Above: a record of Nonington men who served in the Armed Forces during The Great War. Believed to have been published after the war had ended.
Second Lieutenant Douglas William Hammond, 2nd Battalion, the Buffs.(East Kent Regiment). Son of Egerton & Ina Hammond of St. Alban’s Court, Nonington. Killed in action aged 18, 24th May, 1915, in the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium. Commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.
The photographs above are of three officers with connections to St. Alban’s Court in Nonington. All three were killed between February and October of 1915.
Two of the names on the Roll of Honour in the yew tree at the entrance to St. Mary’s Churchyard in Nonington are those of Captain Eric Penn and Second Lieutenant Geoffrey Mark Penn, brothers who were both killed in action during 1915.
At the time of the presentation of the Roll of Honour on 23rd May, 1917, by Mrs. Gladys Penn, the widow of Captain Penn, William and Constance Penn, the parents of the two brothers, were the tenants at St. Alban’s Court, Nonington, owned by Captain Egerton Hammond, the father of Second Lieutenant Douglas Hammond.
Troward Smith who served in 4th Battalion, The Buffs. He lived for many years in the first house on the right as you enter Easole St. from Holt St. until his death in the early 1970’s
A parade by Nonington members of the British legion held on Nonington Cricket ground,circa 1921.Some members are veterans of wars prior to The Great War of 1914-1918. Several Nonington men served in the Boer War of 1899-1901. The parade may have been held just before the veterans marched to the opening of the Knolton War Memorial. The only one I can be certain of identifying is ex-Grenadier Guardsman Harry Whybourne, sixth man in from the right and the tallest man in the line. He was a pre-war regular soldier and served in the front line throughout the conflict.
Nonington members of the British Legion parading past the Knolton War memorial, circa 1921
Nonington veterans of the Great War, circa 1921.
