Mount
Bures Community Web Site
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Summary of events leading up to the dedication of the new plaque to Arthur, at St Johns Church, Mount
Bures. |
Back in 2014, I was
talking to the Chairman of the British Legion in Bures, when I discovered
they had no idea about the names on Bures War Memorial. I like a challenge,
so I set about researching all the names, 43 for WW1 and 16 for
WW2 This is when I came
across the name "A C Brown" The research took several months and finally I published details of all 69 names listed the War Memorial on the Bures web site Fortunately for me,
Mary Kemp in Normandy viewed the pages in 2015 and replied with
information on the crash and photographs of Ellecourt Cemetery, With this additional
information, I then able to investigate their Service records where
I found photographs of the Flight Crew and a detailed RAF report
on the Crash I spoke to John Cowling the Church Warden at St Johns Church here, who remembered Johns parents back in the 1950/60`s and referred me to a memorial to Arthur in this Church. Arthur's parents commissioned
a Statue which stands behind the alter, with a plaque engraved "John
the Baptist" which sadly was totally meaningless, as it made
no reference to Arthur. I managed to obtain
a copy of all the Church Minutes during 1959 from the Essex Record
Office, I scoured the internet
to find out more about this gentleman, but I found absolutely nothing. The Sculptor and plaque were erected in the Autumn of 1959 Earlier this year, Walter Wood who lives in Devon contacted me with additional information on the family.
So, with it being
erected in the autumn of 1959, it`s nearly exactly 60 years nearly
to the day that we are commissioning this new plaque to Arthur. |
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Dedication and Blessing
of the new plaque. John Cowlin, Church Warden to the right
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Walter Brown, Cousin
of Arthur travelled up from Devon for the service
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Mary Kemp who once
lived near the Ellecourt Cemetery in Normandy
Mary supplied detailed information on the cemetery, where the crew of five are remembered. |
Mary Kemp : Left Walter Brown and companion Irene. |
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Finally we must
not forget the Rev John Chandler who retired only a week before
this dedication, who was unable to attend this very emotional event.
He worked tirelessly from January until September working with the Diocese and all the associated officialdom to obtain authority to erect the plaque |
Research
by Alan Beales
Published 28/10/2019