Captain Dennis Bembridge Kelland (200721) Army Air Corps

Simon,

A very interesting set of photos. The NFS is a promising lead and if as you say it's the Birmingham area perhaps a local museum may be able to help.

Regards ...

Edit: Birmingham

 

Simon,

I noticed in a thread on the Birmingham History Forum a post from the West Midlands Fire Service Community Heritage Group (WMFS Heritage).

Auxiliary Fire Service

They seem very keen to preserve the history of the Fire Service in the area and do have some records. It's probably a long shot but maybe worth considering if all else fails. They also have a Twitter page.

WMFSHeritage (@WMFSHeritage) | Twitter

Regards ...

 

From recent correspondence it would appear that the man in the photographs is indeed Dennis Bembridge Kelland.

 

Hello Simon,

Coming very, very late to this but confirming your thoughts that the letters/digits combinations on the rear of the photo of Joan (in your post above) are indeed (old) Birmingham area phone numbers, the form of which was in use up until the 1960s when the City was "021"ed up.

"Hig 2423" was a Highbury (Birmingham) exchange number covering Kings Heath and vicinity. Form of answering then would have been"Hello, Highbury 2423" (yes, the days when you could answer your landline safely saying the number as it would only be one of three types of call, someone who knew you, a wrong number, or a git trying to ascertain if the house was empty so they could come and turn it over. No bleedin' advertising cold calls/scams/overseas lottery wins then!)

"Spr 1006" was a Springfield (Birmingham) exchange number covering Hall Green, Springfield, and Sparkhill.

A pound to a penny one number was Joan's home/place of abode and the other her workplace.

Old trade directories may reveal which was which.

If all academic given where you are now with your search please feel free to file in the "too late Jim" bin!

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Many thanks for the update Jim. Your information provides a new direction and poses several questions.

If they are indeed Joan's telephone numbers, who did she give her photograph to? The telephone numbers would suggest that she wanted someone to contact her both at home and at work,which would suggest a close friend or relative and possibly, as it was wartime, it could be to receive urgent news regarding a loved one overseas. It is possible that she gave the photograph to Dennis Kelland's father or brother who would be the point of contact as N.O.K., with the War Office regarding any appearance in the casualty lists.

However, I would assume that any contact numbers would be given in a more formal way and would specify which number was home and which number was work.

In post 11, Joan appears to wearing an engagement ring and by the way they they are holding each other, it would appear that they were engaged to each other. However, they did not marry each other so something must have happened to break the engagement.

 

Dennis bembridge Kelland Captain
–1996
BIRTH 19 11 • Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
DEATH 26 03 1996 • Teignmouth Devon

Spouse: Edith Alice Amelia Brady
Father: Harry Kelland
Mother: Kate
Birth: 19 11 Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Death: 26 Mar 1996 Teignmouth, Devon, England

The above from a family tree

England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
Name: Dennis B Kelland
Registration Date: Oct 1940
[Nov 1940]
[Dec 1940]
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration District: Abergavenny
Inferred County: Monmouthshire
Spouse: Edith A A Patching Or Brady
Volume Number: 11a
Page Number: 87


England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
Name: Edith Alice A Kelland
Death Age: 71
Birth Date: 7 May 1912
Registration Date: Oct 1983
[Nov 1983]
[Dec 1983]
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration District: Northampton
Inferred County: Northamptonshire
Volume: 7
Page: 2536

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995
Name: Edith Alice Amelia Kelland
Death Date: 10 Oct 1983
Death Place: Northampton
Probate Date: 28 Dec 1983
Probate Registry: Newcastle-upon-Tyne


Thats not to say they didnt divorce and she continued to keep his name

TD

 

Dennis Kelland seems to have had quite a complicated private life. Firstly he married a divorcee, Edith Alice Amelia Patching, Nee Brady, in 1940 and obtained a decree nisi from her on the grounds of her having assaulted him on at least one occasion. In her defence, Mrs Kelland said that he was paying too much attention to her sister, Laura K Brady, (born 1914, Lewisham). The judge had said that this complaint was 'without ground' before granting the divorce.

Laura Kathleen Brady married a Stanley A Walker in Lewisham in 1940. She married for a second time in Romford in 1960, a gentleman by the name of Dennis Bembridge Kelland. Judges, what do they know?

