Brother’s bravery is remembered on church war memorial
To mark the 80th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day this year, volunteers are appealing for help to create biographies not only of those who died but those who survived.
The group is also collecting memories of this area of the city, Grandpont, in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and of the roles women and evacuees played during the War.
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Among the servicemen who died and are commemorated on the memorial is Ken Ayres, whose family ran the Farriers Arms pub at the southern end of Abingdon Road.
He was a lorry driver before enlisting as a private in the 1st Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
He died aged 29 in France on August 3rd 1944, possibly when his battalion came under fire at Bougy in Normandy.
He is buried in a war cemetery near Caen.
Ken’s nephew, Stephen Ayres, who lives in Cumnor, has produced the picture above, showing Ken with his younger brother Gordon.
He also has a letter written soon after Ken’s death by their mother and father to Gordon, a corporal serving with the RAF in India.
The letter starts with general matters – hoping Gordon is well, hoping the war will soon be over and telling him the family were making little use of their car.
Then the bombshell: “I have some bad news for you. We have heard from the War Office that Ken was killed in France.
“You must bear up, Gordon, and look after yourself so that you can come back to us.
“I still can’t believe it is true. I expect this will be a shock to you but bear up as it was God’s will that he should go. We shall all miss him very much.”
(Image: Oxford Mail) The letter ended: “Cheer up, with all our love from your loving Mother and Dad.”
Ken, who left wife Gladys and sons David and Patrick, is also remembered on the memorial in the St John the Evangelist Church in New Hinksey.
Brother Gordon returned from the war safely, married Meriel Thomson in Oxford in 1948 and became the third generation of the family to run the Farriers Arms, following his parents, Frank and Elsie Ayres, and grandparents Annie and Alfred Revell.
The pub had a long history, built originally as a family home in 1776 and three years later, becoming a hospital for smallpox victims.
It became the Farriers Arms in 1872, named after a local farrier.
It was modernised in 1930, closed in 1963 and demolished to make way for Oxford’s ring road.
Anyone who can add to the life of Ken Ayres and others on the St Matthew’s Church memorial should contact project co-ordinator Liz Woolley at liz@lizwoolley.co.uk or call 01865 242760.
To find out more on the project website,visit southoxfordhistory.org.uk/24-men-of-grandpont-1939-45
