Hilton WW2

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Reference WMO/186685

Address:

St Mary Magdalene Church

Hilton

PE28 9NZ

England

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Status: On original site
Type: Non freestanding
Location: External
Setting: Attached to a building/structure
Description: Board/Plaque/ Tablet
Materials:
  • Metal Bronze
Lettering: Raised
Conflicts:
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
About the memorial: The lych gate at the entrance to Hilton Churchyard was erected in 1920 as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Great War. It was paid for by public subscription which raised £135 . The lych gate bears a plaque with the inscription: | This lych gate is erected by public subscriptions in memory of the men fallen in the Great War. 1914-1919 Below there is a list of names (initial[s] and surname) of eleven persons who lost their lives in the First World War. On the opposite side of the gate, a further tablet was added after the Second World War with the inscription: This tablet is erected by public subscription in memory of those who gave their lives in the 2nd World War 1939-1945 Below this is inscribed the names (forename and surname) of those who lost their lives in this conflict – three in total. The War Memorial is listed in the United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials with reference number 274. This describes the gates as made of oak while the rest of the structure is made of concrete. Betty Britten was born in1919, the daughter of Jane Britten of Hilton. She was brought up in the Britten family home at Park Farm. Betty was employed as a clerk by Mr Keith Wright of Fenstanton, before she joined the WRNS in November 1941. She volunteered for foreign service and was drafted to North Africa, and, while on the voyage out, her ship was torpedoed. She served a year in Algiers and was then sent home through ill-health. She was discharged in February1944. Betty Britten died at Papworth on May 4th 1945, aged 26, and was buried in the churchyard at Hilton. While her name as registered at her birth was Betty Britten, the forename used in her service records and her death registration was Elizabeth. Reginald A. Martin was born in 1917, the son of Charles Henry and Florence Annie Martin of Potton Road, Hilton. When he was called-up , Reginald was married to Florence Ruth (nee Watts), and they lived in Hemingford Grey. A Private in the Suffolk Regiment, he died on 4th June 1943 and is commemorated in the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery in Myanmar (Burma) Leslie Martin, known as Les, was the son of Charles Henry and Florence Annie Martin of Potton Road, Hilton, and the elder brother of Reginald. Born in 1914, his given name, as registered at his birth, was Charles P. L. Martin. He was an Acting Able Seaman in the Navy. He was serving on ‘President Iii’ (S. S. Winterswijk), which was a Dutch cargo streamer, when it was torpedoed on 19th September 1941, and he was declared ‘missing, presumed drowned’. The ship was on route from Tampa to Methil in convoy SC42, carrying a cargo of 4,278 tons of phosphates when it was attacked by a German submarine U-432 and sunk The wreck is situated off the southeast coast of Greenland. Reference sources: Birth, Marriage and Death indexes for England and Wales, and census data from www.findmypast.co.uk Commonwealth War Graves Commission for details of war casualties and cemeteries at www.cwgc.org Accounts of naval matters from www.naval-history.org United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials website at www.ukniwm.org.uk The Hunts Post (available at Huntingdon Library and Archives) Thanks to Mrs Norma Furniss for her help. Gillian M. Sheail, Hilton, October 2012.
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This tablet is erected by public subscription in memory of those who gave their lives in the 2nd World War 1939-1945 Below this is inscribed the names (forename and surname) of those who lost their lives in this conflict – three in total.

Betty Britten/Reginald Martin/Leslie Martin

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