Remembering the life of a19-year-old firefighter hero

Buried in an unmarked grave

I enjoyed reading Paul Chiddicks’ story of ‘The Old Palace School Bombing’ (FT May) and my eye was drawn to the address near Chippenham of one of the victims. As this area of north-west Wiltshire is of ancestral interest to me, I decided to try and find out about 19-yearold motorcycle dispatch rider Ernest Herbert Henly of Grange Cottage, Silver Street, Kington Langley.

This proved to be his parents’ address as his was 25 Spey Street, Poplar. He had been born on 22 January 1922 in the Mile End area of London, the eldest child of Albert, who’d been born in Chippenham in 1900, but lived in London after his marriage to Irene Christie in 1921.

A few months after his birth his parents sought poor relief from Poplar Borough due to sickness. However there was a complaint that the family were Chippenham’s responsibility and on 15 June an order was made for their removal to their last legal place of settlement, Chippenham Within. But that doesn’t seem to have happened, as the following year a daughter was born in Poplar, followed by two brothers and another sister.

Sadly, in 1938 that sister died and around Christmas time 1940 the family were bombed out, so they went to live with relatives at Derry Hill, Albert securing work at a factory in Chippenham.

Mrs. Henly was in London during the raids of that fateful Saturday and the Wednesday before, having journeyed there to attend the funeral of her father. She even saw her son on the Saturday morning and returned home on the Sunday, the day before the sad news were received by the family.

Paul Chiddick’s article in the May issue marked the 80th anniversary of the Old Palace School Bombing, a World War 2 disaster that saw the largest number of firefighter deaths in the history of the National Fire Service

Ernest had joined the AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service) as a boy cyclist messenger before the outbreak of war, and when hostilities began was called up for whole time service. Keen on his job, he made rapid progress to Dispatch Rider (Motor-cycle) and earned efficiency stripes. He had been in a number of raids and had been commended for his services.

His funeral was conducted at Derry Hill Church and attended by colleagues of the AFS and members of Chippenham Fire Brigade. His body was brought by road in a Union Jack draped coffin by a detachment of the London AFS, who also provided the bearers, and at the Church members of the Chippenham Fire Brigade and AFS formed a guard of honour.

However, his grave remained unmarked and his parents moved to Kington Langley. In May 2019 the location of his grave was discovered by a nephew and niece who arranged for a headstone, which was positioned in the October following a church service by Rev. Linda Carter.

Ernest’s mother died in 1975 in Chippenham District Hospital and was buried at Kington Langley. His father died there just three days later.

In April this year Firefighters in Bromley gathered for a memorial ceremony to remember the service of the 34 staff who were killed in the largest single loss of Fire Brigade staff in English history.

Sue Stenning

Editor: Sue that is so moving to read of the research you’ve undertaken into the life of Ernest Henly. It just goes to prove how much more we get out of researching people’s lives if we go beyond the bare bones. Thank you for taking the time, and I know that Paul really appreciated hearing of your findings too.