Robus G. F.
George Frederick Robus (left) of 2 Chapel Cottages Eythorne died in the great munitions explosion at Faversham on 2 April 1916. He was 35. He was buried in the mass grave at Faversham; his name is on the wall to the right of the steps, where lies his coffin..

He left a wife and three children and was the son of the late Mr F Robus and Mrs Robus of 24 Westbury Road, Dover

Ernest Legg and Sidney Holbourn were other victims of the tragedy

George's brother E Robus (right) was a gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery. He was wounded on 22 July 1917 and convalesced in Oust Gew Hospital Rouen. Before he enlisted he was employed for five years by Mr Pexton of Snargate Street. He was the youngest son of the family

Sladden, H
Henry (Harry) Richard Sladden aged 43 was a casual  labourer and may have acted as barman at the Red Lion in St James Street. He had lived at the Red Lion for some eight or nine years the pub also was a lodging house. He was said to have been a very nice man, steady, and with a wonderful memory

He had been sleeping in a first floor room on the night of 22/23 January 1916. At 12.47 on the Sunday morning a bomb fell on the roof perhaps some nine feet away and burst. The roof was blown off and debris and a joist fell into the room. The chimney breast was riddled and there was a strong smell of gas when the assistant manager entered.  Harry Sladden was on the bed by the wall beneath the window covered with debris. His body was still warm but he was probably already dead and certainly was so by the time the doctor arrived

The doctor stated that Harry had compound fractures of both bones of his right leg below the knee and that these were probably caused by shrapnel wounds.  The fatal injury was a severe lacerated wound of the wall of the stomach through which intestines were protruding. It was a clean cut and as there was no burning as would have been expected had it been a shrapnel wound it may have been caused by a falling slate. The clothes had been blown away

At the inquest there was a short discussion as to whether a verdict of murder could be returned. The Coroner  however stated that this would be of no avail that they were at war and that Harry had been killed by a bomb thrown from a hostile aircraft 

Harry Sladden was buried at St James cemetery on Thursday afternoon, 27 January 1916, M J 5. Large crowds were in the streets to see the cortege pass and Alderman J W Bussey his employer was amongst the mourners. Floral tributes included those from "Two old friends, Mr White and Mr Madden", "J. Skinner and family and fellow lodgers", "four old workmates" "from his mates"

There had been three others in the room who escaped with injuries. One of them aged aged 67 remembered hearing a bomb but knew nothing till half past six the following morning. A bed between him and Harry Sladden had been thrown on top of him and "Dick" had removed it. He had been so stunned he had gone downstairs with no clothes on but he remembered neither that nor being seen by a doctor. Nor did he recall having gone up and downstairs two or three times after the explosion. His head had been affected and he was still dizzy by the Tuesday after the bomb fell

Post Script: The assistant manager giving evidence at the inquest rather wryly noted that the proprietor of the Red Lion was an invalid but that when the bomb fell the proprietor getting out of the property displayed greater energy than the assistant manager had known him have for two and a half years 

illustrations: The site of the Red Lion - opposite the Lord Nelson, and now a redundant multi-storey car park
site of Harry Sladden's grave, with thanks to Joyce Banks

Smith, M. R.
Minnie Rhoda Smith aged 40 was fatally injured when a bomb smashed the backs of numbers 4 and 6 Widred Road on 4 September 1917. She died on 11th October at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Her father Mr Edward Little was also killed

Stoker, E. M.
Edith Stoker was killed on 19 March 1916. She was a housemaid in the service of Mrs P Hart from Maison Dieu Road. On her afternoon off she was cycling to Folkestone probably to see her sweetheart 

An exploding bomb which hit the tram track in Folkestone Road by St John's Terrace threw her from her bike and drove her through the door of Mr Tarrant's stationer's shop on the other side of Folkestone Road at number 131. She was discovered lying in the entrance and was taken to hospital in a car with Francis Hall another casualty where she died from her dreadful injuries

She was 23 and the daughter of a Sergeant Major pensioner from the Royal Garrison Artillery. Her parents lived at 18 Church Road

The footstone of her grave at St James reads:

Stokes, F. C.
Frederick Charles Stokes was a telegrapher, and brother to William, below. Born in Dover in 1876, he was injured in the raid on Folkestone on 25 May 1917, and never fully recovered. He died on 11 October 1918 from phthisis and pulmonary haemorrhage. He left his second wife and six children.

