Frank
Anthony, prematurely, on 26 Apr
2002, after a long illness. Frank was one of the Founder
Members in 1973 of that unique band, Thetford Destroyer Platoon.
In May 1973 the Norfolk Editor, just back from East
Africa, was taken by OC A Coy, 6 RANGLIAN, Maj (later
Col) David James, to the Thetford Pl HQ at Croxton Road
and introduced as the new Pl Comd. Pte Anthony, an
inimitable salt-of-the-earth-cockney, was conducting a
lesson on the Bren gun on the concrete - First and 2nd
IAs.
At the end Frank said: 'Ere, Sir, wanna have a go?'
In tweed jacket, later consigned as a cat's bed as it
made me look too much like a schoolmaster, I dropped
behind the Bren and awaited orders. 'Gun firing alright,
gun stops ...'
Taught not a few years earlier by a Hythe Instructor at
the Zambia School of Infantry and then, myself,
instructing on the Bren, it all, thankfully, came back.
Remembering the old adage about the barrel 'the first 4
inches don't count', the Bren was reassembled.
The vital last drills : 'top-cover, bottom cover, sights
and lever' were recalled before a leap to my feet. I
don't recall who was more impressed!
JLR |
 Wallace Jack
Barber aged 80, on 20 Nov 2000, as a
result of an accident in his beloved garden.
Known as Jack or John, he was Offrs Mess Steward in the
4th Bn, a FEPOW and loyal supporter of the 4th Bn Old
Comrades Association. He was Chairman 1997-1998.
Born at Top Road, Ilketshall St Andrew, on 29 Oct 1920,
Wallace Jack Barber (known as Jack) was the eighth of
nine children born to Wallace John and Ethel May Barber.
He attended the local school at St Andrews until he was
14 and was first employed as a gardener at Redisham.
He joined the Territorial Army around 1937, becoming a
member of the Loddon Detachment Mortar Platoon.
When war broke out he became Mess Corporal to Sgt
Barnard of the 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment, and
he remained in charge of the Officers' Mess until the
Regiment was captured in Singapore in February 1942.
Several of his fellow prisoners became lifelong friends.
He returned to Thailand in November 1985, on a
pilgrimage organised by the Eastern Daily Press, to pay
his respects to the many prisoners who did not return
home.
On his return to England after the war he acquired new
skills while working in the building trade. In 1959 he
became self employed, and he built up a building firm
that was based at 55 Caxton Road, Beccles, from 1966
until his retirement in 1988.
Shortly before he retired, he built the bungalow at 80
Lowestoft Road, Worlingham that was his home for the
last 12 years of his life. He became an active member of
the Worlingham Probus Club and was also a member of the
Beccles Masonic Lodge.
He maintained contact with his comrades from the war
years and was Secretary and Treasurer of the Lowestoft
area FEPOW Association, and also on the committee of the
4th Battalion Old Comrades Association.
Jack remained very active during his retirement and
volunteered for many local projects, including helping
with the floodlighting at Worlingham Church and the
hanging of the new bells in 1992.
He was a keen gardener and spent many happy hours
growing flowers and vegetables in the garden of his
home. Jack re-married, 11 months before his death, his
third wife Beryl. She survives him with his son John and
daughter Lynda from a previous marriage.
His Builder's premises became an Undertaker's Parlour
where fate decreed he was to be was laid
out. Lynda Adams (daughter)
This is a
corrected obituary for that which appeared in B&C
96 Jun 01. The original obituary bore the wrong
photograph, was inaccurate and incomplete.
(Lynda wrote: I'm sure that Jack would have been
greatly amused by the fact that his old friend John
Bilyard's photo was used in his obituary! The two
of them were great friends and returned to Scotland
together in the mid 1990s in search of their old army
camp.) |
Lt Dennis F Bell
of Spalding, a DV Officer, in early June 1994.
He joined the Regt in 1934 and served briefly in India
with 1 Norfolk as a Sgt. Commissioned in late 1942
he re-joined 1 R Norfolk and landed with them
on D-Day, 6 Jun 1944, serving with the Anti-Tank Pl.
