Rainham at War in 1915

With the war just over five months old and uncertainty about how long it would last, 1915 saw the continuation of fund raising events and more casualties involving Rainham men at the battle front as residents rallied to do their bit in the village.

The year began in Rainham with a powerful gale that caused extensive damage in the area. The wind created holes in the chancel roof and nave of St Margaret’s church, telegraph wires were brought down and large elm trees were uprooted and strewn across the main road between Spade Lane and Culver’s Hill. Roofs, chimney pots and fruit trees also suffered severe damage in the wake of the storm.

During the gale two of Wakeley’s bargemen Arthur Hawks from Station Road and George Naylor from Lower Rainham had a lucky escape. After the wind had disconnected the anchor and chain their barge drifted on the sea near Canvey Island. The men had to fight freezing rain and sleet as they battled to control the vessel. Fortunately, the barge grounded and the two crewmen stayed on board until daylight then got ashore to safety.

In Rainham street lights were extinguished by general order on January 26^th because of the threat of German air attacks and evening services at the church were restricted because of the blackout with the Wednesday evening intercession service abandoned until further notice. A decision was also made that in the case of enemy aircraft attacks their arrival would be signalled by the ringing of the church bells which would allow special constables based at the fire station to go out and warn residents to stay in their homes or get under cover if outside.

A concert took place at the Council School in January to raise money for the Belgian Relief Fund. Several of these took place during the year and were organised by the Co-operative society and proved to be very successful money raising events.

In February a public meeting took place in the church hall to form a Rainham platoon for the Chatham Volunteer Training Corps. Reverend Tamplin became chairman and Mr Kitchingham from Station Road honorary secretary. A committee was also set up to organise the training of recruits from Rainham and the outlying villages of Upchurch, Hartlip, Lower Halstow and Newington. Later in March 34 men enrolled in the Rainham Volunteer platoon and drill took place at the Council School in Solomon Road. Sergeant-Major Richardson acted as drill instructor and training took place every Wednesday evening. Seymour Wakeley, Sid Wakeley, and Stuart Jelly were elected to the committee and by the end of April a rifle range in a building owned by Richard Wakeley had become established in the High Street while Corporal Forster took over as the new drill instructor.

In April a charity football match at the recreation ground between Rainham Congregational Church and Upchurch took place to raise money for men fighting in the war. Entry cost 3d and a total of £6/12/0d raised. Following this in May efforts were made to raise funds for an ambulance to transport wounded servicemen from the railway station to different hospitals. This became known as the ‘Rainham Ambulance.’ Mrs Tamplin the vicar’s wife became honorary secretary while Mrs Bodiam volunteered to organise a group of ladies to collect money with a house to house collection. Their aim was to raise £45. By late June Mrs Bodiam and her helpers had raised £50 for the Rainham Ambulance, five pounds more than originally required.

 With regard to entertainment the Empire Cinema in the High Street which pre-dated the Rainham ‘Bug Hutch,’ showed regular films to the public with seats varying in price from 2d to 6d. Charlie Chaplin films like ‘The Million Dollar Mystery’ proved to be very popular although other films were also shown with a piano accompaniment and were well attended.

In September Sergeant Frank Baker received the Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry after he had volunteered to recover the dead body of a regimental captain while under heavy enemy fire. He also got a big surprise when he came home on leave and received an inscribed watch from Reverend Tamplin on behalf of the people of Rainham at a special presentation in the church hall which his family and friends attended. He was later killed in action in France in 1916.

