I’ve been researching a local Second World War memorial – the Kent Electric Power Company Roll of Honour 1939-1945 – which holds the names of fifteen local men who lost their lives during the conflict.
The memorial is a framed, varnished wooden board featuring a Union flag with a white horse rampant, the symbol of the county of Kent, at its centre. The inscription, in gold, lists the initials, surname, rank, and service of those to whom it was dedicated. The memorial is currently held in storage at the Guildhall Museum, Rochester, but is not on public display. It was formerly located in the Seeboard (South Eastern Electricity Board) showroom and offices on Rochester High Street, a beautiful early Edwardian building now converted into private flats.
This research was harder than I had expected and emotionally draining. Each man had died so young that he left little behind, and I was struck by how few were killed in direct combat. Many of these young men died through accident, misadventure, or the hidden dangers of war – yet each life mattered. Every one of them was a son, a brother, and perhaps a sweetheart, who gave his life in service of others and in defence our democratic freedoms.
Explore the stories of the fifteen men below. Links to their Commonwealth War Graves Commission record is included at the foot of each story.
Each name on the Kent Electric Power Company Roll of Honour represents a life interrupted, a story once known but long forgotten. By rediscovering their stories, I hope to give them back their individuality and to remind us that behind every name on a memorial lies a life lived, a family left behind, and a promise to remember.
