Under fire: Capt Carpenter kept HMS Vindictive close to the Zeebrugge Mole for almost two hours while under fierce bombardment. Painting in the Royal Naval College collection at Greenwich
CROYDON CHRONICLES: As we approach the season of Remembrance, DAVID MORGAN has found articles and documents in the Minster archive which tell of the conspicuous gallantry of Captain Alfred Carpenter
On April 27 1918, the Croydon Times hailed Captain Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter of the Royal Navy as “Croydon’s naval hero” after the exploits of him, his crew and Royal Marines aboard HMS Vindictive in the Zeebrugge Raid led to him being awarded the Victoria Cross.
Carpenter came from a line of navy officers, with his father, also Captain Alfred Carpenter, living in retirement in the Red House, Sanderstead.
For his homecoming a month later, locals came out in force to welcome Croydon’s conquering hero. Continue reading
Croydon’s failed Mayor, Jason Perry, now can’t even get his own business plan passed at council.
As well as wanting to deny Council Tax Support for Croydon’s poorest families, Jason Perry now wants to withhold free travel passes from the borough’s disabled.
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A year since the vacancy arose at Fisher’s Folly, the Mayor is no closer to recruiting someone for the top job to take over from Katherine Kerswell.
Not content with axing services that protect children, closing libraries and committing ‘cultural vandalism’ over CALAT, Croydon’s Mayor is now coming after lone-parent families and even disabled residents.
Did someone mention jobs for the Tory boys?
Ethel has won tickets worth more than £90 to see the singing sensations reprise all their greatest hits from the 1960s and 1970s.
CROYDON CHRONICLES: As the town centre’s ancient market reaches its 750th anniversary, DAVID MORGAN charts its growth from its beginnings as Butchers Row, aided by the patronage of commercially-minded Archbishops of Canterbury 
