Pete Richardson's research in to those military personnel from Trowbridge who died during the Second World War revealed that two teenage girls were listed in the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The sad story revealed that Renee Reed, 16 and Rosie Sheehan, 17 – were the only civilian casualties killed during a German raid on the Town in 1942. The bombers were returning from Bristol when they dropped left over munitions. Mr Richardson said “I am told that Rosie Sheehan was engaged to a royal marine who lived in Trowbridge. She worked in the RBL club in Stallard Street behind the bar and what we think happened is when the club closed, she decided she didn’t want to walk across Trowbridge in the blackout and so along with her friend Renee, they stayed the night at the club when it was struck by bombs." The girls were buried in an unmarked grave in The Down cemetery, Trowbridge because the Commonwealth War Graves Commission could only mark the graves of military personnel. After 40 years, the unmarked grave became the responsibility of the council. Before that time, the RBL would have needed the families' permission to make any changes and as the relatives would have been in their nineties we have exhausted that option, With the help of Wiltshire Council, and in particular Sarah Holloway from Environmental Services, the Branch has now secured permission to erect a memorial stone to mark the girls’ grave and commemorate their lives. The date planned for this is the 27th July 2017, the 75th anniversary of the girls death. The Council has waived the Churchyard Fee for erecting the memorial stone and local stone mason, James Long, has given us a competitive quote for the work but the Branch still needs to raise funds in the order of £500 to make this happen.

PLEASE continue to donate as your support is really valued and to date £130 has been raised!!