Bertram Hougham

Bank: Union of London & Smiths Bank
Place of work: Tonbridge branch
Died: 6 September 1918

Bertram William Hougham was born in Faversham, Kent on 3 July 1896, the first child of Bertram Larkin Hougham, a bank worker, and his wife Genia Bella Hougham (née Smith). He was educated at Kent College, Canterbury and Tonbridge School.

At the end of 1913 Hougham left school and went to Paris to learn French. He returned to England in May 1914, and went to work for Union of London & Smiths Bank at its Tonbridge branch, where his father was manager.

In November 1914 Hougham joined the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps. He was commissioned into the Special Reserve of The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) the following June. He was drafted to France in May 1916 and attached to the Royal Berkshire Regiment, with whom he served in the Somme campaign. He was wounded and invalided home in November 1916. He returned to France in January 1917, and was promoted to Lieutenant in July 1917. In March 1918 he became a Company Commander and Temporary Captain.

Captain Hougham was struck by a piece of shrapnel and killed instantly on 6 September 1918. He was 22 years old. After his death, a fellow officer wrote to Hougham's parents: 'To know him was to like him. To live with and work under him was to learn how cheery and lovable a man he was and how true a gentleman.' He was posthumously awarded the Military Cross for his conduct in operations in August 1918.

Bertram Hougham is commemorated on a bank war memorial at NatWest City of London office.