The men below are listed on the Second World War memorial in St John the Evangelist Church, and this is what we've found out about them so far. We have also included two other men – James Ward and XX – who aren't on the memorial, but who we think should be. If you know more about any of them, please
Back to the 18 Men of New Hinksey main page.
Image from the Oxford Mail, |
Grew up at 62 Church Street, New Hinksey.
Sergeant (Gunner) with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service no. 903401.
Buried at XX. |
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Image courtesy of Steve Ayres. |
Lived at 34 Lincoln Road, New Hinksey.
Private with the 1st Battalion of the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, service no. 5385925.
Buried at Ranville War Cemetery, Normandy, France. |
Ken Ayres's grandparents, and later his parents, ran the Farriers Arms pub at the far southern end of the Abingdon Road. Ken worked as a lorry driver before the war; he and his younger brother Gordon both served, Ken in the army and Gordon in the RAF. Ken is commemorated on the war memorials of all three churches in South Oxford: St Matthew’s, St Luke’s in Cold Harbour, and St John the Evangelist in New Hinksey.
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Image from the Oxford Mail, |
Grew up at 35 Sunningwell Road, New Hinksey.
Corporal with the Army Catering Corps, service no. 2372823.
Buried at St Laurence's Church, South Hinksey, Oxford. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, |
His mother Bessie Cooke lived at 218 Marlborough Road, Grandpont.
Private with the Corps of Military Police, service no. 13077046.
Buried at St Laurence's Church, South Hinksey, Oxford. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, |
Lived at 73 Sunningwell Road, New Hinksey.
Gunner with the Anti-Tank Corps, Royal Artillery, service no. 1442231.
Commemorated on XX. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, |
Lived at 104 Wytham Street, New Hinksey.
Sapper with the 284th Armoured Assault Squadron, Royal Engineers, service no. 14342220.
Commemorated on XX. |
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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. In civilian life he was an assistant porter at Rhodes House in Oxford. During the Second World 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. Reginald is also commemorated on the memorial in St Matthew’s Church in Grandpont.
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
Lived at 8 Monmouth Road, New Hinksey.
Sergeant (Pilot) with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service no. 563150.
Buried at St Laurence's Church, South Hinksey, Oxford. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
His wife lived at 5 Norreys Avenue, New Hinksey.
Staff Sergeant Major with the Royal Tank Regiment, service no. 5378861.
Buried at XX. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
Lived at 54 Sunningwell Road, New Hinksey.
Chief Stoker, submarine HMS Narwhal, Royal Navy, service no. C/KX 81233.
Commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
Lived at 11 Oswestry Road, New Hinksey.
Observer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service no. 118825.
Buried at XX. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
Lived at 4 School Place, New Hinksey.
Private with the XX Battalion of the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, service no. 14720969.
Buried at XX. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
His mother lived at 100 Wytham Street, New Hinksey.
Able Seaman on aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, Royal Navy, service no. D/J 106261.
Commemorated at Columbo (Kanatte) Sri Lanka. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
Lived at 272 Abingdon Road, Cold Harbour.
Ordinary Seaman on HMS Durban, Royal Navy, service no. P/JX 274740.
Buried at Durban (Stellawood), South Africa. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
Lived at 208 Abingdon Road, New Hinksey.
Flight Sergeant (Observer) with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service no. 1188032.
Buried at Alamein, Egypt. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
Lived at 258 Abingdon Road, New Hinksey.
Sergeant (Pilot) with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service no. 920733.
Buried at Runnymede. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
Lived at 30 Norreys Avenue, New Hinksey.
Pilot Officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service no. 126692.
Buried at Rheinberg, Germany. |
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
Lived at 23 Wytham Street, New Hinksey.
XX on battleship HMS Valient, Royal Navy, service no. P/KX 137690.
Buried at St Laurence's Church, South Hinksey, Oxford. |
James Ward is not named on the memorial in St John the Evangelist, but we fell that he should be.....
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Image from the Oxford Mail, . |
Lived at 23 Lincoln Road, New Hinksey.
Flight Sergeant (Engineer) with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service no. 1609929.
Buried at Choloy War Cemetery, north-eastern France. |
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Died of XX on 17 July 1940, aged XX, in Boulogne, France.
As part of the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 2025, a group of local volunteers researched the lives of the 18 men whose names are on the memorial in St John the Evangelist Church (left). This project was carried out in association with 24 Men of Grandpont and Cold Harbour 1939-45, which researched the men named on the Second World War memorial of the adjacent parish, St Matthew's. Two of the men – Kenneth Ayres and Reginald Collins – are named on both memorials.
Click here to see what we have found out about the 18 men of New Hinksey so far (as well as about two other men who aren't named on the St John the Evangelist memorial, but who we think should be).
If you know anything about the men from New Hinksey, Grandpont or Cold Harbour who went to fight in the Second World War (both those who died and those who survived), or anything about this area of Oxford in the 1930s and 1940s, please