Died: In a bomb blast at 64 Okehampton Crescent, Welling
Address / Local links: 64 Okehampton Crescent, Welling
Family / Relatives: Husband of Lilian Jane Payne
Other Information: A Labourer/Chargehand at a Rubber Factory.
October 13th 1940, at the height of the London Blitz, was the date Princess Elizabeth, The late Queen, made her first public speech with a radio address to the children of the Commonwealth, many of them living away from home due to war. Her younger sister, Princess Margaret, joined in at the end..
“We know, everyone of us, that in the end all will be well; for God will care for us and give us victory and peace. And when peace comes, remember it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place…”
Sadly, for some local residents, they were not to see this better and happier place, as they became some of the victims of the enemy bombing campaign.
Sidney was killed at 64 Okehampton Crescent, along with his wife Lilian and brother-in-law Henry Barned.
Sidney was born in June 1891, the son of Isaac (a labourer & an army pensioner) and Eleanor Louisa Payne, and the family lived in and around Charlton & Plumstead. The 1911 Census shows the family as living at 15 Tamar Street, Charlton, and Sidney’s occupation ‘Chemical Mixer For Making Rubber’.
It seems that he served in the Royal Fusiliers during the Great War, and in the summer of 1923 he married Lilian Jane Barned at St. Thomas’s Church in Charlton, and a daughter, Elsie Elizabeth, was born the following summer.
By 1939, Lilian, Sidney and her brother Henry were all listed as living at 64 Okehampton Crescent, Welling, and it was here- tragically – that they were all to be killed the following year… …(The Bexley Archives image shows the bomb damage in Okehampton Crescent)
Their bodies were uncovered in the early hours of 14th October; the brief notes from the Bexley Civilian Casualties Register makes for poignant reading;
Cause of death –Bomb.
5ft 9ins tall, thick set, dark hair, blue eyes, fresh complexion
A Charge-hand, rubber factory
Body identified by brother, Albert Payne, 11 Tamar Street Charlton
Buried October 18th Bexleyheath Cemetery (pictured)
Probate records state £886 4s 3d left to Frederick James Barned and Margaret Alice Blann (nee Barned) (wife of Charles Blann).
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If anyone is able to add any extra information, provide more family details, or suggest any corrections, please let us know – also, if anyone has any more photos of this individual listed on our memorials, please get in touch. Thank you.
Commemorated
This story has been researched by volunteers. We have taken every effort to ensure its accuracy. If you are related to Sydney George Payne, or if you have any further information, please do get in touch.