To add to the complication, if the lady in the deck chair photographs is 'Joan' and not Mrs Edith Alice Amelia (Brady) (Patching) Kelland, who he had married in 1940 or her sister, Laura Kathleen (Brady) Walker, also married, then he seems to have been a serial player, or, in the parlance of the time, a bit of a cad.

 

But then you also have Dennis's brother
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
Name: Harry P B Kelland
Mother's Maiden Name: Bembridge
Registration Year: 1914
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration District: Aston
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: Warwickshire
Volume: 6d
Page: 1039

and thought the woman 'Joan' was perhaps his 'sister-in-law' but no dice
England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
Name: Harry P B Kelland
Registration Date: Jul 1947
[Aug 1947]
[Sep 1947]
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration District: Birmingham
Inferred County: Warwickshire
Spouse: Irene Smallwood
Volume Number: 9c
Page Number: 1191

TD

Harry might have been as much a 'cad' if this is him
England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
Name: Harry Kelland
Registration Date: Apr 1960
[May 1960]
[Jun 1960]
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Registration District: Camberwell
Inferred County: London
Spouse: Denny
Volume Number: 5c
Page Number: 336

But his first might have died etc etc interesting they are both dated 1960 ??

 

1939 Census.

40 Exford Road, Mottingham, Bromley. Both sisters have the surname changed to Kelland.

 

Harry P B Kelland definitely married twice. His first marriage was to Winifred Johnson in Wolverhampton in 1941.

I am wondering if he might be the man in the A.F.S. uniform, a more likely role for a man of his age, who had been discharged as unfit from the Royal Corps of Signals.

 

So which Kelland married 'House Keeper' Esther - glad I'm not doing their family tree

TD

England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
Name: Esther L Deakin
Registration Date: Jul 1942
[Aug 1942]
[Sep 1942]
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration District: Birmingham
Inferred County: Warwickshire
Spouse: Harry Kelland
Volume Number: 6d
Page Number: 37

So this would be Harrys second marriage with a third in 1960 !!

 

I think that it was the father, Harry Kelland, who married the housekeeper in 1942. He died shortly after.

 

Some further thoughts.

If the blazer being worn in this photograph is not a fashion item but is being worn legitimately, it must either be for the Handsworth Grammar School, which Kelland attended, or perhaps the, as yet unknown, university that he studied at. This is the only photograph in the batch which is captioned and dated; it reads: August 1942. In garden in Birmingham, (Legs in evidence).
So presumably it was taken in Kelland's garden.



This photograph cannot have been taken before the 7th November 1942 when Dennis Kelland was promoted to War Substantive Lieutenant in the Parachute Regiment from the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. I would think that it was probably taken in the summer of 1943.



I am therefore now wondering if the name Joan has been mis-attributed and it is in fact Edith Kelland in the photographs.

 

Dennis Bembridge Kelland - Thickset and 12 1/2 stone, 3 June 1949:


Some information on Hig 2423 (can't find SPR 1006):


105 Brandwood Road in 1939 (can find Pershore Road but not 1502):

 

Superb work Tony, many thanks for taking the time to look this up for me.

Simon.

 

It seems that George G Bull ,born 1896, married Jessie E Skett, born 1905, in Birmingham in 1939. They do not appear to have had any children.

 

Another 'for sale' at Hig 2423:

I wonder if this death notice, 22 August 1939, for Laura Rebecca Bull of 105 Brandwood Road, prompted these sales. This was just prior to 1939 Register and I wonder if Laura and her late husband were parents of George G.

In my previous post and the clip of 12 April 1943 I wonder who was joining the Forces? August 1943 was the date on the back of Joan's photo.

 

Looking through the rest of the photographs I have noticed something that may be no more than coincidence, but I will post it anyway.

Edith Kelland's first husband was a Harold Frank Patching, who she married in Lewisham in 1936. In 1939 he is living in West Ham with another women whose name I cannot decipher. He occupation is listed as Full Time Auxiliary Fire Service.



He appears in several photographs clearly taken in the same garden, in one he is with his parents and in another with Joan/Edith/whoever.



In the last photograph, his mum or perhaps Joan/Edith's or whoever's mum is wearing his uniform.

The problem with this theory is that the AFS/NFS uniform has the numerical code for Birmingham.