Page 60 - Sylvia Malt - Side by Side v1

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
th
Armistice Day - 11 November 1918.

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

*The hospital was most famous for its principle designer, Florence Nightingale. It was enclosed in 19
acres of landscaped gardens and situated adjacent to the ancient Oxleas Woods and the Royal Artillery
Barracks, Woolwich. The hospital quickly became a design figurehead for dozens of more hospitals,
both public and military.

th
Pvt Henry Thomas PACKMAN, 16 Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers
th
1892-12 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 who toiled from dawn until
dusk, 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
th
thousands of other young men across the United Kingdom and was assigned to the ’C’ Company, 16
Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers - the same Regiment as Captain North from Mount Mascal.

th
The Armies of the German Empire had invaded Belgium on 4 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.