The men below are listed on the Second World War memorial in St Matthew's church, and this is what we've found out about them so far. If you know more, please
![]() Image courtesy of Steve Ayres. |
Lived at The Farrier's Arms, Cold Harbour.
Private with the 1st Battalion, Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, service no. 5385925.
Buried at Ranville War Cemetery, Calvados, Normandy, France. |
Ken Ayres grew up at the Farrier's Arms pub at the far southern end of the Abingdon Road. He and his younger brother Gordon both served in the Second World War.
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H Bannister...
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Lived at [ ] .
Gunner with the 44th Battery, 35th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, service no. 1523727.
Commemorated on the Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore. |
Edward Boswell...
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![]() Eric Bowles in 1934, aged 14. Image from The Changing Faces of South Oxford and South Hinksey, Book 1, by Carole Newbigging. |
Lived at 32 Pitt Road (now Chatham Road), Cold Harbour.
Lance Corporal with the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, seconded to No. 12 Commando, service no. 5384691.
Buried at Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford. |
Eric Bowles was born in Minster Lovell but brought up in South Oxford. He attended school in New Hinksey and was a keen footballer. Early in the War he volunteered to join No. 12 Commando, one of the specialist units trained to carry out small raids and sabotage operations in enemy occupied territory.
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His family lived at 194 Botley Road.
Driver with the Royal Army Service Corps, service no. T/98466.
Buried at Botley Cemetery, Oxford. |
Leslie Boyles' s family lived at 194 Botley Road.
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![]() Memorial to Roland Breakspear and his six crew mates at St Magnus's Churchyard, Hamnavoe, Shetland. Image from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. |
Lived at 3 Hurst Rise, Cumnor Hill, North Hinksey.
Sergeant (Wireless Operator / Air Gunner) with 240 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service no. 1176410.
Buried at St Magnus's Churchyard, Hamnavoe, Yell, Shetland. |
Albert Roland Breakspear (known as Roland and hence recorded as 'R Breakspear' on the St Matthew's memorial) was a member of the 1st Oxford Boys’ Brigade Company which was based at St Matthew's Church in Grandpont. As a young man he worked as an electrician, and during the War he served on flying boats in Coastal Command, based in Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland. |
Edward Percival BUTTRUM-GARDINER ![]() Edward Buttrum-Gardiner's gravestone at Leopoldsburg (British) War Cemetery, Limburg, Belgium. |
Lived at 38 Weirs Lane, Cold Harbour.
Sergeant (Air Gunner) with 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service no. 1851287.
Buried at Leopoldsburg (British) War Cemetery, Limburg, Belgium. |
In civilian life Edward Buttrum-Gardiner (recorded as 'R Buttram-Gardener' on the St Matthew's memorial) was a welder fitter, probably at Morris Motors in Cowley. He had six younger sisters. During the War he joined the RAF Reserve and was stationed at Chedburgh in Suffolk. He and five of his six crew mates were killed when their Lancaster Bomber was hit by American anti-aircraft fire.
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Lived at [ ] .
Private with the 4th Battalion, Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, service no. 5384698.
Buried at Krakow Rakowicki Cemetery, Poland. |
Kenneth Cole, together with Maurice Goddard (below), worked for the Post Office; both are named on the Oxford Post Office memorial which is in the sorting office on Oxpens.
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![]() Image from HMS Jervis Bay. |
Lived at 14 Canning Crescent, Cold Harbour.
Able Seaman with the Royal Navy / Royal Fleet Reserve, HMS Jervis Bay, service no. C/J 93254.
Commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent. |
As a young man Reginald Collins was in the Royal Navy, and in civilian life he was an assistant porter at Rhodes House in Oxford. During the War he served with the Royal Fleet Reserve. He was one of the 190 men (out of 255) who died when HMS Jervis Bay was sunk on 5 November 1940, following an epic battle in the North Atlantic.
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B Comley...
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C Daft...
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Also commemorated on the WWII memorial in Exeter College, Oxford.
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JC English...
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E Finch...
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Maurice Goddard, together with Kenneth Cole (above), worked for the Post Office; both are named on the Oxford Post Office memorial which is in the sorting office on Oxpens.
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![]() Image from the WWII memorial of Lincoln College, Oxford. |
Lived at [ ] .
Leading Aircraftman with the RAF Volunteer Reserve; service no. 1320081.
Commemorated at Miami (Grand Army of the Republic) Cemetery, Oklahoma, USA. |
Herbert Hacksley was an Oxford City policeman, the son of Violet Hacksley of Luton, Bedfordshire, and the husband of Gladys May Hacksley of Grandpont, Oxford. He was killed when his aircraft, a Vultee BT-13 Valiant, collided with another training aircraft of the same type. He is named on the Oxford City Police memorial in the church of St Michael at the Northgate, on the Thames Valley Police memorial in Kidlington, on the memorial in St Aldate's Police Station in Oxford, and on the memorial in Lincoln College, Oxford.
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![]() Image from a group photograph of D Company, Ox & Bucks 52nd Light Infantry, December 1943. Image from ParaData.org.uk; to see the whole photograph, click here. |
Lived at [ ] .
Private with the 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, Ox & Bucks Light Infantry; service number 5381332.
Buried in the churchyard of Periers-en-Auge, near Caen, Normandy, France, the only Commonwealth War Grave in this cemetery. |
William Hedges was the son of Henry James and Alice Maud Hedges, and the husband of Phyllis Mabel Hedges of Osney, Oxford. He took part in the Normandy landings and died as the battalion were attempting to liberate Escoville, just to the east of Caen in northern France.
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A Martin....
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F Molyneux...
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GE Morrison...
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HJ Sawyer...
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L Shepperd...
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Frederick Thompson was an Oxford City policeman, and is named on the Oxford City Police memorial in the church of St Michael at the Northgate, on the Thames Valley Police memorial in Kidlington, on the memorial in St Aldate's Police Station in Oxford, and on the memorial in Lincoln College, Oxford....
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R Williams...
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