Page 65 - Sylvia Malt - Side by Side

Henry Marshall decided to put duty and the defence of the Empire before his wife and
family and quickly responded to Lord Kitchener's call to arms. He was assigned to the 1st
Battalion, East Kent Regiment, known as "the Buffs" who were formed in Cambridge on
19th August 1914. The Battalion landed at Le Havre in France on 10th September 1914.

Henry died on 14th May 1916, just weeks before the disastrous Somme offensive, when his
colleagues were part of the Battle of Fleurs Couredette, the Battle of Marval and the Battle
of Le Transloy. It may have been a comfort to his wife and family that at least he was
afforded the dignity of a Christian burial, carried out by the Battalion vicar and attended by
as many of his colleagues who could be spared.

In Memoriam: Henry Marshall is buried in the Essex Farm Cemetery in Belgium.

Rifleman William Edward MARTIN, 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade

1878 - 31st July 1918

The son of a master butcher, William Edward Martin was born in 1878 in historic town of
Battle on the Sussex coast. He later moved to Kent and found work in Sidcup as a
florist. In 1901 he was in lodgings at the home of George and Lilian Wenham and their
sons, Ernest and William in Bexley Village. Six months after the death of George Wenham
in 1903, William Martin married his widow, Lilian, and moved with his new family into one of
the small cottages in Jubilee Road, Foots Cray. William’s new wife had grown up in Foots
Cray where her father had been a gardener.

A florist by trade, William Martin had been working for the Government at a dockyard. At
the age of 38 years, he made the bold decision to join the army, enlisting on 1st July
1916. He was sent to the Front in November but the following July he was seriously
wounded and took some time to recover and was allowed home on leave in December
1917.

On returning to France, William Martin was transferred to the 7th Battalion, Rifle Brigade,
as was often the case when Regiments became seriously depleted through catastrophic
losses. He took part in the Battle of St. Quentin. “Operation Michael” involved a vast
attack along the whole Front between the River Olse and the River Sensee. This area is
generally known as “the Somme sector.”

The entire area between the St. Quentin/Cambrai front line and the Bapaume/Albert area
had been deliberately laid waste by the Germans when they withdrew from that area in the
spring of 1917. The losses were heavy and Rifleman Martin, together with many of his
colleagues, came back down the line to rest at Le Havre. After that he was attached to a
‘flying column’ but was unfortunately killed instantly when an enemy shell exploded on the
living quarters where he was billeted.

The vicar wrote comforting words to his widow, who had already been bereaved in April
1917 when her son, Corporal George Wenham, died in Gaza and another son had been
seriously wounded the year before.

In the 1920’s Lilian Martin moved to Portsmouth to start a new life.

In Memoriam: William Martin is buried in the Villers Station Cemetery, Villers-au-Bois.

65