McCudden War Memorial and Grave, Chatham, Medway

Summary

Family grave and war memorial, erected June 1920.

Description

Family grave and war memorial, 1920.

DESCRIPTION: The McCudden war memorial and grave is located in Maidstone Road Cemetery.

It is of polished, grey granite and takes the form of a cross fleurée rising from a four-sided, tapering plinth, which surmounts a single step, square base. Carved in relief to the west face of the cross is a sword and scabbard with belt hung over the cross. The dedications are to the plinth and base in incised lettering.

To one side of the plinth is the dedication, IN LOVING MEMORY/ OF/ MAJOR/ JAMES T. BYFORD MCCUDDEN V.C./ D.S.O. AND BAR., M.C. AND BAR.,/ M.M., CROIX DE GUERRE DE FRANCE/ AND AMERICAN MEDAL, R.A.F/ ACCIDENTALLY KILLED WHILE FLYING/ ON HIS WAY TO DUTY IN FRANCE,/ 9TH JULY 1918,/AGED 23 YEARS/ R.I.P.

To the west face of the plinth is the dedication, ALSO IN LOVING MEMORY OF/ FLIGHT SERGEANT WILLIAM MCCUDDEN R.F.C./ (PILOT INSTRUCTOR),/ ACCIDENTALLY KILLED WHILE FLYING AT GOSPORT/ 1ST MAY 1915,/ AGED 24 YEARS./ ALSO/ 2ND LIEUT JOHN ANTHONY MCCUDDEN , M.C., R.F.C./ (PILOT),/ KILLED IN AERIAL COMBAT/ OVER BUSIGNY, NEAR LE CATEAU, FRANCE/ 18TH MARCH 1918,/ AGED 20 YEARS./ R.I.P.

To the other side of the plinth is the dedication, ALSO/ ARTHUR SCOTT SPEARS,/
THEIR BROTHER IN LAW,/ KILLED BY THE EXPLOSION IN/ H.M.S. "PRINCESS IRENE"/ 27TH MAY 1915,/ AGED 29 YEARS./ R.I.P./ ALSO/ MAURICE VINCENT MCCUDDEN/ LATE R.A.F.,/ LAST SON OF MRS. A. MCCUDDEN/ AND THE LATE W.H. MCCUDDEN,/ WHO DIED 13TH DECEMBER 1934.

To the east face of the plinth is the dedication, ALSO IN LOVING MEMORY OF/ THEIR FATHER/ WILLIAM H. MCCUDDEN,/ LATE WARRANT OFFICER, R.E./ WHO DIED OF INJURIES ACCIDENTALLY/ RECEIVED ON THE RAILWAY ON JULY 5TH 1920/ AGED 56 YEARS./ R.I.P.

A further inscription is recorded on the west face of the base, which reads, FLY ON DEAR BOYS FROM THIS DARK WORLD OF STRIFE,/ ON TO THE LAND OF PROMISE, TO ETERNAL LIFE./ THEY ARE NOT DEAD, SUCH SPIRITS NEVER DIE,/ THEY ARE UNQUENCHABLE, THEY ONLY SLEEP./ THE THREE BROTHERS WERE BUGLERS IN THE ROYAL ENGINEERS.

The grave and memorial stands on a rectangular area of stone kerbs.

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. As well as personnel from the Army and Naval services, British losses now included members of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service.

The First World War was the first conflict in which aviation played a major role for all the combatant nations involved. Prior to the Wright brothers’ achievement of controlled aircraft flight in America in 1903, the military services of various nations had used balloons and airships at war: for example, tethered observation balloons were deployed during the American Civil War (1861-1865). In Britain, the Royal Engineers became responsible for the Army’s ballooning capability in the 1860s. Despite the sceptical views of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff and the First Sea Lord expressed in 1910, an Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers was formed in 1911 and on 13 April 1912 the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was established, formed of a Military Wing and a Naval Wing. The Admiralty’s Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) followed on 1 July 1914.

