THE ROLL OF HONOUR. DEATH ROLL OF LOCAL MEN. THE TOLL OF WAR.

Last Wednesday [4th August] was the anniversary of the outbreak of the War. During the year Faversham and the district has lost by death as many as 50 men, that is to say men who belonged here either by birth, or the residence of their parents, or by their own residence here.
The list is possibly incomplete, but it includes all whom we have been able to trace.
Of the total number 35 belonged to the Army or Territorials, and 14 to the Navy, while one as employed in Sheerness Dockyard. Forty-two have either been killed in action, died of wounds, or lost at sea, the deaths of the remaining eight being due to either illness or accident. Several of the men were married and have left widows and families.
The list includes the names of two brothers, namely Arthur John Hickson (died of wounds) and Sidney Charles Hickson (killed in action), sons of Mr. and Mrs William Hickson, of Selling. They were both in the Buffs.
THE ARMY - NCOs & MEN
CARLTON, FREDERICK, 1st Battalion The Buffs; son of Mrs. Carlton, of Greenstreet, Lynsted; aged 19. Killed in action.
HALL, GEORGE ABRAHAM, 2nd Battalion the Buffs, son of Mrs. Hall of Greenstreet, Teynham. Killed in action.
HIGGINS, CHARLES EDWARD, Royal Engineers; son of Mr. and Mrs. James Higgins, of 9, Sandown Cottages, Teynham; aged 21 years. Died in hospital.
PILE, WILLIAM J., 2nd Battalion, the Buffs; son of Mrs. Pile, of Teynham. Killed in action.
TOLHURST, C., 1st Battalion the Buffs; a reservist who had been residing at Lynsted. Killed in action.
THE NAVY
CHAMP, STEPHEN, HMS Goliath. He was 44 years of age and belonged to |Barrow Green Teynham.
CROUCHER, HERBERT, HMS Formidable; aged 36 years. Formerly lived at Doddington.

[Society Note: Herbert Croucher - Stoker Petty Officer, No. 182769 - is not otherwise memorialised in Doddington nor by this project as his life in Doddington was short-lived - although clearly local memory included his name. Perhaps this omission should be revisited? Herbert was born in Minster on 1st August 1878, and first served on "Impregnable" on 12th February 1898 he had joined the Navy, stationed at Chatham. He died on 1st January 1915 whilst serving on H.M.S. Formidable. His next of kin is listed as his friend, Miss Minnie Long of 84, King Street, Gillingham. His body was not recovered.]

OTHER DEATHS
The following, who were also serving in M Forces, have died either through illness or from accident:-
GOODWIN, THOMAS, 1/4th Battalion the Buffs; son of Mr. T.E. Goodwin, of Oare, aged 31 years. Died of enteric in India.
RIDLEY, ERNEST, 2nd Battalion the Buffs, son of Mr. And Mrs George Ridley of Station Road, Teynham; aged 28 years. Died in hospital at Chatham.
BRAVERY IN THE FIELD - D.C.M.
BRADFORD, WILLIAM, 2nd Highland Light infantry. He is well known in Greenstreet and district where prior to the War he had been employed as postman.

SMITH EXECUTED AT MAIDSTONE - THIS MORNING - What happened? - The "Brides in the Baths Case". Smith, the villain of the "brides in the baths" dramas, paid the penalty of his crimes this (Friday) morning, when, at eight o'clock, he was hanged in Maidstone Prison.
The condemned man, since his removal to Maidstone on Wednesday week, had been visited several times daily the the Rev. J. Stott (one of the Bishop of Southwark's ablest missioners), who has been acting as Chaplain in the absence of the Rev. E. Stephens, who is with the troops at the front.
The Rev. R. J. Wardell, Wesleyan Minister of Maidstone, has also visited the culprit, who claimed to belong to the Wesleyan Methodist persuasion.
We understand that Smith welcomed the ministrations of both these gentlemen, and that during the last few days of his life he appeared to be in a penitent from of mind.
The usual officials were present at the execution, but for the first time for many years - for no particular reason that we can gather - the representatives of the Press were excluded; so that, from the public point of view, the arrangements for the execution were not so satisfactory as has been the case hitherto in the County Town.
A couple of London Press photographers arrived in Maidstone on Thursday afternoon, and one of them at once proceeded up the County Road to take a snap-shot of the entrance to the Gaol. He had scarcely got to work when a constable made his appearance and requested him to accompany him to the Police Station, where he was informed that as Maidstone was a prohibited area, it was an offence to take a snapshot of any of the buildings.
Both photographers returned to London without any pictures.

