The First Rainham Soldier Killed in World War 1

When war was declared in July 1914 most people believed that it would be a short and glorious affair. In Rainham young men joined up while others who were already in the forces soon became involved.

Originally born in Chatham, Thomas Henry Anderson lived in Chatham, Rainham and Upchurch during the period leading up to 1914, working as a butcher’s assistant before joining the 1st Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers. His first military experience took place in India which at that time remained part of the British Empire and while serving there he was awarded the Delhi Durbar Medal in 1911 to commemorate King George’s coronation celebrations in India

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After completing his posting in India he returned to England where he was stationed at Portsmouth but with the outbreak of war in July 1914 it wasn’t long before he found himself sailing to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force made up entirely of professional soldiers under the command of General Sir John French. As a member of the 1st Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers he disembarked at Le Havre in France before being transported inland by train to Landrecies.

According to the regimental history of the Northumberland Fusiliers, on 21^st August Thomas Anderson’s regiment marched towards Mons where the Ist Battalion took a position on the Mons Condé Canal while the French were fighting the Germans at the battle of Charleroi on the right of the British Expeditionary Force. The British aim was to hold a line along the Mons-Condé Canal for 24 hours to prevent the advancing Germans from threatening the French left flank. When the battle began the British inflicted heavy casualties on the German side but with the retreat of the French Fifth Army which exposed the British right flank to numerically superior German forces a retreat was ordered.

After their first conflict the battalion crossed the River Marne on September 9^th and soon confronted German infantry in a wooded area at Veuilly. During the course of this they crossed a stream and marched on to the village of Dammard. They then crossed the River Aisne and billeted at Vailly. On September 14^th they moved forward in support of the 4^th battalion of the Royal Fusiliers near Rouge Maison and waited. At dawn the Germans attacked and the fusiliers were driven back after engaging their enemy in a wood on the left side. They lost more than 30 soldiers which probably included Thomas Anderson and 84 officers and men wounded or missing.

It isn’t clear exactly how he was killed but Thomas, who held the rank of Lance-Corporal, was later awarded the ‘Mons Star,’ a medal awarded to those who had fought the Germans in France and Belgium between 5^th August and 23^rd November 1914. He is remembered on the Upchurch and Rainham war memorials and on La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre memorial east of Paris. The Northumberland Fusiliers in which Thomas Anderson served raised 51 battalions for service in the Great War and lost a total of 16,000 men.

Thomas Anderson became the first Rainham serviceman to be killed in the conflict and 98 others from the village suffered the same fate in the Great War of 1914-1918. 527 words.

The Quest for a Catholic Church in Rainham

Four centuries after Henry VIII’s break with Rome and nearly 40 years of hard work and organisation during the first half of the 20^th century, the dream of a Catholic church eventually became reality for the Rainham Catholic community in 1958.

During the 1920s services were held at the Rainham Brotherhood Hall situated in Church Lane close to St Margaret’s church in Rainham High Street. An estimated congregation of about 50 people regularly attended Sunday morning Mass. The rent cost about 15p a week and Father Gerald Quinn, assistant priest at Gillingham Catholic Church organised everything, but the Rainham Catholic community were keen to move away and have a hall of their own.

The first stage of getting a permanent and suitable base began when the Diocesan Trustees bought a plot of land on a site adjacent to the London Road, the old medieval pilgrimage route from London to Canterbury for £270 with help from the parish of Gillingham in 1921.

 When presiding Rainham priest Father McMahon retired communication between Father Gerald Quinn from Gillingham and the church authorities led to permission eventually being given for the building of a parochial hall on the new site. On August 2^nd 1933 the hall with a capacity for 160 people became reality. The building served as a temporary church. Bishop Amigo opened it on November 10^th 1934.

The Catholic community immediately set to work organising fund raising events through a newly elected social committee. Although weekly collections were only £1, whist drives were held and raffles took place while coach trips were arranged to the coast and other local locations during the summer months to raise funds for the new church.

By 1951 congregations had risen to 237 and a new fund raising scheme was introduced for finances to build a new church. To raise money a Catholic football pool and a Mile of Pennies scheme were set up. Such were the efforts that £158 8s 0d had been raised by October 1953.

On November 14^th 1954 the parishes of Rainham and Gillingham held a social event to help boost funds to build a new church and school in Rainham. On the same evening a final decision was made to go ahead with the building of a church. A social club and a youth club were formed about the same time.

Dances held in the parochial hall proved to be a great success attracting people from far and wide. Bricks were sold for the new church at about 15p each after Sunday Masses. Rainham members of the Medway Catholic Women’s Guild made vestments for the new church and took it so seriously that they attended a course at the Medway College of Art in Rochester to ensure that they provided a high quality product.

