sad she was not remembered, but only by Ken, but surely the village would have marked her grave if they put her name on the war memorial. This goes to show that in that war everyone was in the front line, but Andy hope you don,t mind the first name, why the last sentence, we all know on here the sceptic,s or believer,s of that issue, so until it is resolved why can,t we all take a step back and wait, all will be revealed hopefully…in time.

What a fantastic story… to warm the cockles of the coldest heart. Well done to everybody involved, most especially to Ken for his unswerving dedication to ensure Doris was never forgotten… not much moves me these days, but this brought a lump to my throat…

It seems that her husband moved away and re-married. Nobody seems quite sure why it was that the grave went un-marked. She is, though, named on the village war memorial nearby – albeit that her grave was never marked except by Ken Munday who kept it mown and with flowers planted.

Well done Andy but i am puzzled as to why no commemoration or named headstone was placed as it seems she was pretty well known about.

She was one of the inevitable victims of the defence against the V1 assault on London, killed when a fighter brought down the missile over relatively open countryside. It landed slap-bang on her cottage when all about are open fields and woods. A little to the south, however, is the huddle of Westfield village – and so the outcome could have been far worse. She was the only fatality in a small parish that saw no less than an astonishing seventeen of the weapons fall within its boundaries that summer.

The right thing done.

Well done, a lovely thing to do.

Very touching and overdue. Glad she is remembered

Sad that she had not been commemorated until now. Much credit to Mr Munday and yourself for making sure she is not forgotten.