I will start by saying I am not sure if this should be split into a number of different topics as it covers personalities, wartime air raids, cemeteries & burial grounds as well as houses.
It is about Lydia Cecilia Hill who was killed in an air raid on Canterbury.
More can be found on wikipedia.
Cissie was born at 2 Kitchener Terrace in Canterbury on 20 July 1913. Her family moved to Herne Bay by 1917 and lived at 4 Kingsbury Villas in Kings Road, Herne Bay, until 1927. She attended Kings Road School which has now been replaced by Herne Bay Junior School. She was crowned May Queen at the school around 1923−1924. She would have left school in the summer of 1927, 14 years being the national school leaving age at the time. Between 1927 and 1934 the family lived at Hyacinth, Queensbury Drive, Herne Bay. Queensbury Drive no longer exists. She trained as a dancer and joined the Grosvenor House cabaret, but has also been described as a minor actress with platinum hair and blue eyes. She was known as Cecily or Cissie.
In 1934 she became a favorite of Ibrahim, Sultan of Johor.
He funded a new home for her and by 1935 she was living in Mayfair Court Herne Bay. The house still stands and can be seen following this link..
http://g.co/maps/qru4eOn 11 October 1940, several Messerschmitts were being chased over Kent in daylight by British fighter planes. The Messerschmitt dropped three bombs on six shops in Burgate, close to Canterbury Cathedral. At least six people were killed and more were injured; it took two days to dig out the dead from the debris. A furrier's received a direct hit, and Cissie was killed instantly while shopping for a fur rug as a wedding or birthday gift. She was identified by her jewellery, said to be a gift from the Sultan. Apparently she and her friend Peggy Clark had left Herne Bay at 10.15 am to motor into Canterbury. They had been shopping at Courts, then the friend went to Lefevre's shop and Cissie went to the fur shop where she died. She was 27 years old, and the cause of death was given on her death certificate as "due to War operations". The probate record says she was a spinster living at Mayfair Court, Herne Bay, that she left £16,970 0s 3d and that administration was given to her mother F.C. Hill, wife of George Hill. Her death was announced in The Times.
The funeral took place on Wednesday 16 October 1940 at St John’s Church in Brunswick Square, Herne Bay. The Reverend A.W. Parry Williams officiated in the church and at the committal by the graveside. There were many mourners including the Sultan at the church and cemetery, and a large number of floral tributes. The Sultan's wreath was "laid in the grave with the coffin" The interment was at Herne Bay Cemetery. In plot BBR46 at the eastern edge of the cemetery is an elaborate, marble monument to her; it is blue and white like her house. It was paid for by the Sultan and adorned with a standing Saxon -style cross, a marble floor with an engraved poem and an iron fence. The inscription says:
"In loving memory of Lydia Cecily Hill; born 20th July 1913; died 11th October 1940. This monument has been erected by a devoted friend.
Somewhere back of the sunset / Where loveliness never dies / She dwells in the land of glory/ 'Neath the blue and gold of the skies /
And we who have lived with and loved her / Whose passing has caused us tears / Will cherish her memory for ever / Down through the passing years."
Sultan Ibrahim owned her grave until his death in May 1959. Her death is recorded by the CWGC and the certificate is inscribed, "Remembered with honour".
When I get a chance to go to Herne Bay cemetery, I will take some pictures of the grave (along with others I need to find)