Eduardo Dodds became the architect entrusted with designing the new church then on April 21^st 1956 tenders for the building were revealed. Of seven local companies J H Durrant of Strood had their tender accepted and construction got underway in the Autumn of 1956 when the foundations of the church were dug and the brickwork begun. Although a crisis regarding finances arose at one stage a solution was eventually found and the building, dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury, continued and became the only Catholic church to be constructed in the diocese at that time. With all the trials and tribulations involved in the construction with regard to finances, the ‘Laying of the Foundation Stone’ took place with Bishop Cyril Cowderoy directing the proceedings on December 29^th 1956.

The new church had an interesting design in the modern idiom with beautiful carvings and statuary completed by Michael Clark FRBS who became President of the Royal Academy of Art. The church also acquired his ‘14 Stations of the Cross’ and the canonical erection of this took place on November 19^th 1958. A statue of St Thomas of Canterbury, a gift presented to the church by Father Scott, was placed in front of the organ where it could be seen by members of the congregation leaving the church.

The church ceramics were designed by Adam Kossowski. These included a figure of St Joseph seated with the child Jesus. In the Lady Chapel angels were set against a background of blue tiles. A colourful depiction of the murder of St Thomas of Canterbury above the main entrance of the church is unique although Reverend Trew of Upchurch wrote in his short history of Upchurch church in 1911 that a fresco of St Thomas of Canterbury existed on the wall of the Lady Chapel of Upchurch church until it was whitewashed over after repairs.

The official opening of St Thomas of Canterbury Church took place on April 28^th 1958 although the consecration of the building did not happen until June 11^th 1970. A decision had been made to pay off all the debts for the building before the event could took place.

Photo of St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church, Rainham, Kent

Father Swinton continued as the parish priest and he remained until 1961. He lived nearby in Salisbury Road. Father Petry succeeded him and stayed until 1963 then Father Gleeson arrived and served the parish for ten years.

Now a familiar and distinct landmark on the main road to Gillingham, St Thomas of Canterbury church continues to attract new members to its congregation and remains an important location in the parish. It also maintains a close connection with St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School in Romany Road and St John Fisher Catholic School in Chatham.

Memories by Former Pupils of Rainham Mark Grammar School

Formerly known as Gillingham Technical High School and located in Green Street Gillingham, the school moved to its Pump Lane location in January 1967 as a single sex boy’s school with about 500 pupils and 30 members of staff. Dr Robert Keen served as headmaster and worked at the school from 1964 to 1997 followed by Mr Limm. The present day headmaster is Simon Decker.

During the opening years at Pump Lane Gillingham Tech was one of only a few schools in the country with a firmly established Nuffield Physics ‘O’ level course. The engineering block was considered to be the best equipped in the school and one of only a few in Kent where Engineering ‘A’ level was taught. The school also had good sports facilities for the time which included six tennis courts, three well maintained football and hockey pitches and a cricket square.

Changes have taken place over the years with the first co-educational year being introduced in 1972. Aylward, Faraday, Newton, Rutherford and Scott were joined by Bronte in 1991. Several decades later in 2001 a new form named Pankhurst was added for certain intake years only. This happened due to an increase in the pupil population as the school became more popular in the area. Later, in 2011 the Gallagher Group constructed a new £1.65 million sports hall, something that had been needed for many years as facilities at the school improved.

A disaster took place in 2012 when a blaze destroyed the science block but fire-fighters were able to prevent an explosion which could have made matters much worse. A sinkhole also appeared on the school grounds after a prolonged period of rainfall and had to be fenced off and dealt with.

Former pupils who became well-known are John Darley, a Kent based artist who served as a prefect at the school and Phil Gallagher who is known as ‘Mister Maker’ on a BBC children’s show of the same name. Beverley Brennan attended the Royal College of Art and later became a successful painter and teacher, Liam Hodges who also went to the Royal College of Art became a fashion designer of note while Craig Mackinlay became a politician who defeated Nigel Farage in the recent General Election. In sport Stevie Searle played football for Barnet in the English Football League and Dick Tydeman who attended the school when it was known as Gillingham Tech played football for Gillingham, Charlton Athletic and Peterborough United from the early 1970s up to the mid-1980s. Ian Docker and Andy Sambrook also became professional footballers after representing England as schoolboy footballers.

Rainham Mark Grammar School has produced some very good county champion football and basketball teams over the years which has enhanced its sporting reputation while high level staff/pupil collaboration has been demonstrated with successful school theatrical productions like ‘Oh What a Lovely War,’ ‘Animal Farm,’ ‘The Crucible,’ ‘Macbeth,’ and ‘Return to the Forbidden Planet.’

Former pupils have varied memories of Rainham Mark Grammar like Philip Bellars who studied there during the early 1990s. He rarely saw headmaster Dr Keen who he feels remained detached from the pupils and his only recollection of a meeting took place while being sick outside the school wind tunnel. The headmaster spotted him and ordered him to move away. His view is that Dr Keen oversaw a non-sporting school with poor outdated facilities although the school football teams gained a lot of success. Neither cricket nor rugby existed at the school when Philip attended although some cricket, tennis and hockey were offered in PE and games lessons. Dance classes were also held for both boys and girls which were not always popular with the boys.

