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Local Heroes - Your streets were their streets Local Heroes - Your streets were their streets

The names of 197 local men who lost their lives in World War I are
inscribed on the bells of the Memorial Community Church in Plaistow. They are our local heroes

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Joshua Fardon

Lance Corporal
Royal West Kent

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Born
Silvertown - circa 1888
Died
France and Flanders - 30 November 1917
Age
19
Death
Killed in action
Served in
Royal West Kent
Awards
Unknown
Memorials
Unknown
Lived
Custom House

Joshua's story

Joshua Fardon enlisted in Canning Town and was only 16 when he joined up. His sisters tried to get him withdrawn from service because he was so young, and he did come back for a while, but was called back in July 1917 – and was killed in the November, aged 19. His elder brother served in the same regiment, the West Kent, and was shot in the right shoulder in the battle of the Somme. The injury restricted the use of his arm for the rest of his life, but it probably also saved his life as it meant he couldn’t go back to the front.
The family lived in Custom House, and the elder brother’s wife (Joshua’s sister-in-law)  was baptized at Memorial Baptist Church, so she was probably the person who put forward Joshua Fardon’s name to be written on the bells.

Many thanks to Linda Stock, Joshua Fardon’s great-niece, for this information. Her grandfather was Joshua’s brother and she knew her aunts, but didn’t know they had a little brother until after her grandfather’s death. As as child she was taken to the Memorial church every Remembrance Sunday, but didn’t know why. It was the article in the Newham Recorder in September 2015 that led her to visit the bells on Heritage Open Day, where she found her great-uncle’s name.

Service Number
G/5390
Mother
Unknown
Father
Unknown
Spouse
n/a
Buried
Cambrai Memorial, France
No photos found for Joshua Fardon

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