As the nation pauses this Remembrance Sunday to honour those who gave their lives in service, we also turn our hearts to the stories closer to home - tales of courage, sacrifice, and unbreakable spirit from right here in our community. Beneath the calm of our memorials lie memories of local heroes who fought bravely so we could live freely. In this special editorial, guest author Cllr Mark Mills-Bishop brings to life the powerful stories of those who served and the families forever changed by war.

Let us read each of these stories, pay our deepest respect, and be moved to do so again this Sunday - whether at the Royal British Legion march in Cheshunt, or at the services in Broxbourne, Hoddesdon, or Goffs Oak.

Born in 1898, son of William Ernest and Florence Annie Uglow of 5 Beaumont View, Cheshunt, at that time within the parish of Goffs Oak. He was christened on 3rd June 1900 at Great Hormead church. He worked for a firm called Marks and Clark in Lincoln Inn Fields.

At the outbreak of war, he enlisted as Rifleman, 1687, 1st/9th Bn. London Regt. Queen Victoria’s Rifles (QVR). He lied about his age; he was just 17.

After 3 months training he was sent to France. The 1/9th QVR landed at Le Havre on 5 November 1914. On 29 November 1914 at Neuve Eglise, the QVRs encountered particularly trying conditions for a first experience of the trenches. They emerged from their initial ‘baptism of fire’ largely unscathed.

On 1 January 1915 at the ‘1st Battle of Ypres’ the Battalion experienced its first major loss of life in trenches at Wulverghem, with forty-two casualties including eleven fatalities. William died on 1st January 1915, aged 17, his body was never found.

He is an unknown soldier of the ‘Great War’ commemorated on Panel 54 Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium; His name is inscribed on the War Memorial at Goffs Oak and a plaque at St James Church Goffs Oak presented by his parents along with an alter cross.

William was posthumously named ‘Young Citizen’ of the Year’ in 2015 for the Borough of Broxbourne, 100 years after his death in 1915; there is a framed copy of the certificate with a wreath under his name on the Menin Gate. His father and mother are buried in Cheshunt cemetery, along with other relatives.

In Cedars Park, Cheshunt, a bronze statue was erected, ‘Tommy’ to remember the soldiers who died in the two world wars. Each year on 11th November, Armistice Day, a ceremony is held in remembrance.

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On 17 August 1944 Germany unleashed a series of terrifying strikes on the UK during the 2nd World War known as V1 and V2 bombers, most were intended for London. A number overshot their targets and landed in the surrounds. One strike hit houses, Little Cot and Wayside Cottages in Goffs Lane, Goffs Oak, and caused the single largest loss of civilian life in the village. 5 people were killed including 4 from one related family:

The deaths are commemorated in perpetuity certificates of the civilian war dead by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Mrs Marvell husband was a serving member of the armed forces in the Royal Army Service Corps. Mr Ingrem was an Air Raid Warden. The Tompkins were cousins of Mrs Marvell and staying at Little Cot in Goffs Lane during the holiday period. All four members of the family are buried in one grave in Cheshunt Cemetery.

A borough Blue Plaque has been erected in commemoration at the entrance of the new development at the site in St Johns Road, Goffs Oak.

On the 12th August 1944, a US Air Force B24 Liberator bomber crashed on farm land in Cheshunt, killing all ten airmen on board, an incident commemorated in the name of a nearby road, Lieutenant Ellis Way.

The plane, commanded by 2/Lieutenant John D. Ellis, was based at Wending, Norfolk, and was part of 577th Squadron, 392nd Bomb Group, scheduled to carry out a bombing raid against Juvicort Airfield in France. Ellis’s plane was one a six forced to turn back, due to adverse weather.

Like most facts of this case, what happened to the B24 is subject to debate. It was widely believed to have suffered a mid-air collision with a B17 Fortress of 398th Bomb Group based at Nuthampstead, Herts, which crashed at Loudwater, near High Wycombe. This, however, has been disputed by some investigators.

For whatever reason, the bomber suffered catastrophic damage, probably with the loss of all four engines. It emerged from the low cloud-cover near Cheshunt and crashed into a field belonging to Maxwells Farm. The plane caught fire and exploded, killing all ten crewmen.

It was widely believed that Lieutenant Ellis and his crew had deliberately steered their plane away from the built-up areas of Cheshunt and Waltham Cross, sacrificing their chance to bale out to safeguard the civilian population. This too has been disputed by some experts, who believe that Ellis could not have been in control of the B24 at that stage, but the belief became too rooted in Cheshunt to be shaken.

A collection was made in Cheshunt and Waltham Cross, partly for the dead airmen’s families and partly to create two memorials, one of which (pictured) hangs in Cheshunt Library, the other in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in Madingley, Cambridgeshire.

On the 50th anniversary of VE Day, 1995, the nearby Flamstead End Relief Road was renamed Lieutenant Ellis Way, in honour of the men who died that day. The memorial outside St Mary’s School was dedicated on 22 January 2011. I met his daughter was the memorial was opened who had travelled over from the USA.

The following men died in the crash:

As we mark this Remembrance Sunday, let us not only look back with gratitude but also look forward with hope. May we continue to pray for peace in every place torn by conflict and for the safety of our soldiers serving far from home. Let us remember, too, our veterans among us — those who carry visible and invisible wounds, whose quiet strength reminds us daily of the price of freedom. They deserve our love, our support, and our respect. And as we honour their courage, may we also inspire the younger generation to stand brave and ready when their nation calls, guided by the same spirit of duty and sacrifice that has long defined our heroes.

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Cheers,
Editor-in-chief | Emeka Ogbonnaya

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