Philip Bellars enjoyed Charity Week designed as an annual money raising event and remembers younger pupils paying sixth formers for a kiss. A musical show also took place at the end of the week which everyone enjoyed.

Although Philip feels that the teachers varied in popularity and ability the students were generally well behaved although he remembers many of the school textbooks being covered in rude drawings.

Musician Steve King had to travel between Rainham Mark Grammar and Chatham Grammar School for Girls with three other pupils to take ‘A’ level music because the facilities were lacking at Rainham Mark.

Steve has fond memories of his teachers like Vanessa Money and Heather Gallagher who taught music and encouraged him throughout. He also remembers deputy-head and maths teacher Eric Kitney, a keen marathon runner. He recalls eccentric Spanish and French teacher Neil Clifton who recently left the school but has returned periodically as a supply teacher. Other eccentric teachers in Steve’s view include CDT teachers Ken Boothby and Alan Thorpe who have now sadly passed on.

Steve always regarded Dr Robin Keen as a ‘hands off’ headmaster who restricted his rare appearances to the school assembly, school sports day and an annual cricket match between the staff and the pupils on the last day of the academic year. Sightings of him at other times were very rare and these became even fewer when the school obtained grant maintained status.

During the period 1987 to 1994 when he attended, Steve feels that although Rainham Mark Grammar had excellent academic results it mainly promoted science subjects and only a limited number of sports were offered with football in the winter and athletics in the summer being the main ones. Steve King, who went to Salford University, is now a well-known musician in the Medway area and beyond.

Tom Manning who attended the school during the early 1990s didn't live up to his parents’ expectations that like his sister he would become a model student, especially when Miss Timms put him on homework monitoring. Tom regarded her as a fearsome disciplinarian but complied. He suffered from what he calls a severe lack of enthusiasm about being educated.

Tom remembers headmaster Dr Keen as a person with whom he had little communication. Of his teachers he remembers Dr James Bit David an enthusiastic maths teacher and 5^th form tutor who could not communicate very well due to being Iranian and English not being his first language. He also remembers his CDT teacher Mr Thorpe, a tubby chap who mumbled a lot but who demanded perfection and did not have a lot of patience and Mr Boothby who could be identified by his wild uncombed hair.

Tom recalls his three German teachers beginning with Mr Webster. He viewed Mrs Cooper as an elegant lady who gave interesting lessons and drove an old Citroen car but he thought Mrs Gardener an impatient teacher who he frequently riled by giving her Nazi salutes. On the other hand, he thought his geography teacher Mrs Humphreys a bit of a hippy but a good teacher. Mrs Humphrey’s predicted that Tom would get a poor ‘A’ level grade. It turned out to have the opposite effect as it motivated him to study hard and get a good grade.

Mr Lawrenson turned out to be a superb economics teacher for Tom who always enjoyed his lessons, mainly because he was able to discuss cricket and football with him. They once played cricket against each other in the annual Staff v Pupils match at the end of the academic year.

Tom admits that he played tricks on Mr Wells, a very short economics teacher who other pupils also enjoyed playing tricks on like putting the blackboard wiper and other items on top of the door frame so that he couldn't reach which caused laughter. Tom feels that the school maintained a good reputation for academic results with improvements taking place to the science building while the PE department remained limited in what it offered. His only fear while at Rainham Mark Grammar occurred when walking home as he had to be alert and aware of Howard School pupils waiting to ambush him in the street.

Jim Wallace noticed one teacher as being a bit out of the ordinary when he described maths teacher Mrs Lythgoe as a very small lady who rode a massive motorbike on which she wore a full set of leathers which caught the attention of many pupils.

Former pupils can also recall memorable incidents involving their teachers like Michelle Simpson who remembers art teacher Mr Lydon walking into the hall door and knocking himself out which resulted in him missing a GCSE art lesson. Lisa O’Brian recalls Mr Humphries suddenly instructing the whole class to put up their hands while he walked around the classroom saying “keep them up.” Puzzled by this Lisa and her classmates noticed Dr Keen walk past the classroom with a group of parents who were being shown around the school. After they had passed Mr Humphries instructed the pupils to put their hands down and continued the lesson which caused amusement.

Keely Howard recalls the day when Mr Turner turned up late to assembly then had the embarrassment of sitting down on a chair which collapsed, probably something Mr Turner would like to forget but something Keely Howard has always remembered.

Overall, former pupils of Rainham Mark Grammar have positive memories of their teachers with Jim Wallace referring to Mrs Lythgoe as ‘a top teacher.’ Michelle Simpson calls Mr McCarthy ‘an inspirational teacher’ and Andy Morgan says of his maths teacher Mr Kitney that without his assistance he would never have passed his GCSE maths exam.

Rainham Mark Grammar School which has had very impressive academic results over the years and has produced a wide range of successful people in many fields of work remains a highly regarded school in the Medway area.

Some photos of the classes of 1982 at RMGS - actually from the photos pupils are still wearing their blazers with the GTHS logos on despite the class board showing Rainham Mark Grammar School.