As part of the VE80 exhibition (May 2025) we collected stories from local residents about their memories of WWI.
Violet, on Behalf of Diana Stone Remembers Many village people will remember Diana Stone who was very active lady in the village WI and Parish activities. Her brother Sergeant Vernon Coaker (and Uncle of Winston Stoneman) was killed on D Day having successfully made landing with his bicycle and crossed the beaches. He died when a bomb landed near the Post Office at Le Plein (Amfreville).
His gravestone is in Ranville War Cemetery, Normandy. He is remembered on the war memorial in Chumleigh.
Violet’s father was Post Master at East Worlington Post office from 1971 to 1973 but before that, he had previously spent time as a child as a local boy in a cottage in Cheldon. He had an extraordinary war career in the Royal Navy working his way up the ranks from Boy Second Class.
The following short summary shows the extent of his most dangerous wartime missions. In the middle of it all he had leave and got married. He saw service on a number of Royal Navy Ships sailing all around the world through some of the most dangerous theatres of the war and working on some of the well known Royal Navy war ships. South America to Nova Scotia. Then on to escort one of the first Atlantic convoys across the Atlantic Ocean. Minelaying in the Denmark Straits and around Iceland.
He describes gruelling experiences with the North Atlantic convoys, around the Norwegian Fiords and onward to Russia. In 1943 his ship HMS Montrose (He was now a Petty Officer) headed down through the North Sea defending the East Coast convoys where they were under heavy attack. He took leave for 6 weeks with more training before leaving from Glasgow to join a troop ship leaving for the Middle East.
He saw service in the Mediterranean then back to Southampton and in June 1944 he took part in the D Day landings. He was part of the crew on the escort ship for George V1 visiting the troops in France. His next journeys took him to join the Pacific Fleet in Perth via Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, and on to Ceylon. After Australia he went on to The Philippines where his ship joined the war in Japan and were attacked by the Japanese air force suicide bombers.
Gruelling stories from here with the war raging on when VE Day was announced in the West. He was seriously ill with TB and was taken to Australia for hospitalisation on a hospital boat. He lost much weight but survived to return to England after Christmas 1945 and to meet his baby daughter Violet for the first time.
He went on to live a long and productive life with his family. He died in 2001.