Friday 18 January 2013

Tommy Sopwith


As  a school boy I knew the name reading story's about the First World  War and the Sopwith Camel but never knew he lived near Kings Somborne. I had been taking photos of the church and noticed this huge stained glass window. The inscription to the left said "Twice his foresite saved this nation in time of danger" the name I recognized and I knew of the plane in the first war but what was the second time he saved the nation. It was not until I looked into it I found he Started the Hawker company with Harry Hawker which made the Hawker Hurricane that was a  part of the Battle of Britain it was one  of the planes which save the country.



The memorial window that piqued my interest
                          
   


The wording got me thinking as I knew the name but did not connect who to start with.                                                                                              



After reading this information on the window I found out where Tommy Sopwith was buried.







 










After a three mile walk to Little Somborne I found his grave at the east end of the old church there along side that of his wife.
Tommy Sopwith lived to 101 and on his 100th birthday the RAF did a military flypast over his home. He is buried in All Saints Churchyard beside his wife.
Tommy_Sopwith

5 comments:

  1. Fascinating post.

    Thank you for linking up with Cemetery Sunday.

    Beneath Thy Feet

    ReplyDelete
  2. 'Tommy Sopwith' does not sound like a name that would aspire to great heights, yet that is exactly what he did.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is it St George or St Michael in the stained glass window?

    ReplyDelete
  4. St Michael from what I could read in the information.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is pretty cool! I knew the name but knew nothing about the man-- so thank you!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting, I welcome comments but not spam which will not be published. I will try to return the visit to you. If you enjoy my work and would like to follow by email you can subscribe at the top of the right had column
PLEASE MAKE YOUR BLOG WORD VERIFICATION FREE