Throughout the year Council School headmaster Harold Greenhalgh organised the collection of eggs by pupils for the ‘National Egg Collection for the Wounded.’ In August 69 dozen eggs were collected and sent to the headquarters for the Organisation based in London. The school continued to run money raising events for the war throughout the remainder of the year. In November they invited a party of 58 wounded soldiers from Fort Pitt Hospital in Chatham for tea and entertainment and decorated classrooms with flags and flowers. The soldiers and sailors were served by waitresses and given tea while headmaster Harold Greenhalgh entertained them with songs. By the end of the month over 1,000 eggs had been collected at the school. The month ended with a concert organised by the Rainham Branch of Queen Mary’s War Hospital Needlework Guild with the aim of raising funds for the war wounded. Mrs Webster, wife of Dr Irby Webster, worked hard to hold the concert which proved to be a very successful musical pageant.

In December the parish clerk wrote to the War Office to obtain a war trophy captured from the enemy for Rainham. The committee suggested that it should be placed on the Recreation Ground in recognition of patriotism shown by residents in Rainham but it never materialised.

Throughout 1915 periodic announcements were made about soldiers and sailors who had been killed, wounded or missing. In January news arrived about leading seaman Aaron Norris from Station Road serving aboard HMS Formidable which sank in the channel. Fortunately, he survived with a small number of others. Thomas Balcomb of Bredhurst Road who had been called up in the Naval Reserve and sent to the Dardanelles on HMS Hood was reported missing in June while Brigadier-General Godby formerly of ‘The Chestnuts’ in Rainham High Street got wounded in action. Others were not so lucky like Sid Rash from Manchester House in the High Street aged 24 who served with the 12^th Battalion City of London Regiment and was killed while fighting on the Western Front in France. On May 24^th Percy Baker of the 2^nd Grenadier Guards was killed at Ypres after twice getting wounded. In August Percy Champion aged 19 from Ivy Street and who served in the East Surrey Regiment died of his wounds in a French hospital while Chief Petty Officer Andrew Evers aged 38 from Station Road lost his life when HMS Natal was sunk in the English Channel.

 When HMS Princess Irene loaded with mines blew up on the River Medway not far from Sheerness due to an accidental ignition of ammunition, only one member of the crew survived and 352 people were killed. Alfred Gulvin a bargeman from Henry Street got struck in the head by flying debris from the explosion while at work on the river and his injury required stitches. Debris which included a case of butter and soot from the explosion landed in Rainham.

Finally, the year ended with disaster when a serious fire destroyed Kemp Brothers building in Station Road, caused £3,000 worth of damage and put thirty men out of work. Fortunately nobody got injured but it contributed to more uncertainty at the end of the year and concerns about the future course of the war.

Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations in Rainham

In June 1897 the Diamond Jubilee commemoration took place outside St Paul’s Cathedral to mark the completion of 60 years of Queen Victoria’s reign. Led by the Life Guards and the Dragoon Guards and followed by bands, envoys, royal carriages and foreign royalty, Queen Victoria rode in an open carriage escorted by Indian cavalry to the ceremony in the City of London.

In Rainham on a day described by the East Kent Gazette as one of glorious summer weather, the Diamond Jubilee celebrations were much more comprehensive and bigger in scale than at the jubilee of 1887. Flags, decorations and night time illuminations dominated the village as preparations were made for the big day.

The day began with peels from the church bells which continued at intervals throughout the day and the parish council sent a congratulatory telegram to the Queen at Buckingham Palace on behalf of the people of Rainham. Later about 800 children and members of Rainham benefit societies assembled in Station Road and then marched into a packed St Margaret’s Church where Reverend Charles Cobb conducted a short service.

After the service W Hunt’s Band and the Salvation Army Band led a parade along the High Street which ended at the meadow behind the National School in Station Road where sports events then took place. At 2-30 pm dinners were served to about 200 parishioners aged 60 or more and widows with a selection of food that included roast and corned beef, ham, tongue, jellies and fruit then tea was served to children at 4-30. Mr Kennet Jordan and W. Stevens then presented each child with a jubilee mug.

