People

Percy Charles Guymer was born on 25th December 1899 at Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire and spent his early years in the Wolverton and Fenny Stratford area where his father worked in general business. During the First World War he enlisted in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Like many young soldiers of the later war years he was subsequently transferred to the Labour Corps, undertaking the essential but demanding work of road building, transport and supply duties that kept the army operating behind the front lines. His service placed him among the generation whose military experience came not only from combat but from the vast logistical effort required to sustain modern warfare.

Maurice Jack Kirby was born in Hambledon on 23rd August 1920, the son of John William and Annie Kate Kirby. The family lived in the High Street and later in a cottage beside The Vine in West Street, and he grew up in a working agricultural household where his father was employed as an engine driver on local farms. By 1939 Maurice himself was working as a heavy labourer in coal delivery, typical of the manual trades carried out by many young men of the village.

Ronald Salter lived in Hambledon at 4 Church Lane and was the son of Marion Hoare (née Salter). He was well known locally and remembered as a close friend of the Clay family, part of the small village community where families and friendships often overlapped across generations.

James Henry Bailey was born in 1901 at Hadlow in Kent. As a boy he entered the army in 1917 as a boy soldier and remained in regular service for over a decade, leaving the colours in 1928. Military life therefore formed the foundation of his adult years, and even after returning to civilian life he remained part of the reserve.

William Warner was born in Norfolk in 1895, the son of George and Ellen Warner. The family later moved south to Hambledon where his father worked as a gamekeeper, settling first at Glidden Farm and later at Chidden Holt. William grew up in the countryside and, like many boys raised in rural households, entered agricultural work at an early age. By 1911 he was employed as a shepherd, part of a family whose livelihood depended on the surrounding farmland and estates.

Frederick Thomas J Sturgess was born in Hambledon in 1892, the son of Thomas William and Emma Sturgess of Clapgate, North Lichfield. He grew up in the village in a working rural household and was still living there as a child in Church Lane at the time of the 1901 census. By early adulthood he had already entered military life and in 1911 was serving with the Hampshire Regiment at Aldershot, choosing a soldier’s career while many of his contemporaries remained in farm work.

Frank Smith was born in Hambledon in 1892, the son of Emma Agnes Smith and grandson of William and Keziah Smith. He grew up largely in his grandparents’ household at Green Lane, part of a long established village family. Like many boys of rural background he entered military service at a young age rather than agricultural work, and by 1911 he was already serving as a soldier with the 1st Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment at Alma Barracks, Farnborough.

John Searle was born at Denmead in 1874 and later became closely connected with Hambledon through work and family life. He married Emily Jessie Searle of Church Lane, Hambledon and before the First World War the couple lived with his parents at Soberton, sharing the family home after his return from military service overseas.

Charles Frederick Noel Prince Sealy was born on 2nd April 1892 at Southsea, the only son of Lieutenant Colonel Charles William Henry Sealy and Helena Louisa Sealy. His family background was firmly rooted in the professional and military class. His father had served in the Royal Artillery and held an administrative appointment in India, while his grandfather had also been a general officer. The family lived at Hambledon House, one of the principal residences in the village, and his upbringing differed greatly from that of most of the men later commemorated beside him.

Fred Alban Samways was born in Hambledon in 1894, the son of Frederick and Elizabeth Samways. He grew up at The Vine public house in West Street, kept by his grandmother Emma Furber who was also the village grocer. The building was part home and part centre of village life, and he spent his childhood in surroundings familiar to many in the parish.