At the outbreak of war in August 1914 the RFC comprised 146 officers and fewer than 100 aircraft, whilst the RNAS counted just over 700 personnel, 93 aircraft, two balloons and six airships. By the end of the war in November 1918 the air service had expanded to some 27,000 officers and 260,000 other personnel, operating more than 22,000 aircraft across 188 squadrons. Both RFC and RNAS included servicemen from Dominion countries. Similar expansions were seen in the air services of the other armies, as the First World War provided a unique impetus to fast-track technological advances in aviation around the world.

On the advice of the Smuts Report the RFC and RNAS were merged on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force (RAF), the world’s first air force independent of army or navy control. At the end of the First World War official figures recorded 14,166 air service casualties, of whom around 9,000 men were dead or missing in active theatres of conflict. Some 8,000 had died during training.

The McCudden brothers were the sons of Warrant Officer William Henry McCudden of the Royal Engineers and Amelie Emma McCudden, the daughter of a Royal Marine Drum Major. They grew up at Brompton Barracks in Kent; the three eldest brothers, William, James and John, were buglers with the Royal Engineers, and later served with the Royal Flying Corps, while the youngest, Maurice, followed in their footsteps and served with the Royal Air Force.

The memorial was originally dedicated to the three eldest McCudden brothers who all died while serving in the First World War and was erected by their parents. It also included a dedication to their brother-in-law, Arthur Spears, who died as a result of an explosion aboard the HMS Princess Irene in 1915. The memorial was erected in the Roman Catholic section of Chatham Cemetery in June 1920. Only a month later the memorial also became the grave of their father William H McCudden, who died as a result of falling from a train between Waterloo and Vauxhall. A dedication to him was subsequently added to the memorial as was another a decade later to his last surviving son Maurice McCudden who died following an operation in 1934.

James Thomas Byford McCudden (1895-1918) joined the Royal Engineers in 1910 as a bugler. Three years later he applied for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps and was a first-class air mechanic at the outbreak of the First World War. Due to a shortage of skilled engine mechanics his application for pilot training was delayed until January 1916. As a pilot he distinguished himself as a skilled fighter and his exploits attracted national press coverage; he was recorded as having over 50 aerial victories to his name. He rose to the rank of Major and was promoted to Squadron Commander not long before his death in 1918. He became the most decorated British pilot and during his career he earned numerous honours including the French Croix de Guerre, the Military Medal, the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order. On 29 March 1918 he was awarded the Victoria Cross for ‘most conspicuous bravery, exceptional perseverance, keenness and very high devotion to duty’ (London Gazette, 29 March 1918). James McCudden died at the age of 23 on 9 July 1918 on his way to his new squadron in France after his plane accidentally crash landed after take-off from Auxi-le-Château. He was buried nearby in the British war cemetery at Wavans.

William Thomas James McCudden (1891-1915) was a bugler with the Royal Engineers before joining the Royal Flying Corps and becoming an NCO pilot in August 1913. He served with the Royal Flying Corps 13th Squadron and rose to the rank of Flight Sergeant (Pilot Instructor). William McCudden died at the age of 24 as a result of an accidental plane crash during a training exercise at Fort Grange, Gosport on 1 May 1915.

John (Jack) Anthony McCudden (1897-1918) was a bugler with the Royal Engineers before joining the Royal Flying Corps. He rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant and was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 for having brought down 11 enemy machines. John McCudden was killed in action over Busigny in France on 18 March 1918 at the age of 20.

Maurice Vincent McCudden (1901-1934) was part of the Royal Air Force and was recorded as being employed on dangerous experiments by the Air Ministry at Farnborough. He was also considered to be a daring and skilful motorcycle rider, winning prizes at races at Brooklands and breaking numerous records. Maurice McCudden died in Putney Hospital, London on 13 December 1934 following an operation.

Reasons for Listing

The McCudden War Memorial and grave, which is situated in Maidstone Road Cemetery, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on a single family, and the sacrifice they made in the First World War;
* as an important symbol of the role of the Royal Flying Corps in the war and the sacrifices of the pilots, many of whom died in accidents rather than active combat;
* for its association with James McCudden, a nationally renowned flying ‘ace’ who became the most decorated British pilot of the conflict.

Architectural interest:

* as a well-executed cross fleuree memorial which demonstrates fine craftsmanship in the sculptural depiction of the sword and scabbard.

External Links

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