Published: 19 March, 2014
By DAN CARRIER

TWO sisters are searching for a memorial that honours Chalk Farm bus workers who died in the First World War after it mysteriously disappeared.

Christine Davies and Sheila Hobbs, who grew up in Belmont Street and both went to Haverstock school, spent their childhood making sure fresh flowers were laid at the memorial, which was attached to a wall in Ferdinand Place, Chalk Farm.

After reading of how a memorial to the nearby Chappell Piano factory workers has been removed, they contacted the New Journal to tell the story of another memorial that has disappeared.

Their grandfather, Joseph Thomas, was a member of the London Regiment of the Royal Fusiliers and worked as a bus driver. He was killed at the battle of Passchendaele. 

Mrs Davies said: “My grandparents lived in Chalk Farm and my mother would ask us to place flowers at a memorial. We would pick marigolds and place them in a holder at the foot of the plaque.” 

However, a row of four cottages next to the garage, where the memorial was placed, were pulled down sometime in the 1960s. And the memorial disappeared soon after.

Mrs Davies hopes someone may know what happened to it.

She added: “We’d dearly love to know if someone remembers the memorial and perhaps knows what became of it.

“We would like to be able to pay our respects again to our grandfather who died all those years ago.”