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War Memorials
St Martin’s Church has a number of war memorials around the building. Many of the memorials from the First World War are made using Opus sectile and were commissioned from James Powell & Sons at the Whitefriars Glass Works.
As a commemoration of the centenary of the ending of the First World War, we have added details of the memorials to the tour. The following First World War memorials are in the church:
Captain William George Cubitt Chichester
Captain William George Cubitt Chichester's memorial can be found in the Lady Chapel by the Altar.
William George Cubitt Chichester was born on the 20th of July 1892 in Dorking to the Reverend Canon Edward Arthur Chichester and the Honourable Mrs. Mary Agnes Chichester nee Cubitt. He was baptised on the 10th of August 1892 in Dorking.
William’s father, Edward Arthur Chichester, was the Vicar of St Martin's Church, Dorking from 1885 to 1921. William’s mother, Mary Agnes Cubitt, was the daughter of Privy Councillor George Cubitt, 1st Baron of Ashcombe, who was a generous benefactor to Dorking and lived at Denbies.
William went to Wellington College in Berkshire and in 1911 he proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, and took his degree just before the outbreak of the war in 1914. After the commencement of the hostilities he volunteered for service and enlisted into the 1st (City of London) Battalion, (Royal Fusiliers) [London Regiment] as a Lieutenant.
After his commission he went out to Malta and then on to Egypt; there he was taken ill and was sent to hospital. His regiment meanwhile went to Sulva Bay, where he subsequently joined them, and took part in the evacuation. William disembarked on the 1st of November 1915 in France and obtained his captaincy in the same year.
Just before the officer’s death, Captain Chichester’s Quartermaster, wrote: “We went out as a wiring party, Sergeant Watson in charge. We carried on for about half an hour. Suddenly the Germans opened with machine guns, and rifles. Watson immediately sent his party back, and went into the trench to the assistance of Oaklard, who had been hit. Whilst doing so Watson was hit. Captain Chichester came along, heard what was happening, and immediately went out and dragged Oaklard into the trench. Then he went back to Watson, and afterwards came back for a stretcher, and with McKenzie carried Watson into the trench. Three journeys he made, and though the machine guns had slackened somewhat it was a jolly fine thing to do, and we all think the world of him.”
William George Cubitt Chichester was killed at High Wood in the Battle of the Somme on the 15th of September 1916 while leading his company to the attack. He was reburied at the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longwall in France. His grave reference number is: WVI. E. 37.
More details can be found on the Dorking Museum website.
Lieutenant Alfred William Batson
Lieutenant Alfred William Batson's memorial can be found just outside the entrance gate of the Lady Chapel on the South Aisle wall.
Alfred William Batson was born on the 25th of Februry 1887 in Dorking and was baptised on the 5th of April 1887 at St Martin's Church. At the time of the baptism Alfred's father was working as a surgeon and the family lived at 73 High Street in Dorking.
Alfred William had his early education at Mr Radcliffe´s School, Fonthill, East Grinstead. Then he attended Wellington College and Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst. He was also an enthusiastic sportsman; apart from playing football, cricket and polo, he was good at tennis, golf and hockey. He was also a keen shooter and a Member of the Junior United Service Club.
After attending the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, he was appointed the 2nd Lieutenant to the 2nd Battalion, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry on the 9th of October 1907. He subsequently served in Bermuda, South Africa (where he was attached to the Mounted Infantry), and Hong Kong, where he was in charge of the machine gun section of his battalion.
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Soon after the outbreak of war, Alfred William´s regiment was ordered home from Hong Kong. Lieutenant Alfred William disembarked on the 19th of December 1914 to France. He was in charge of the machine gun section of the 2nd Battalion, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.
On the 24th of February 1915, Alfred William was commended by the Major General Commanding the 27th Division for distinguished service in the field. The Major General wrote the following words:“ Your Commanding Officer and Brigade Commander have informed me that you have distinguished yourself by your conduct in the field. I have read their reports with much pleasure.“
Lieutenant Alfred William Batson was killed in action on the 14th of March 1915 on the Mount at St Eloi, near Ypres. He was shot in the head in an attack subsequent to explosion of a mine of the enemy. In his regiment 5 officers were killed and 2 wounded. According to the 1915 Dorking and Leatherhead Advertisement: “The death of so great a proportion of officers shows, that the Cornwalls were in the thick of the fight, or the explanation may happen to be that the trench which they had captured and occupied was exploded by the enemy´s mines.“
He is buried at the Wytschaete Military Cemetery in Belgium. His grave reference is: VI.E.3. He was re-buried there after his body was exhumed from a communal grave. He was identified by his disc.
