Snippets from the Past (2)
Did anybody know Sargeant Lambert who lived in Merrylands Road, Laindon. The Wickford Times 22nd January 1949 report a short resume of his Military career.
He Trains Redcaps
Serving with a Military Police Training Wing in Germany instructing recruits in all branches of police work from traffic duties to crime detection at Adastra, is Sgt. Lambert of Merrylands Road, Laindon
A male nurse at St Andrew’s Hospital, Billericay before he enlisted in 1940. Sgt. Lambert served at first with the Royal Army Medical Corps. During the war years he worked with the “Medics” in North Africa and Italy and later served with the invasion forces during the campaign on the continent.
Mrs Lambert and the Sgt’s six-year-old daughter joined him in Germany in December last year “Facilities for British families out there couldn’t be better,” said the Sgt. “ The most striking feature is the educational services which are far in advance of anything they have in England and I am sure that my daughter will benefit a great deal from her stay here.”
Although Sgt. Lambert has another three years to serve with the Forces, he does not intend to leave the Army even then. “I shall definitely re-engage for a further period of time.” he said.
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Peter. I have traced William R Lambert and his wife Matilda on the 1960 Electoral Register living at ‘Hillview’ Hill Top Road, Laindon.
The soldier in the article is Charles Edward Lambert, my father. His father, as outlined in the comment by Nina Humphrey, was John William Lambert who was known as ‘Jack’ Lambert and is mentioned in the article on this site regarding Dave Peck’s time in the St. Johns Ambulance Brigade (by P Mott). Jack was one time superintendent of the Laindon Brigade. Charles was the second of Jack and Florence’s two son’s (William Robert being the oldest). Following his army career Charles left to become a Postman at Laindon and is also mentioned elsewhere on this site in an article, albeit in a later comment, also by Nina Humphrey on the Postmen of Laindon titled ‘They kept the Community in touch but who, why and when?’ where she states “Another Laindon postman who I remember clearly in the fifties was Charles Lambert, known as ‘Waggy’” This is indeed the same Charles Lambert!
Incidentally, William did get married and lived by St. Nicolas Church for many years but unfortunately did not have any children.
Peter. How fascinating. So it’s Charles (Waggy) Lambert in the photo. I remember him from the fifties when he used to delivery our post. I remember watching him riding his bike across the bumpy, sloping field that led to our bungalow in Alexandra Road, not far from Merrylands Road. He would freewheel with his legs sticking out each side, bumping along very fast with his post bag slung across one shoulder. I was amazed that he never once fell off. I believe he had known my Grandfather Henry Devine who had also been a Laindon Postman.
Another co-incidence is that during the late sixties I worked in Billericay in the same office as his daughter Roberta (Bobbie). I also met another sister. Bobbie had an older sister called Nina whose husband worked at Marconi in Chelmsford. Marconi set up a coach trip in 1967 to go to Wembley to see ‘The Monkees’ and Bobbie was given two tickets. She invited me to go with her and of course I accepted. I remember going to Nina’s house in Braintree to collect the tickets. We thoroughly enjoyed the concert but it was so loud (thousands of screaming girls, including us), we couldn’t hear for several hours afterwards and thought we had damaged out ears.
I also remember a charity walk in the same year that Bobbie and I went on from Billericay Youth Club to Southend Pier. I have a couple of press cuttings from that day which I have put on the Billericay Archive’s website. In the first picture, Bobbie is at the back on the far right. I am the one with the big blond hair-do standing to her side. See Link:- http://www.billericayhistory.org.uk/page/youth_clubs_sponsored_walk_1967
Ken. That’s Merrylands Road. I don’t think there has ever been a Marylands Road in Laindon. The 1929 Electoral Register shows William and Sophia Elizabeth Lambert plus John William and Florence Lambert living at “Adastra” Merrylands Road, Laindon. The 1949 Electoral Register shows the Lambert family living at the same address, family members shown at that time are John W, Florence, Sophia E, William and William R. A bit of research has shown that William Lambert married Sophia Elizabeth Smith in 1887. Their son, John William Lambert married Florence Thompson in 1910 at West Ham. Their son William R was born 1911 in West Ham. I think William R Lambert was probably the soldier because he would have been 38 in 1949. The Electoral Register for the late fifties shows William and Sophia plus John and Florence still at “Adastra”. William R and his wife must have moved on as I can find no further trace of them.
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