Those Who Served is a photo restoration project focused around a selection of Marjorie Baker's wartime portraits. Individually restored and first put together to mark the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe in May 2020 and of Victory over Japan in August 2020, further portraits continue to be gradually restored and added, including for the 80th anniversaries of Victory in Europe and Japan in 2025.
The stories of some of those pictured can be found on our Facebook page (search by name), where relatives have also added further stories.
The portraits well display Marjorie's skill in bringing out the varied character of her subjects. Many soldiers were stationed in Henfield during the war, including a large number of Canadians. The following description from the wartime diary of the newly arrived Vicar of Henfield, Henry de Candole, describes Henfield billets in September 1940:
'A busy ‘pastoral’ autumn with much going on but no terrific pressure, and free so far from bad war anxieties. We have become a much more military place. The first soldiers (apart from the dozen searchlight men who have now melted away) were a troop of English R.E.s who occupied Martyn Lodge into the first week of September. They fortified the village with gun emplacements, innocent-looking but cunning “block-houses” or whatever they are at many points, and no doubt much else that we do not know. They were succeeded by Canadians; Canadians also at the Pools (Anti-Tank), Barrow Hill and now Magnolia House (Gunners), R.A.M.C. at Terry’s Cross; English A.S.C. men at Batts, Olivette (bungalow) and Rye Farm House. The Canadians have proved a very nice lot: more church going incidentally than any Britishers! ... Already we have 2 Canadian marriages on view!' (text courtesy of Lambeth Palace)
The stories of some of those pictured can be found on our Facebook page (search by name), where relatives have also added further stories.
The portraits well display Marjorie's skill in bringing out the varied character of her subjects. Many soldiers were stationed in Henfield during the war, including a large number of Canadians. The following description from the wartime diary of the newly arrived Vicar of Henfield, Henry de Candole, describes Henfield billets in September 1940:
'A busy ‘pastoral’ autumn with much going on but no terrific pressure, and free so far from bad war anxieties. We have become a much more military place. The first soldiers (apart from the dozen searchlight men who have now melted away) were a troop of English R.E.s who occupied Martyn Lodge into the first week of September. They fortified the village with gun emplacements, innocent-looking but cunning “block-houses” or whatever they are at many points, and no doubt much else that we do not know. They were succeeded by Canadians; Canadians also at the Pools (Anti-Tank), Barrow Hill and now Magnolia House (Gunners), R.A.M.C. at Terry’s Cross; English A.S.C. men at Batts, Olivette (bungalow) and Rye Farm House. The Canadians have proved a very nice lot: more church going incidentally than any Britishers! ... Already we have 2 Canadian marriages on view!' (text courtesy of Lambeth Palace)
Marking Victory in Europe 80
These portraits will show locals serving in various services, restored for what is likely to be the last major commemoration attended by ex-service members. We begin with a member of the Royal Signals and of the Women's Land Army.
Marking Victory in Europe 75All five of these portraits were taken at the end of the war and the subjects had seen and were still to see in some cases many shades of light and darkness. The portraits include a member of the ATS, a sailor, an airman, a soldier and a WREN.
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Marking Victory over Japan 75These portraits were taken earlier in the war, in 1942-3, when the prospect of travelling across the world to the jungles and distant lands of Asia to face off with the Empire of Japan was very real. Also featured is an Italian POW who ended his war here in Sussex.
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Restored 2021+
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The attached document lists Canadians photographed by Marjorie during the war. Please contact us if you would like to see a particular photograph. |
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Canadian Army at the fuel depot at Grovelands, Wineham, WW2. At this time, the house was home to Sir Gerald Hanson
Terms of Use
All photos in the Marjorie Baker Collection are the copyright of Henfield Museum, being digitised from the original negatives. We allow use under the following Creative Commons license:
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
Please contact us if you would like to use any of the photos on this page for commercial purposes or would like a high quality version. We are happy to discuss usage for a negotiable fee. If you would like to order a digital or physical copy of one of Marjorie's photos, please get in touch. We will need to know as many of the following details as possible:
- Name of individual or family photographed
- Approximate date
- Address of the family at the time
All photos in the Marjorie Baker Collection are the copyright of Henfield Museum, being digitised from the original negatives. We allow use under the following Creative Commons license:
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
Please contact us if you would like to use any of the photos on this page for commercial purposes or would like a high quality version. We are happy to discuss usage for a negotiable fee. If you would like to order a digital or physical copy of one of Marjorie's photos, please get in touch. We will need to know as many of the following details as possible:
- Name of individual or family photographed
- Approximate date
- Address of the family at the time