The Last Scene. It was a brilliantly fine morning - one of the few brilliant mornings of this summer - when Smith took his last limited view of the things of this world.
Between half-past seven and the fatal hour of eight a considerable crowd collected in the County Road, outside the prison walls. The military element was conspicuous, and a number of the civilians were also evident strangers. They passed the time discussing the strange man whose mortal moments were now so few, and in conferring with the residents of the locality, who, from previous experience of such occasions, were able to impart quite a lot of information as to that might and might not be expected to happen. The police view of possibilities was indicated by the presence of a sergeant and several constables. Nothing but the formal regulation of the traffic, however - including clearing the way for the arrival of a motor car - called for their attention. This car contained the Under Sheriff for Kent and the under Sheriff for London.
Early in the morning the Chaplain visited the culprit, and administered such consolation as was possible. Then a light breakfast was brought, and the solid portion was sent away untouched. At last, at a few minutes to eight, the executioner (Ellis) arrived to perform the grim task of pinioning the prisoner and preparing for the last rites.
Almost on the stroke of eight a little procession emerged from the condemned cell into the great yard of the prison. The central figure was the condemned man, with faltering steps, between two warders; and at the head was the chaplain reading portions of the Burial Service. The procession made straight for a little shed, containing the gallows and the pit. The officials gathered round while the executioner conducted the culprit to the mark. Then a cap was pulled over the man's eyes, the noose adjusted round his neck, and the bolt drawn, which unloosed the door beneath his feet, and sent him into space with his neck broken. The thud of that opening platform was all the sound that was hear.
The officials present were the Under Sheriff of the County, the Governor of the Prison (in this case a deputy from the North owing to the newly-appointed Governor being on a visit to his son in hospital in France), the Medical Officer, the Chaplain, and a few warders.
This was the simple scene amid which one of the greatest criminals of the century met his just doom. Whether he confessed or not is known only to the authorities, but it is believed that he felt such contrition as a man of his ghoulish nature is capable of.
Outside the gaol the sun still shone, the crowd lingered until dispersed by the police, and many persons passed on their way to work apparently unconcerned with the official tragedy which had taken place "over the wall".
No bell was tolled on this occasion (out of consideration for the convicts in the adjoining prison), nor was the black flag hoisted, but in due course the certificate notifying that the process of law had been duly complied with was affixed to the outer gates.

HISTORY OF THE CRIMES

It will be recalled that Smith was tried at the Old Bailey before Judge Scrutton. There were indictments for the murder of three women whom he had married, viz., Beatrice Constance Mundy, on July 13th, 1912; Alice Burnham, on December 12th, 1913; and Margaret Elizabeth Lofty, on December 18th, 1914.
The indictment proceeded with was that concerning Miss Mundy, who was murdered at Herne Bay. Hence the execution of the culprit in Kent.
The evidence showed that Smith, who was already married, went through a form of marriage at Weymouth in 1910 with Miss Mundy, who was possessed of between £2,000 and £3,000. He lived with her for a short time and then deserted her and rejoined Miss Pegler, with whom he had cohabited at Bristol. He, however, made reconciliation with Miss Mundy, and with her, in 1912, took a small house at Herne Bay. A bath was put in on his behalf, although there were no means of filling or emptying it in the ordinary way with a tap or plug, At an early date during their residence there he took her to see a doctor, telling him she had had a fit. The doctor failed to discover any particular symptoms of this, but he prescribed for her. A day or two later - on July 13th, 1912 - Smith went to the doctor and told him that the woman had died in the bath, presumably from a fit. Prior to the occurrence miss Mundy and Smith had made wills leaving all the money of which they were possessed to each other. Smith, by the way, had practically nothing. After a long trial the jury found him guilty and he was condemned to die. The other crimes followed at intervals, at Blackpool and Highgate, and it was his cupidity over the insurance money that led to his ultimate detection. He had the effrontery to demand commission on the insurance of one of his victims after he had been paid the death claim. He appealed against his conviction on the grounds of the admission of evidence concerning the deaths of the two other brides under precisely similar circumstance.
The appeal was heard before the Lord Chief Justice (Lord Reading), Justices Darling and Lush. Mr. Marshall Hall, K.C., who had a defended him upon his trial, appeared for the culprit, but the appeal failed - to the satisfaction of everybody who had read his terrible record of crime.

DAILY RAIDS BY THE ALLIES ON GERMAN POSITIONS FROM FLANDERS TO ALSACE. AVALANCHES OF BOMBS.- POISON FACTORY AND ELECTRIC WORKS BOMBARDED. The great aerial offensive by the Allies on the west, begun on August 24, was continued yesterday, and now for four days there have been daily raids on a large scale, against which the Germans seem to be helpless.
Yesterday's raid was on Mulheim, in Baden, where a squadron of aircraft bombarded the railway station and electrical installation.
On the night before ten bombs were dropped on a poison gas factory at Dornach, and earlier on Thursday a number of other raids were made.
Sixty French, British, Belgian aeroplanes on Wednesday bombarded the Forest of Houthulst, near Ypres, and set it on fire, and on Wednesday night 127 bombs were dropped on the station of Noyon.
It will be seen from the map [below] that the allied airmen are active all along the line from Flanders to Alsace.