An estimated 3000 spectators attended the sports events at the school, many from Medway and outlying villages as visitors crowded Rainham. Sports for young children were organised by Mrs Brice, the Infant’s School teacher, while Mr A. Champion organised the older children. After a successful afternoon the sports events were concluded with a 100 yards race for ladies over 50 years old. Seventy year old Mrs W. Kitney of Station Road, the only entry, won the race after walking the course and claimed first prize while winning competitors were presented prizes by Mrs Cobb, Miss Dodd and Miss Walter. A firework display followed this at dusk organised by Alfred Brice.

During the evening people walked around Rainham looking at the illuminations, considered to be the most impressive in the area. At Broad Walk flags were displayed and decorations and illuminations covered Mardale House, the home of Dr Penfold. At the bottom of the High Street Mr E Pierce exhibited the motto ‘Rainham Rejoices, God Bless Our Queen.’ Thomas Stanley Wakeley draped ‘The Chestnuts’ with bunting and a display of flags and an illuminated transparency. Mr Baker had what many people considered the best piece of decorative work in the parish. He exhibited a circular device with the words. ‘Our Queen Rules Over 360 Million People.’ A transparency with cross swords in gilt surmounted underneath by a crown.

At Rainham nursery at the bottom of Chapel Lane George Longley decorated the porch of his house with paper roses. Edwin Jelly decorated his house with flags, bunting and a display of potted plants. In his shop he displayed a pair of satin slippers worn by the Queen as a girl. The slippers were owned by the vicar Reverend Charles Cobb. At his outfitter’s store George Whayman displayed flags, shields and a transparency of the Queen edged with bunting and Chinese lanterns. The triumphal arch nearby contained the motto ‘1837, Hail Victoria 1897’ and ‘60 Not Out’ with cricket bats and stumps. At Manchester House Mr W. Bush displayed shields, bunting and flags and The Waterman’s Arms opposite had similar decorations. George Quinnell & Sons displayed a device with the words ‘In Every Heart One Prayer, God Save Victoria.’

At the vicarage Reverend Cobb decorated the building with jubilee flags, bunting, fairy lights and mottoes. Mr Hinckley covered the Lion Inn with flags, lines of evergreen and a transparency of the Queen with an arch across the road. Watchmaker Mr A. Tucker displayed a crown and the letters VR in fairy lights with the motto ‘Jubilee, 60 Years a Queen.’ Another arch a bit further along the road displayed the motto ‘Greatness and Goodness and ‘Our Queen God Bless Her.’

A collection of Japanese lanterns suspended from the chestnut trees outside the church transformed the spot into a fairy grove at night. Flags and fairy lights decorated the White Horse and similar decorations covered the Cricketers Inn.

Lines of flags criss-crossed Station Road in front of the National School and the Co-operative Society building. There were three triumphal arches in Station Road with mottoes. At Ramsey House Samuel Hodson displayed a pretty shield with flags grouped around it and VR in fairy lights. Towards the bottom end of Station Road William Wakeley decorated Macklands House with bunting, flags and fairy lights. Visitors packed the road as they viewed the decorations.

During the early evening a torchlight procession formed outside the church and went along the High Street led by W. Hunt’s Band to Motney Hill where a large bonfire had been constructed. After this had been ignited those present sang ‘God Save the Queen’ then returned to the National School playing field where dancing took place until 1 am.

A Diamond Jubilee Dinner rounded off the celebrations the following day when 50 gentlemen representing Rainham agricultural and commercial life attended the event at the National School in Station Road. Farmer James Mansfield presided over it with a series of toasts and speeches followed by songs from Messrs J. Longley, E. Shewell, R. Wickens and S. Hodson. This concluded a successful Royal Diamond Jubilee in Rainham.

Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Celebrations in Rainham

As Queen Victoria sat in her open carriage drawn by eight white ponies making the journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey for a full state thanksgiving service and cheered on by thousands of her flag waving subjects, towns and villages across the country had their own celebrations to mark the event on June 21^st 1887.

