Number J/81802 in R.A.F. Squadron 903. His name appears twice as A. E. Cownden on the handwritten section of the Blackheath War Memorial, both saying he was killed at the age of 34. One entry says he died on 29/9/1940, and the other says 29/10/1940. His military number is given as the same as that of Arthur James Cownden. They died in separate World Wars, so we wonder whether numbers were recycled, or if this just a transcription error. His name appears in the book of remembrance at St Clement Danes Church in the Strand.
This man was consequently listed in our Puzzle Corner section and in July 2022 we were contacted by Eileen Bostle who drew our attention to the RAF Commands website that showed his full name, confirming that he died of wounds on 29 October 1940 and that his service number was 841926.
We asked our colleague Andrew Behan to research the Cownden names further and he states that Albert Ernest Cownden was born on 25 May 1905, one of the fifteen children of Charles Henry Cownden (1860-1953) and Emma Cownden née Sylvester (1863-1923). His birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1905 in the Greenwich registration district. On 15 June 1905 both he and an elder brother, Sidney Albert Cownden (1898-1917), were baptised in the parish church of St Andrew and St Michael, Greenwich, where the baptismal registers show the family living at 41 Idenden Cottages, East Greenwich and that their father was a lighterman.
When the 1911 census return was completed by his father, he was described as schoolboy living in a four room property at 41 Idenden Cottages, East Greenwich, with his parents and four of his siblings: Charles Henry Cownden (1888-1937), Elizabeth Florence May Cownden (1894-1986), Henry Charles Cownden (1900-1981) and Lily Ivy Cownden (b.1903). The census return shows that his parents had been married for 28 years and that his mother had given birth to 15 children, nine of which were still alive. His father gave his occupation as a lighterman employed by Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd, (now part of the Blue Circle Group).
In the 4th quarter of 1925 he married Elizabeth Esther Merritt (1905-1991) in the St Olave registration district, Bermondsey, London and they had one son, Alexander Ernest Cownden (1925-2010). Electoral registers from 1930 to 1934 show him and his wife listed at 41 Idenden Cottages, Greenwich, but in the 1939 England & Wales Register his wife and son are listed at 22 Circus Street, Greenwich.
He served as an Aircraftman 1st Class in the Royal Air Force (Auxiliary Air Force), service number 841926. He had been attached to No.903 Balloon Squadron when he died of injuries, aged 35 years, on 29 October 1940 after the hut in which the balloon crew was living in Forest Hill was bombed. He was buried on 4 November 1940 in Grave Number 4395 in the 2nd Consecrated Section of Greenwich Cemetery, Well Hall Road, London, SE9 6TZ. His grave stone incorrectly shows his age as 34 years. His widow was subsequently remarried to a James Rose in the 3rd quarter of 1945 in the Greenwich registration district.
He is also commemorated in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, on the Royal Auxiliary Air Force Foundation's Roll of Honour, and the Aircrew Remembered website.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