Stokes, W. H.
William Henry Stokes was one of two Stokes brothers who ran the greengrocers' shop in Tontine Street in Folkestone which shop now destroyed right was the focus of the Gotha Raid devastation on 25 May 1917

He was born in Dover around 1871 and married in 1895. His son Arthur was also killed

Right, the spot where the bomb fell

They are buried at Cheriton cemetery, Folkestone, 3653 (u) The words on the headstone (in the centre) read:

In Ever Loving Memory of my dear husband William Henry Stokes who died 25 May 1917 aged 46 years	also of my son Arthur Ernest Stokes who died 28 May 1917 aged 15 years (Victims of the air raid) In the midst of life we are in death
also of Jane widow of the above W. H. Stokes who died 23 October 1953 aged 90 years Reunited

Wall, L.
Lucy Wall was a servant girl at the Admiral Harvey public house. She was killed on 22 August 1917 during the last of the daylight Gotha air raids when some seven or eight of the craft in formation flew over the town. Most of their bombs fell into the harbour but three or four bombs were dropped on Dover by one plane that flew directly over the town. The largest bomb, it is said, fell at the back of the Admiral Harvey where it did a great deal of damage. The only occupant at the time was Lucy and she was found at the back of the house very badly injured. She died on the way to hospital

At the inquest her father Stephen William Wall of 27 Union Road, formerly an agricultural worker at Guston where Lucy had been born, said he had identified the body. Mrs Jane Sutton, who was a widow living at 20 Paul's Place, said "I was standing on a table in the back bedroom looking at the German aeroplanes. I saw the deceased standing at the back door and she shouted "Are they Germans?" and I replied "Oh yes!" She came outside the door a little bit further to watch them. I said "You had better go further back inside" as the guns were getting louder and louder. At that moment something came down and blew me off the table on to the bed and I lost myself for ten minutes. When I woke up I was covered with glass. The flame was something dreadful. The bomb burst ten yards away from me. I was only bruised and scratched a bit. Afterwards I saw them taking the poor girl away on a stretcher"

Mr E W Ewell was a special constable and a chemist, and he said "When the firing commenced I was in High Street and after the bomb dropped I saw the smoke and ran in its direction. I could not see where the bomb dropped and enquired at several houses and then had to take refuge owing to the shrapnel dropping. I was afterwards told that the girl was in this public house alone. I climbed over the wall and searched the house and found the body lying partly in and partly out of the back door. She was not dead but unconscious. She however died before we put her on the stretcher. I sent her on to the Hospital then. There was a bad wound under the left breast and other smaller ones. She was 30 feet away from where the bomb burst and all around her on the wall were marks where fragments had hit. At the Hospital Dr Clarke said that she was dead"

Mr Rogers the landlord said that the girl was by herself in the house his wife having gone to London. The only living thing in the house was a dog that had a piece of bomb in its paw and he took that out the previous night      

Lucy was buried at Guston churchyard with the cortege leaving from the Duke of York's School lodge house which was the home of her sister 

Post Script: A pear tree at the rear of the Admiral Harvey was blasted by the bomb; its leaves withered and the pears fell off. But by October it was budding again and even in bloom. An observer remarked, "the tree didn't mean to be beaten by the Hun!" 

Note: Mr and Mrs Rogers were later to lose their only son Charles in World War II and three months later Mr Rogers was also killed. The following licensees Mr and Mrs Harper also lost their only son, Cyril 

Wood, D. E.
Dorothy Eleanor Wood was attending Miss Pilcher's shorthand and typewriting class on the ground floor of the house of Mr Smith at 10 Folkestone Road. She lived at 9 Alfred Road and had just begun duties as a typist at the Town Clerk's office

On 24 September 1917 the siren sounded for an air raid warning. The ladies put up the wooden shutters inside the windows to prevent the glass injuring them should there be a near hit from a bomb. They then continued with their lesson

Nine minutes after the class had begun the second bomb fell, according to the Chief Constable it exploded in the garden some four to six yards from the window and damaged the front of the house. One young lady had a lucky escape as she had not arrived at the class when the warning siren had begun and had instead run home but in the class several of the ladies were wounded three seriously. Miss Wood was found just inside the front window and was badly injured in both her upper arms and one of her legs. A piece of the bomb had also injured her spine

Her father had been informed she was hurt and believed her injuries serious. She was taken to hospital while heavy bombing was continuing. However Miss Wood had told the hospital they need not "bother as she was not hurt much". Sadly she deteriorated and died at four o' clock in the morning of Tuesday 2 October

Miss Wood was 17½ years old. She is buried at Buckland, 2061

with thanks to Joyce Banks

image above right:: the houses no longer exist and the site is a garage

Right:: the Wesleyan Chapel next door to Miss Pilcher's class was struck by the previous bomb. The rear wall was demolished and the roof slid off the sides 

Left: the open roof - the chairs are still neatly in their blocked rows inside the damaged chapel .More about this chapel may be seen here