The East Kent Gazette reported that on a fine sunny day in Rainham, early morning peels rang out from St Margaret’s church bells and at intervals for the remainder of the day to signify the big event. The people of Rainham had raised £50 to fund the celebration with decorations and activities and had formed a committee to organise it.

Flags and banners decorated the centre of Rainham drowning it in a sea of red, blue and white. Flags from the barges Agremont, Virginia and Director suspended by lines fluttered above the main road at the western end of Rainham. At the Cricketers pub landlord Samuel Jarrett exhibited a line of flags and transparencies of the Queen, the Prince of Wales’s plume and a representation of the crown. At the vicarage a bit further along the High Street a group of flags with the words ‘God Save the Queen’ on a crimson background and a transparency of the Prince of Wales’s plume of feathers were displayed.

A line of flags spanned the High Street from the Lion Hotel and also in the windows of nearby buildings. A banner with the words ‘The Queen, God Bless Her’ stretched across the street from George Quinnell’s grocery shop in Broad Walk and George Whayman’s drapery shop displayed a banner with the words ‘God Save the Queen, Long May She Reign.’ Frank Frost’s grocery shop displayed a portrait of the Queen wreathed in flowers while Men’s outfitter Edwin Jelly displayed a banner with the words ‘Long to Reign Over Us, God Save the Queen’ on a crimson background. At ‘The Chestnuts,’ a house owned by local preacher and businessman Thomas Stanley Wakeley, the colours of the barge ‘Richmond’ surmounted the building accompanied by a transparency of the crown surrounded by flags. At Mardale House, the home of Doctor Penfold, a transparency of the Royal Arms surrounded by a portrait of Queen Victoria decorated the building while a line of flags spanned the road.

At the White Horse Inn on the corner of the High Street and Station Road publican Alf Fiske had the building covered in English and French flags with beautiful floral decorations at the windows. He also had illuminated transparencies of Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales’s plume and an image of the crown displayed for viewing at night. This contributed to making the decorations for the event in Rainham very colourful and highly impressive.

At 12-30 pm proceedings began when Rainham children assembled at the National School in Station Road with their teachers. Dressed in holiday clothes most wore or carried flowers and were led to the church. Followed by senior citizens they entered the building that was soon crammed with parishioners. With the Rainham Brass Band led by conductor Mr W Hunt positioned inside the church, the service taken by Reverend Charles Cobb commemorated Queen Victoria’s fifty year reign. Organist John Longley played a jubilee march followed by hymns sung by the choir and congregation. The service concluded with the singing of the National Anthem.

Crowds of people waited outside the church and lined the High Street. Amongst these the local branch of the Druids attired in costumes and holding banners sat on horseback while the Foresters with regalia were lined up with them ready for a procession. Once in order the procession moved down the High Street led by the infants, then the girls followed by the boys, next by the Druids and Foresters. Most of the children carried flags and banners. The girls carried a large silk banner with an image of the English crown.

With over 1,000 people taking part the procession headed towards Berengrove Park which had been lent for the occasion by the owner J. A. Walter. Swings had been erected in the park and amusements provided. Free dinners consisting of roast beef, mutton and plum pudding were provided for all parishioners over 55 years old and tables were placed under a row of trees at the bottom end of the park for this. After the old people had taken their places Reverend Cobb gave thanks and proposed a toast to the Queen. The playing of a verse from the National Anthem and cheers followed then the dinners were eaten. Immediately after this preparations were made to feed the children but only those who wore a jubilee medal that had earlier been presented to every individual by Dr Penfold were allowed to have a meal.

An estimated 2,000 people attended the event in Berengrove Park which included dancing and music. St Paul’s Fife and Drum Band from Chatham arrived in the afternoon and played some rousing, lively pieces. A display of colourful fireworks at dusk brought the event to a close. A huge bonfire was also lit on White Hill and could be seen for miles around.

The celebration turned out to be a great success for the village and the biggest event witnessed by residents for many years as they settled down to a further fourteen years of Queen Victoria’s reign.