My father was employed as a labourer in the shell foundry at Woolwich Arsenal. He later became a moulder. He worked there for over 50 years, and on retirement he received just £50 and State pension. He was recommended for the Imperial Service Medal, but did not receive it. He was due to retire in 1942, at 65, but carried on until the end of the war despite poor health. He suffered from asthma, caused by the sulphur fumes. When at work one day he stood up and died instantly from a cardiac arrest.

Alfred John Boon writes that he took his father's dinner to him, in the shell foundry at Woolwich Arsenal, during the First World War. He was always terrified that they might 'blow' a furnace while he was there. He says that the noise and fire were terrifying.

James Edward Boon's hobbies were ballroom dancing, at which he won a few competitions, and cycling. Cycling was the cause of his first absence from work in 45 years, after his front fork broke while descending Wrotham Hill.

He was a keen cyclist and one time captain of the Plumstead Common Working Men’s Club Cycling Section. They would go as far as I.o.W., Margate, Yarmouth, starting Saturday afternoon and returning by Sunday evening, weather no object. He was a competitive walker, and also won a few rowing competitions. A foot high cup was cemented onto his grave, but was stolen in a few weeks. He was an excellent swimmer, and would swim across the Thames as a schoolboy. He told us of the ‘floaters’ which he used to blow in front of him, or dive under. He was a very good ballroom dancer and I think won a few competitions. One of his friends was Charles Buchan, with whom he played football. Charles Buchan played for Arsenal and England.