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             Arthur Goldsmith Airman 1st Class, 2nd Balloon Squadron (part of the 7th Balloon Wing).            Part 4

            Click this link to return to Part 3

                For the first week in France his role is “Base Detachment from 1 Mar 1919”. On 9th March 1919 he is assigned to the Aerodrome Service Unit.

        This Base and Unit were, I think, here:

 

        The Royal Naval Air Service established an aerodrome for flying training at Vendôme, west of Orleans, in November 1916 after the weather in 

     

        the winter of 1915-1916 had severely curtailed flying training in the UK. The original commander was Wing Commander, later Captain, H D Briggs.

        It was agreed that some RFC pilots would be trained at Vendôme, in addition to RNAS men, in return for Naval pilots being trained by the RFC in 

        

        Egypt. Later some French Naval pilots were trained there, as well as some US pilots.

        After 1 April 1918 the RNAS Training Station at Vendôme was absorbed into the RAF, and by the Armistice the 84th Wing, comprised of Nos 205

       

        and 212 Training Depot Stations, plus an Aerodrome Service Unit, were all based at Vendôme.

 

         Just a few days later, on 14th March, he is transferred yet again, this time to the 15th Tent Detachment. The tent detachments were set up to 

    

          accommodate temporarily the huge number of men awaiting demobilisation. 

 

          The next record is on 9th July 1919, when he was transferred to No.10 Despatch Centre for demobilisation. This was in England, but I don’t know

   

          where.   After that, he was transferred to the RAF Reserve on 5th August 1919 (and presumably went home on that date). 

 

         He was “Deemed Discharged” on 30th April 1920.

 

        Arthur Alan Goldsmith was born the following year, and Maurice Cyril Goldsmith in 1924.

 

        In Arthur senior’s absence, someone else had become manager of the Bognor shop, so Arthur returned to working at the Louis G. Ford branch in

  

        Eastbourne. I don’t know where in Eastbourne the family moved to initially, and I have no records about either Arthur or Emma for the next few 

 

        years, but these photos, presumably taken by Emma in their garden at Eastbourne, must be from that period.

 

 

                 Assuming that Maurice is about 1 here, this photo must be from about 1925 and shows Nora, Evelyn 

(or possibly Margery), Audrey, Maurice, Arthur, Arthur and Margery (or Evelyn).

                   In 1927 and 1928, an A. Goldsmith wins multiple prizes from the Hampden Park Allotment Holders and Cottage Gardeners’ Association. Is he Arthur? 

               Hampden Park is about 2 miles from where he was living, which would mean plenty of walking (or cycling?) but on the other hand 

               he was a very keen gardener.

 

 

                                                                                                                                   

Saturday 10 December 1927: Eastbourne Chronicle

Saturday 08 December 1928: Eastbourne Chronicle

 

3b.jpg

 

Perhaps this photo is from about 1930. Nora, Evelyn or Margery, Arthur, Arthur, Audrey, Margery or Evelyn.

 

                                                                                          In 1935 there is the only appearance I can find of Emma in the newspapers

 

                                                

Saturday 7th September 1935: Eastbourne Chronicle,.

                Four years later, the 1939 National Register (a special census taken to provide data for identity cards and rationing) shows that Arthur was an ARP 

                warden. All his daughters have left home (which is now 3, Willoughby Crescent), but Arthur and Maurice are still there.

 

 

For this single year, Maurice kept a diary, which shows that in this period Arthur and Emma, often with Maurice, attended St Aidan’s Methodist chapel on Sundays

 

St Aidan’s in 1988 (demolished in 2001)

 

 

                     Most of the diary is about Maurice’s friends, school and first job, with practically nothing about his parents, but some entries are maybe 

 

                     of more general interest.

 

Sep0203.jpg

Oct0405.jpg

 

Oct 12 Audrey Margery Norah.jpg Dec 13 Evy Norah Margery.jpg

 

Dec 23 Evy Norah Audrey Margery David Jimmy.jpg Dec 25 Audrey Evy Norah.jpg

 

          I found the following article about a bomb that fell on Willoughby Crescent on March 28th 1941, from the Eastbourne Herald website. 

          The destroyed house was about 10 houses along from where Arthur, Emma and their sons were living, and it seems likely that, as ARP Warden, 

          Arthur would have helped to deal with the aftermath.

 

          (At this time, in Eastbourne and some other towns on or near the South and East coasts that were liable to sudden air raids were permitted to 

      

          sound a local alarm signal in addition to the national “Alert” warning. This was due to the fact that "Hit and Run" raiders often arrived over their target

 

          before the national warning was received, but after bombers were spotted locally.  The system adopted was known as the "Cuckoo" warning. 

 

          By means of an attachment to a siren, a warning sound of alternating high and low notes could be produced i.e. "cuck" and "oo")

 

         … Malcolm Hipgrave’s next clear memory was of a horrific incident when his house at 23 Willoughby Crescent was bombed on March 28 1941.

 

        Malcolm had been in the rear yard cleaning his bike and didn’t hear the cuckoo warning but remembered the siren which sounded after the cuckoo and 

  

        signalled that an air raid was imminent.

 

        His mother Gladys shouted for him to get inside and they took shelter with their pet cat under the stairs which had been reinforced with old telegraph 

 

        poles purloined from the GPO Telephony Division where his father worked. The reinforcement undoubtedly saved their lives, holding up the staircase 

 

       while the rest of the house fell on top of them.

 

        Malcolm cannot remember the explosion but clearly remembers the silence which followed.

 

       His father, having been alerted to the bombing, cycled from the Telephone Exchange in Waterworks Road and joined the ARP in the rescue. It was 

 

       the end of the day before Malcolm and his mother were rescued from under the staircase. Unfortunately the cat, which was on Malcolm’s leg, died 

 

       and at first the blood from the fatally wounded cat was thought to be Malcolm’s.

 

       The photograph shows the bombed houses in Willoughby Crescent,  and in another photo the head warden can be seen carrying out the rescue at Malcolm’s

 

       destroyed home.

          

 

                                         Malcolm was admitted to hospital in Upperton road with his mother and some two weeks later on discharge the WRVS 

                                    attended to provide clothing.

 

                             It was then found his shoe size had jumped from size six to size nine since the bombing and he is still a size nine today.

 

 

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