The victims of recent conflicts

The last three names on the War Memorial are those of young men from this town who died in more recent conflicts:

23295633 Corporal William Dodd, aged 20, of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment, was seriously injured on 13th December 1957 when a tree fell on him while he was making a clearing for a helicopter to land at Manong, near Ipoh in Malaya. He died in hospital from his wounds on 30th December and was buried with full military honours in the local military cemetery. Billy, as he was known, was the son of Albert and Dorothy Dodd, and a former pupil at Bourne Secondary School [now the Robert Manning Technology College]. After a spell working for the Forestry Commission in Bourne, he was called up for his two years of National Service with the Lincolnshire Regiment and was subsequently posted to Malaya. At the time of the accident, he had only a few weeks to serve before he was discharged. Corporal Dodd's name is also inscribed on a memorial plaque in the Soldiers' Chapel at Lincoln Cathedral together with those of eight others from the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment who lost their lives during the Malaya campaign.

19233 Marine Richard Jennings, aged 19, was serving in the Far East with 42 Commando, Royal Marines, when he was killed by a sniper on the morning of 12th December 1962. His unit had carried out an assault from the river against the strongly held village of Limbang in the then British protected state of Brunei on the north west coast of Borneo. He had been with his unit in Singapore when in early December 1962 a revolt broke out in Brunei and was a member of the advance party that had been flown out to release the Resident Officer and five other Europeans who were being held in Limbang. The attack was entirely successful and reported to have been carried out with great dash and courage. However, Marine Jennings and four of his colleagues lost their lives. He died near the hospital whilst dragging a wounded commando to shelter after being shot by the sniper. Richard Jennings was buried in the Naval Cemetery in Singapore with full military honours on 14th December 1962. He was the only son of Mrs Vera Jennings and a grandson of Mr W H Elwes, head of the Bourne butchery business. Richard had been a pupil at Morton Primary School and Bourne Grammar School and was an all round sportsman, playing school football and cricket, later with Bourne Town's junior side. He joined the Royal Marines in January 1960 and completed his training at their depot in Deal. In August 1961, he was posted to 42 Commando, serving in the Regimental Police as a Lance Corporal and in a rifle troop. He was posted to Hong Kong for a period and later to Singapore and he also spent some time on manoeuvres in Australia.

24127676 Corporal John Robert Booth of the Royal Military Police died instantly from a gunshot wound in Belfast on 29th January 1975. John was born at Morton in 1953, the youngest son of Chris and Irene Booth, and attended Morton Primary School and then Bourne Secondary School. He enlisted in 1970 at the age of 16½ and joined the Boys Army School at Rhyl in North Wales, subsequently serving in the Royal Signals and then the Royal Military Police as a dog handler. He was posted to Northern Ireland where he died on active service. He was buried with his father at Morton.

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