The Second World War

The memorial in the church to those who died in the Second World War

ALFRED BACON

Alfred Edward Bacon was born in 1881 the son of Matthew and Sarah Hornigold. On the 1939 register he was a single man living with his sister and nephew Lilyand Bert Bell. On the evening of October 29th 1940 at 6.20pm three German planes flew over Fincham . One plane dropped 21 h.e bombs ; one landed directly on the church reading room next to the rectory. The bomb landed in the middle of the billiard table . Three men who had been in the room managed to escape to the rectory they were Willie Mann, Geoff Harrison and Denis Bywater . However the caretaker Alfred Bacon was killed. With Alfred’s death his sister Lily had now lost four brothers and a husband through war .

JAMES CAMERON

James Cameron was born in 1921 at Southwark , London . He was the son of David and Louise Maynard . His father was originally from Scotland and his mother from London. The family moved to Norfolk and when war came James joined the Royal Norfolk Regiment .In May 1942 his father told the Lynn News that James had been reported missing in Singapore. Mr Cameron also said his two other sons David and Edward were P.O.Ws in Germany. On his grave stone it says he died June 26th 1943 . He is buried in Kanchanburi war cemetery , Thailand .

In the picture below is James’s brother David who was a P.O.W in Stalag IX C .

DOUGLAS DREW

Douglas Drew was born in Egypt in 1914 . He was the son of Bertie Drew from Northumberland and Elsie Crane from Stradsett . His father had enrolled in the military in 1904 .In 1939 Douglas married Elizabeth Howes and joined the Suffolk regiment. He diedMay 31st 1940 and is buried in Oostvleteren cemetery ,West Flanders . Douglas’s father was in the military until 1942 when he retired with the rank of Major.

ALAN MERVYN LAMBERT

Alan aka ‘Jumbo’ Lambert was born in 1922 the son of Frances Lambert from Beechamwell. In January 1944 he married Mary Humphrey from Fincham. He died on June 6th in France and is buried at Hermanville war cemetery , Basse – Normandie . Alan was a private in the 1st Battalion of thr Royal Norfolk regiment

HUGH MASON

Hugh Mason was born October 8th 1914 the son of Leonard M and Lucy .He joined the Royal Air Force as an Air Gunner volunteer. In 1941 he received the Distinguished Flying Medal for operations over Germany. In 1944 the Lancaster aircraft in which he was a gunner took off from Coningsby but was shot down by a nightfighter . It crashed at Goldscheurnear the French border. He is buried in Durnbach war cemetery , Germany.