A request in Peeps in November for photos and details of Second World War RAF Flying Officer Arthur Robert Candy, who lived in Woking, has been successful.

Initially, the News & Mail received an email from Hans Molier who lives in the Netherlands. 

He appealed for any family information about Arthur, a navigator, who died, along with his fellow crew members, when their Lancaster aircraft was shot down on April 11, 1944. 

Arthur is buried in a cemetery at Roosendaal, the Netherlands town in which Hans lives.

In the appeal for information in Peeps on November 9, Hans said that each Christmas, candles are placed on the graves of all Second World War casualties in the cemetery – Dutch civilians and Allied service personnel.

Each year, Hans selects four graves. He writes an article about each person buried within. For 2024, one of those people will be Arthur.

After reading that Peeps story, Rod Raggett got in touch to say Arthur was his uncle. 

Not only does Rod have a cherished memory of when he was very young and meeting Arthur, he has researched his uncle’s military career and has some lovely photos of him as well as other items including a diary.

David Raggett also read the story and kindly loaned some family photos of when they visited Arthur’s grave several years ago.

Rod has kindly allowed me to copy the photos he has of Arthur and the other items and will be pleased for copies to be forwarded to Hans. 

Rod also has cuttings and photos from local newspapers including the News & Mail from around 1991 when he asked Woking Borough Council to add Arthur’s name to Woking’s Book of Remembrance of its Second World War dead, on display at Woking Library. 

The News & Mail’s story at that time included a photo of Rod and further members of the Candy, Raggett and other Surrey families when they visited the council offices to see the book and to enjoy a civic reception with the then-Mayor of Woking, Dick Williams.

In the story, the council’s then-common services manager Mike Smith, who arranged for Arthur’s name to be inserted in the book, explained the book was originally compiled after the war by means of a local appeal asking for relatives to put forward names of those who should be included.

Unfortunately no-one came forward with Arthur’s name at that time, although he lived his 21 years with his family at Elm Cottages, Poole Road.

* The recent story in Peeps featuring details of Reginald Herbert Gibbons, kindly supplied by Pat Clack, stated incorrectly that he was Pat’s father. 

Reginald was actually Pat’s uncle. 

Pat said that her father Harold was Reginald’s elder brother. 

Harold was a bookmaker in Woking after the Second World War, before the family moved to Send.

We apologise for the error.