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After the service, tea and cakes were available in the village hall; also there
was an exhibition, the theme of which was Simpson in World War One,
followed in the afternoon by a very interesting tour of the village conducted
by Peter Barnes, again with the theme of Simpson in World War One.
I met up with Graham and his wife Frances, who was wearing a very
attractive charm bracelet made up of various old cycling club medals.
Graham had brought with him Walter’s DSO, still in the original presentation
box, together with William’s army bugle which David Johnson, the bugler at
the service, attempted to play, probably for the first time since 1918!
Last year I invited Justin Webster, who is the son of Adrian Webster, the
youngest of Walter Webster senior’s three sons and who lives in Canterbury,
to our Newnham service. At the time he was on holiday in Rio but assured
me he would be back home in time for the service and would like to attend;
however, on the day he failed to turn up.
It came as somewhat of a surprise when both Peter and Graham pointed
out to me that the initials on our memorial against Walter’s name are
incorrect; they should be W H (Walter Henry) not W W as engraved. One
would have thought that Willie Hudson Hartley, the club member who
sculpted the memorial, would have ensured that he had the correct names
and initials of his club mates before proceeding to carry out the engraving.
The memorial was unveiled in 1920. Could this be the first occasion that
the error has been spotted? There certainly doesn’t appear to be any
mention in club records of the mistake. It is a pity we didn’t know earlier
as the memorial was professionally cleaned in 2007 when a correction could
have been made.
Over the years we have had very little contact with the families of the other
four members whose names are recorded on our memorial other than in
1988 when Don White received a letter from a Mrs Deamer who wrote:
“Thank you so much for your very interesting letter on this year’s visit by
members and friends for a Remembrance Service at Newnham. Percy Tibbels
14
was an exhibition, the theme of which was Simpson in World War One,
followed in the afternoon by a very interesting tour of the village conducted
by Peter Barnes, again with the theme of Simpson in World War One.
I met up with Graham and his wife Frances, who was wearing a very
attractive charm bracelet made up of various old cycling club medals.
Graham had brought with him Walter’s DSO, still in the original presentation
box, together with William’s army bugle which David Johnson, the bugler at
the service, attempted to play, probably for the first time since 1918!
Last year I invited Justin Webster, who is the son of Adrian Webster, the
youngest of Walter Webster senior’s three sons and who lives in Canterbury,
to our Newnham service. At the time he was on holiday in Rio but assured
me he would be back home in time for the service and would like to attend;
however, on the day he failed to turn up.
It came as somewhat of a surprise when both Peter and Graham pointed
out to me that the initials on our memorial against Walter’s name are
incorrect; they should be W H (Walter Henry) not W W as engraved. One
would have thought that Willie Hudson Hartley, the club member who
sculpted the memorial, would have ensured that he had the correct names
and initials of his club mates before proceeding to carry out the engraving.
The memorial was unveiled in 1920. Could this be the first occasion that
the error has been spotted? There certainly doesn’t appear to be any
mention in club records of the mistake. It is a pity we didn’t know earlier
as the memorial was professionally cleaned in 2007 when a correction could
have been made.
Over the years we have had very little contact with the families of the other
four members whose names are recorded on our memorial other than in
1988 when Don White received a letter from a Mrs Deamer who wrote:
“Thank you so much for your very interesting letter on this year’s visit by
members and friends for a Remembrance Service at Newnham. Percy Tibbels
14
