Page 67 - Sylvia Malt - Side by Side

Pte. George W. MEPHAM, South Notts Hussars. Transferred to Labour Corps.
1879 - 11th November 1918

Born in Crayford in 1880, George Mepham was the grandson of letter carrier and
shoemaker, James Dixon. In 1911, 31-year-old George was unmarried and living with the
Russell family in Woodside Crescent, Sidcup. He was one of a large number of local men
employed at Mr. Evans’ nursery and described his employment as journeyman
/nurseryman.

Late in 1914, at the age of 35 years, he married Elizabeth Wood, an event which could have
well been brought into focus because of the War. They first set up home in the Dartford
area where boy and girls twins were born, and after moving to a small two-bedroom cottage
in Cray Place, Foots Cray, a daughter was born in 1918. George enlisted in August 1916
and was assigned to the South Nottingham Hussars, a former Territorial Unit formed as a
second-line regiment in September 1914. The South Nottingham Hussars never went to the
Front and throughout the war years were based in the United Kingdom. He was later
transferred to the agricultural Labour Corps in Maidstone, where he was employed as a
nursery gardener. Food, as well as fighting material, was desperately needed to help feed
both the civilian and military population. With thousands of agricultural workers either
having died or abroad in the military services, this work was as vital to the war effort as any
other.

George was an early victim of the pandemic influenza outbreak which swept across
continents and between 1918 and 1919 killing more people than the total number who died
during the fighting in the First World War. He was admitted to the *Royal Herbert Military
Hospital, Woolwich, but died on Armistice Day - 11th November 1918.

In Memoriam: George Mepham was buried, with full military honours, at Greenwich
Cemetery on 20th November 1918.

*The hospital was most famous for its principle designer, Florence Nightingale. It was
enclosed in 19 acres of landscaped gardens and quickly became a design figurehead for
dozens of more hospitals, both public and military.

Pte Henry Thomas PACKMAN, 16th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers

1892 - 12th July 1917

Born 1892 in the neighbouring parish of St. Mary Cray, Henry was the eldest son of farm
wagoner, William Henry Packman and before the war he worked with his father. The
numerous labour-intensive surrounding farms needed a large number of workers,
particularly during the summer and autumn months. Before the start of the First World War,
William and Bessie Packman moved to Foots Cray becoming one of the Cottagers when
they rented one of the two-up two-down Mayfield Cottages in Jubilee Road. A single man,
Henry Packman went to war with the same infectious enthusiasm of thousands of other
young men across the United Kingdom and was assigned to the ’C’ Company, 16th
Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers - the same Regiment as Captain North from Mount
Mascal.

The Armies of the German Empire had invaded Belgium on 4th August 1914 and within
three weeks the fortified cities of Liege and Namur were in German hands with the Belgian
forces retreating to Antwerp. Fearing the fall of Antwerp would expose the Channel Ports
and leave Britain vulnerable to attack, the British deployed the newly formed Royal Naval
Division to assist their Belgian allies in defending the city. Unfortunately, Private Henry
Packman was fatally wounded in the fighting and died on 12th July 1917.
In Memoriam: No known grave and is remembered the Neiuport Memorial in Belgium.

67