'Brandon at War
Memories of the Second World War'
Between 2001 and 2016 I was fortunate to interview and record the wartime memories of a number of Brandon residents. Most were children during the time, some served in Brandon's Home Guard and even saw active service. Sadly, all have since passed away, thus making their memories more precious.
'1919 Brandon Riot'
"When Gentle was not so Gentle"
In 1919, just months after the Armistice signalled the end of fighting in the Great War, violence broke out in Brandon's High Street. The spark for this was a Brandon butcher assaulting a disabled war veteran, which enraged the townspeople enough to threaten the life of the butcher.
'Armistice 1918-2018'
To commemorate the centenary of the end of the Great War, I pooled together all my research of Brandon during the Great War and created this booklet, which was distributed via Brandon Heritage Centre, and delivered to pupils at Breckland Free School. Each page covers a year of the war, with a page dedicated to the Home Front and another to the lads on the Frontline.
'Armistice Centenary'
Football Match Programme
Also to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice I organised a local football, based on Football Association rules from 1918 - back passes were allowed and the offside rule was slightly different. Two teams represented the local derby match between Brandon 'Rec and Town Street, with the latter winning the match.
'Centenary of Brandon's War Memorial
17th October 2020'
Brandon's war memorial was unveiled in October 1920, so to commemorate its centenary I released my research of all the names that feature on it. This has been released purely as a digital copy and was not printed. I have included photographs where possible, and acknowledge the assistance of those who provided me with these images..
'From The Great War (1914-18)
Postcards Of Brandon Suffolk'
The picture postcards of yesteryear offer an insight into what Brandon looked like years ago. This book features postcards that were posted in the Great War, thus showing us what the town looked like more than one hundred years ago. Arguably, the most interesting insights are the words written on the reverse, giving a very brief snippet of the writer's activities and emotions during that time.
Census 1911
I have managed to transcribe all the 1911 Census relating to Brandon, even covering the outlying settlements of Santon Downham, High Lodge and Lakenheath railway station, equating to over 2,500 people. Click the button below to download a spreadsheet of the entries. Please also let me know of any errors, thank you.
1939 Register
The British Government called a snap census in 1939 so they could understand the age and jobs of the population. With this information they knew how many men were of fighting age and who held jobs beneficial to the war effort. Click the button below to download a transcript of Brandon people from that time.