A WARRINGTON man will once again pay his respects to the 16 innocent people killed during one of the town’s darkest moments of the Second World War – the Thames Board Mills bombing.
Derek Carey Vernon will be at Arpley Meadows at 5.03 pm today (September 14) – the exact time a German bomber dropped a bomb on the Thames Board Mills’ annual fete in 1940, killing 16 men, women and children.
The victims included children as young as two and three.
The bombing, 86 years ago today, remains one of Warrington’s worst wartime tragedies, with the bomb striking the canteen where around 150 people were sheltering. A further 28 people were injured, 15 seriously.
For Derek, however, remembering those who died is about much more than marking a historic event.
It is deeply personal because his own family was profoundly affected by the Second World War.
Derek lost his great-uncle Bill Wilson, who died as a prisoner of war while working on the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai.
He said: “Uncle Bill had promised to return from the war with a sword for my father, but sadly, he did not return.”
The family has ensured Bill’s memory lives on, with Derek and his father proudly laying a commemorative stone for him at Marshall Gardens, which has been developed as a place of remembrance for fallen heroes.
Derek also witnessed the lasting psychological impact of war on his grandfather, Wilf Carey Jones, who had been rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk.
He recalled: “I witnessed Grandad’s traumatic moments as a child, when he would suddenly awaken whilst asleep in the living room and fall from his chair to the carpeted floor screaming, ‘Get down, get down,’ in fear of the German Stuka fighter planes that he envisioned flying above him.”
Those childhood memories have stayed with Derek and helped shape his determination to ensure that the sacrifices made by previous generations are never forgotten.
He has also previously worked voluntarily at Marshall Gardens, helping to renovate the gardens under the guidance of Lisa Billing, in memory of Daniel Wade and other fallen heroes.
Derek said it was important for him to continue returning to remember the 16 people who died at Arpley Meadows.
“It is important that I pay my yearly respects to the people of Warrington,” he said.
Derek Vernon and Gary Skentelbery at the memorial in 2023
The 1940 bombing has been remembered in Warrington for generations, with previous commemorations highlighting the names of every victim. Warrington Worldwide has also previously joined Derek at the site to mark the anniversary and remember those who lost their lives.
As the years pass, fewer people remain who have direct memories of the Second World War.
But Derek believes that makes remembrance even more important.
“God Bless our fallen Warrington heroes and all that perished in both World Wars,” he said.
Those who lost their lives were:
Donald Ackerley,
Henry Williamson Cooper
Albert Wallace Cox,
Albert William Cox,
Rhoda Hannah Gittings Cox,
May Domville,
Amy Heath Edwards,
Ruth Jackson,
Beatrice Hannah Parker (Canteen Manageress)
Ann Lawson, aged two,
William Stanley Reynolds,
Lilian Maud Springham,
William George Springham,
Williams James Taylor
William John Taylor aged three,
Albert Webb, aged three.
We will remember them.