Further information can be found on the Dorking Museum website.
2nd Lieutenant Henry Harman Young
2nd Lieutenant Henry Harman Young's memorial is on the north wall in the North Aisle.
Henry Harman Young was born on the 2nd of September 1893 in Dorking, Surrey to Major Henry Harman Young and Bessie Young nee Pulford. Henry attended Charterhouse School from 1908 to 1912 and later became a land surveyor.
At the outbreak of World War I Henry became a private of the 28th (County of London) Battalion (Artist Rifles). He disembarked in France the 26th of October 1914 and shortly before Christmas he was promoted to a Sergeant. On the 9th of May 1915 he was given commission as the 2nd Lieutenant of the 3rd Battalion Royal Fusiliers.
In December 1915 news came that Henry had been taken prisoner of war in Germany after being wounded during the 2nd Battle of Ypres on the 24th of May 1915. This was the first time since an official notification ‘wounded and missing’ was published by the War Office that the family heard any news of Henry; although Major Young had been desperately seeking any information about his son. He had also been asking wounded soldiers from his son’s regiment about Henry’s whereabouts, on their return home. Nobody had heard anything. It was only the intervention of His Majesty King of Spain, addressed by the Major in August 1915, that brought news to the family. According to the Spanish Ambassador to Berlin, Henry Harman Young was a prisoner of war in a camp in Giessen in Hessen.
In reality, Henry was killed in action on the 24th of May 1915 during the second Battle of Ypres. In 1921 Major Young received a letter from a German woman, Eugenie Hahn of 4 Ptarrstrasse, Stuttgart. In the letter, she tells that her son Gottlieb Hahn had found a seriously wounded Henry on the battlefield. He gave the dying Henry water and wrote to his mother to contact Henry’s parents that their son had been taken care of. Gottlieb Hahn was also later killed.
In 1923, Major Harman received another letter from Mrs. Hahn, Eugenie pleaded with Major Harman “You English people are kind and will help when you can”. She then described awful condition in Germany. A pair of boots cost nearly one million marks. She asked for a pair of boots and some clothes: “A pair of boots cost nearly one Million, I need a pair very badly, perhaps you would be so kind and send me one and some left of clothes”. Eugenie also mentioned living with her son in England prior the war, that he is dead and asked whether Major’s friends could send her some needful things.
Henry Harman Young is commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing on panels 6 and 8 and on a panel wall at Memorial Chapel in Charterhouse School. He is also written in the school’s Roll of Honour.
Thanks to the Dorking Museum for this information.
Corporal Owen Withers
Corporal Owen Withers' memorial is in the North Aisle next to the Vestry door.
Owen Withers was born late 1893, the youngest son of Edward, a self-employed organist who played at St Martin's Church and Charlotte Maria Withers of 6 Vincents Road, Dorking. Owen attended Dorking High School and then enlisted into the 1st/12th Battalion County of London Regiment (The Rangers) in 1914. He first went to France in March 1915 but was severely wounded at St Julien the following month. He returned to France a year later after recovering from his wounds.
He was initially reported missing and then confirmed to have been killed on 9th September 1916. He was a corporal (2454) in the 1st/12th Battalion County of London Regiment (The Rangers). He has a special memorial, shared with Gilbert Smithers, in St Martin’s church and his father has a memorial plaque on the organ. Owen is also commemorated on the St Paul’s Church memorial.
Private Gilbert Valentine Smithers
Private Gilbert Valentine Smithers' memorial is in the North Aisle next to the Vestry door.
Gilbert Valentine Smithers was the son of Walter Smithers M.R.C.V.S and Alice M. Smithers who lived at 2 Cliftonville in Dorking.
He enlisted in Dorking into the 13th Battalion, London Regiment and was killed in action in France on 19 April 1917 aged 27. He is buried in Wancourt British Cemetery in France.
He shares a memorial in St Martin's Church with Owen Withers.
