Recent Comments
Tag Archives: World War II
All downhill for Odlings after they dismantled London Bridge
CROYDON CHRONICLES: A dynasty began in the late 1800s with a family living at Lennard Road whose relatives would build a global business empire from marble, played roles in running the British team at the 1936 Winter Olympics, helped to … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged 1936 Winter Olympics, Anselm Odling, Anselm Odling and Sons Ltd, Broadcasting House, Cedric Odling, Croydon Minster, D-Day, David Morgan, Dunkirk, London Bridge, Marble, Michelangelo, Michelangelo's David, Portland Place, Prisoner of war, Royal Artillery, Switzerland, The Eiger, The Odling Cup, Wengen, World War I, World War II
2 Comments
This teacher’s Foss way always led her back to South East Asia
CROYDON CHRONICLES: In his latest delve into the archives, DAVID MORGAN recalls the life of a missionary, the daughter of a former Mayor of Croydon, who worked in China, Malaysia and South Africa, and survived almost four years in the … Continue reading
Remembrance and History: a special Croydon Insider episode
Can you help in our appeal, with the Deputy Lieutenant of Croydon, in providing details of personnel from Croydon who have been killed on active duty in the years since the end of World War II? On Remembrance Sunday, our … Continue reading
Posted in Bourne Society, Croydon Airport, Croydon Insider, Croydon Minster, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, David Morgan, History, Inside Croydon, Johnny Dobbyn, Under The Flyover
Tagged Battle of the Somme, Caterham, Croydon, Croydon Airport, David Morgan, Deputy Lieutenant of Croydon, Fiona Satiro, First World War, Johnny Dobbyn, London, Menin Gate, Phil Swallow, Remembrance Day, Remembrance Sunday, Royal West Surrey Regiment, Second World War, Warlingham, World War I, World War II, World War One, World War Two, Ypres
Leave a comment
Poignant moment as British Legion branch lays up its standard
The Coulsdon branch of the British Legion has formally closed, 104 years after its foundation. The decision was taken due to declining numbers of members. The occasion was marked with a final parade and the retirement of the branch’s standard … Continue reading
Day that ‘Croydon Boys’ mourned their Secret Army heroine
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Remembrance does not end on November 11, nor is it limited to servicemen from this country, as DAVID MORGAN discovered when researching the life of a Belgian civilian woman resistance fighter who saved the lives of countless Croydon … Continue reading
British spy who flew from Croydon to start Spanish Civil War
The prelude to World War II in Europe was a nasty and brutal civil war in Spain, used as a proving ground for Hitler’s troops. And Croydon played a role in its start and its end, writes JIM JUMP Croydon … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Airport, History
Tagged Adolf Hitler, Bill Harrington, Croydon, Croydon Airport, Cyril Sexton, General Francisco Franco, George Wheeler, Guernica, Harry Evans, International Brigades, International Brigades Memorial Trust, Jim Jump, John Peet, Major Hugh Pollard, Miles Tomalin, Spanish Civil War, World War II
4 Comments
Croydon churchwarden’s outstanding service in war and peace
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Ahead of Remembrance Day next month, using the Minster archives, DAVID MORGAN looks back on the career of a survivor, and war hero, who became a churchwarden Remembrance Day on November 11 is an opportunity to recall not … Continue reading
80 years on the stage – taking Croydon from the Blitz to Narnia
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: This year marks the 80th anniversary of the first performances by CODA, the Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association, making it one of the longest-lasting community arts organisations in the borough. DAVID MORGAN looks into how the group came … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, CODA, David Morgan, History, Theatre
Tagged Ashcroft Theatre, CODA, Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association, David Morgan, Fairfield Halls, Grand Theatre, Grand Theatre and Opera House, Kenneth Horne, Narnia, Russell Grant, Second World War, Simon Le Bon, The Blitz, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, World War II, World War Two
Leave a comment
Parish’s dynasty of vergers caring for Croydon for 100 years
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: In another discovery from the Croydon Minster archive, DAVID MORGAN has found the first-hand account of one of the church’s most senior lay officials which covers much of the history of the 20th Century When Frank Butler retired … Continue reading
Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Bishop Maurice Harland, Canon Leonard White-Thompson, Croydon, Croydon Minster, Croydon Minster Fire 1857, Croydon Parish Church, David Morgan, Frank Butler, Rev Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, The Blitz, William Groves, Woodbine Willie, World War I, World War II
Leave a comment
Proms composer Demuth’s music is overdue an encore
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A Croydon-born composer whose works have been forgotten deserves a revival, writes DAVID MORGAN The BBC Proms begins next month. Eighty years ago, in the war-torn summer of 1942, among the varied concerts performed at the Royal Albert … Continue reading
Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Music
Tagged BBC Proms, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Norman Demuth, World War I, World War II
Leave a comment
Minster memorials that tell the terrible toll of World Wars
Croydon Parish Church, as it was once known, contains memorials to service personnel who died serving their country. DAVID MORGAN guides you on a short tour of some of them As you walk into the Minster, you do so through … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Remembrance Day, World War I, World War II
2 Comments
Commuters to London Bridge surprised by D Day Spitfire
There was a Supermarine surprise for passengers at London Bridge this morning as a full-scale replica Spitfire fighter aircraft appeared in the station concourse, above. Network Rail has teamed up with the Imperial War Museum to create this installation to … Continue reading
Posted in Commuting, History, Norwood Junction, Transport
Tagged D-Day, Imperial War Museum, London Bridge station, World War II
2 Comments
Gordon Campbell VC: Croydon remembers naval war hero
Croydon staged a civic ceremony in the town centre yesterday to commemorate the borough’s only World War I recipient of the Victoria Cross, the nation’s highest award for gallantry. The date was the centenary of the Atlantic naval action in … Continue reading
Croydon CND marks anniversary of the atomic bomb
Today, at the war memorial by the Croydon Clocktower from noon till 1pm, Croydon CND will be marking the 67th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Jim Clugston, Croydon CND secretary … Continue reading
War-time Spitfire to pay tribute to Kenley airfield
The people of Kenley and surrounding neighbourhoods will have a treat around 3.30pm today, when a World War II Spitfire does a fly past over the former RAF base. From 1940, this part of London was the frontline in the … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, History, Kenley
Tagged Battle of Britain, Croydon, London, Luftwaffe, Rolls Royce Merlin, Royal Air Force, Supermarine Spitfire, World War II
1 Comment
