THE  DOVER WAR MEMORIAL  PROJECT

Civilian Service of
Remembrance and Thanksgiving - 2007

THE DEDICATION OF THE HEADSTONE
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Jan Vickery

Thank you to everyone for being here at the dedication of the headstone for my uncle Freddie Spinner, and also for his father, my grandfather, after whom Freddie was named.

Freddie was the youngest of three children. He was 9 when he died at Dover Priory Station in 1944. His older brother, Gordon, my father, was 20 when Freddie died. Freddy’s older sister, Dora, was married to Sid Embley, a sergeant in the RAF. 

Dora was with Freddie when he died. They had just stepped off a train coming in from London when the shell exploded. Freddie was killed instantly, and Dora was injured and taken to hospital. She was unable to attend Freddie’s funeral.

There is very little left from the family, and we don’t have a photograph of Freddie. But we are proud to know that my Uncle Freddie has been remembered all these years; never forgotten by his boyhood friends. I would like to thank especially John Cork and Ted Kelly (who unfortunately cannot be here today) for helping erect this headstone, and Mrs Dorne Easton, who helped find Freddie’s grave. She remembers Freddie as a little boy with curly hair.

I am so glad Freddie, and my grandfather, now have a properly marked resting place.

Finally, I would like to thank the Dover War Memorial Project, Dover Town Council, and Dover District Council who helped make this possible.

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