Bid to recognise the bravery of war veterans and fallen heroes by naming new streets in their honour
Published: 00:00, 11 November 2015
Updated: 12:10, 11 November 2015
War veterans and fallen service heroes could have new roads in Dartford named in their honour.
The bid to recognise four soldiers and airmen at the Mill Pond housing development was expected to be announced at the Remembrance Service held at the town’s war memorial today.
Those put forward all have links with the borough and the proposed street names will now be subject to public consultation before being determined at a cabinet meeting later this year.
The four servicemen are Sergeant Trevor Guest Oldfield, Colour Sergeant James Smith VC, Lieutenant Oliver Richard Augustin and RAF aircraftsman William Mundy.
Council leader Jeremy Kite (Con) said: “I am grateful to a number of families for their consent to take this step towards creating new street names, and I hope that our town’s gesture will make clear how much we appreciate the service, courage and the sacrifices of their loved ones.
“We will never forget them or any of those who stood for our freedom. We will never take their experiences for granted.”
Airman Sergeant Trevor Guest Oldfield is remembered for his bravery with a memorial in Hesketh Park, Dartford. It was here in September 1940 that his aircraft crashed and he was killed on impact.
Eyewitnesses said he deliberately guided his stricken aircraft away from nearby housing.
Colour Sergeant James Smith VC was a 26-year-old corporal in The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) in 1897 when he displayed outstanding bravery for which he later received Britain and the Commonwealth’s highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross.
He is buried in the Watling Street Cemetery in Dartford.
Former Dartford Grammar schoolboy Lieutenant Oliver Richard Augustin served with 42 Commando Royal Marines. While serving in Afghanistan in May 2011, the 23-year-old and a colleague were killed by a detonated improvised explosive device.
William Mundy was a prisoner of war in Indonesia. It was while in a Singapore prison that he set up a bee colony and used the honey for medical purposes.
For the past 40 years he has chaired the Dartford branch of the Kent Bee Keepers’ Association.