Frank Sidney Bushnell

This story and photos are shared by the Trust with kind permission from Helen Webb, great niece of Frank Bushnell and other family members

Remembering Great Uncle Frank, a loving, kind-hearted boy who sadly died of his wounds on Wednesday, 28th June 1944, only 5 days after his 18th Birthday. He shares his birthday with my nan (Winifred ‘Winny’ Payne) and my dad, Derek (his auntie and nephew).

He and his 7 brothers and sisters were living at 178B High Street, Teddington and then moved to 52, York Road, Teddington. A man named Swany, a family friend who used to visit at weekends, helped them move. As he used to sell fruit and veg, they asked to borrow his barrow to help them. Frank helped out as their dad was away at war. His eldest sister (my nan) and brother lived across the street with their Nanny Roberts, as they were born illegitimate (don’t know my great grandad's name - an Edmund Folling was mentioned but unfortunately I don’t know for sure).

So my great grandmother (Mabel) had 10 children in total! The children all knew they were brother and sisters but the illegitimacy was obviously frowned upon so that’s why their nan brought Mabel's first two children up, so no one asked questions. Must of been so hard to see their mum everyday but not all live together.

My Dad (only age 5 at the time) remembers him all dressed up smart in his uniform before he left and that was the last time he saw him. When news came, his parents, Mabel & John (known as Jack), were inconsolable. The family never got over his death.

Frank's sister, my Great Aunt Beryl, was able to tell me more about him. She was only 7 years old when her brother Frankie died, so she doesn’t remember that much and only a few things that her mum and dad talked about.

He went to Stanley Road School in Teddington but left school at 14 and went to work at a nearby shop in Teddington called Rushes. Beryl didn’t know what kind of shop it was.

He wanted to join the army to help the fight and begged his Dad to get him in. So his Dad told them he was 18 but he was only just 17 when he joined in 1943. Beryl tells me that the Army found out but they let it go as they needed the men. He did love it.

He was always thinking about others and when he joined up, within just a few weeks he was made Corporal. He first enlisted in the General Service Corps but was then transferred to the 2nd Battalion, Princess Louise's Kensington Regiment, Middlesex Regiment. Beryl says the letter that her mum and dad received from the army after he died said that Frankie would have made a name for himself in the army, there was no doubt. Beryl unfortunately doesn’t know where this letter has gone.

One day he managed to get a 48hr leave pass, which happened to be the same weekend the worst bombings they had seen in Teddington happened. Beryl said they called it 'Bad Friday Night', the whole of Argyle Road was flattened and they didn’t rebuild the road.

She heard that when Frankie was home, he heard the planes above. Some of his brothers and sisters were in the air raid shelter, some under tables but he noticed the candles were still glowing. He blew them out quickly, saw his brother Kenny, picked him up and shut him in the coal cupboard to keep him out of harm's way while the bombs were falling.

She and my dad remember seeing him at the gate in his uniform as he went back to his unit after his leave but they never saw him again after that.

Beryl said that he had a girlfriend but doesn’t know her name. After he died she visited and asked his mum and dad where he was buried so she could go and see him.

Beryl also says that Frankie used to sing ‘oh Danny boy’ every night before he went to sleep without fail. Before that, Frankie used to put all the girls to bed downstairs and the boys upstairs and sing ‘oh Danny Boy’ to all of them to get them to sleep. His singing of the song had a lasting impact as all of the brothers and sisters had ‘oh Danny Boy’ played at their funerals.  That’s the one thing that she has always remembered. When my dad did National Service after the war he served in the Middlesex Regiment which was quite a coincidence.

After the war, Frank's parents were able to visit his grave. This was paid by the war office. Auntie Joan and Auntie Jean looked after the younger children namely my mum, Beryl, Freddie, and John whilst they were away overnight in a hotel.

In 2017 Beryl finally got to visited his grave, together with other family members.

   

L-R Beryl visiting Frank's grave in 2017 and the entries written by family in the visitor's book

 

Our Fallen Hero, great uncle Frank

Update - June 2024

We recently went to Normandy to see his grave as well as visit the British Normandy Memorial to see the tribute plaque we had commissioned. The place was both amazing and emotional.

 

Normandy Memorial Trust - Additional Information

The 1939 Register records that Frank was working as a Grocers Errand Boy