After suffering Battle Fatigue he was evacuated in Aug
1944 and served at Nelson Barracks until 1945 and his
demobilisation. Capt Lew
Edgley-Pyshorn
See 'Thanks
Lew'. |
Lt Norman
L Brunning, a DV Officer, of
Mistley, Essex, on 3 Jun 1998. He joined the Territorial
Army in 1934 with London Irish and in late 1942
transferred to 1 R Norfolk, serving as a Lt,
commanding 10 Pl B Coy. Norman landed with them on
D-Day, 6 Jun 1944, and served as Bde HQ Liaison Offr. He
was wounded on 15 Jul 1944. Capt Lew
Edgley-Pyshorn
See 'Thanks
Lew'. |
 Maj The Reverend Hugh Middlecott 'Dickie' Davies
of Holt on 9 Apr 02, aged 82. There was standing room
only at his funeral service at St Mary The Virgin,
Kelling, on Tue 16 Apr, conducted by Revd Angela
Dugdale. The Sheringham and District RBL Standard,
carried by Edwin George Thorogate, attended the coffin,
draped with the Union flag.
The Revd Angela Dugdale gave a masterful address,
included here with extracts from The Britannia
1946-1959, The EDP 1997 and The North Norfolk News 2001.
Hugh Middlecott Davies was born on 8 Jun 1919 in
Walton-le-Dale, Lancs. His father, Rev RG 'Borneo'
Davies, was awarded the MC fighting on the Somme in WW1
as a Capt in 1 Norfolk. After the war he became a
clergyman. Dickie attended his father’s Prep School at
Crosby House in Sheringham. And so began a love of the
sea, Sheringham, walks on Salthouse Heath, tea at
Kelling Rectory with the Swainson Family and Norfolk in
general.
Even as a little boy he lifted his cap when passing the
War Memorial in Sheringham.
Dickie was a good athlete and games player, excelling at
hockey. At Harlow College he was awarded the Victor
Ludorum and won a place at Pembroke College, Cambridge,
his father’s college. His parents could not afford for
him to take the place so in 1939 Dickie joined The Queen’s
Royal Regt, in 1940 serving with them in France. 1941
was a special year. Dickie was commissioned soon after
Dunkirk into The 2nd Bn Royal Norfolk Regt and he and
Joan married.
The North Norfolk News published an article about their
Diamond Wedding on 21 Oct 2001 in which he clearly
recalled the first time he met Joan - at a dance on a
blind date in 1941 - ‘She was wearing a pink dress.’
As a shy 18-year-old, it had taken a lot of courage for
Joan to go to the dance in her home town of Malvern in
Worcestershire, but she was impressed by the young
officer cadet’s sense of humour. They were married at
Harefield Church where his father was the vicar.
In Mar 1942 he was posted to Burma as a Pl Comd with 2
Royal Norfolk. His son Malcolm, born in Dec 1942, did
not see his father until he was nearly 5 years old. On 4
May 1944, in the opening round of the British
counter-offensive at Kohima, in Assam, 2 Royal
Norfolk carried out the audacious assault on GPT Ridge.
After an arduous three-day trek through thick jungle,
the battalion launched a reconnaissance in force from
the rear of the Japanese positions which quickly
developed into a full-scale attack. The commander of one
of the leading platoons, CSgt Winkie Fitt (died
1997), figured prominently in the assault which
helped shatter the myth of Japanese invincibility, for
which he was awarded
the DCM. Dickie, who was to conduct Winkie's
funeral service nearly 53 years later, in 1997, led
a platoon to reinforce CSgt Fitt’s platoon that day in
1944.
At Shaving Brush Spur Dickie was wounded in the arm and
leg during the Battle of Kohima Ridge, where Capt Jack Randle
was awarded a posthumous VC. Christopher Swainson, son
of the Rector of Kelling, and a great friend, died in
the next hospital bed and Dickie felt it was he who
should not have lived. The Britannia
No 51 May 1958 records:
"Dickie, undaunted, rejoined the Bn after a
remarkably short period of convalescence.' Dickie was
made MTO and returned as a Maj, one of only three
surviving 2 Royal Norfolk officers of the original 38.
His memories of Burma were included in a book produced
by the Imperial War Museum. The Britannia No 28 Aug 1946,
reporting on The 2nd Bn in Ramgarh, India states : ‘Of
the Battalion who went out India in 1942 only 5
remained; Lt Col JF Wilkins, CO; Maj B Aitkens, OC D
Coy; Maj HM "Dickie"
Davies, OC B Coy; RSM S Derry; CSM 'Bungy' Francis
and RQMS S Belmont.’ It
also refers to Dickie’s hockey prowess:
‘Left half, a keen, reliable player, he has been in
the team since Secunderabad.’
In The Britannia, No 39 May 1952, as Depot Training
Officer, Dickie is mentioned playing left half for the
Depot hockey team final against the Beds and Herts Depot
and commanding the 20 strong contingent at the funeral
of HM King George VI.
In that issue was the photograph, below. Dickie is 3rd
from the right, in the front row, with the Bates Pl Jan
52 National Service intake.
Back: Wall,
Howling, Bunn, Miles, Fleming, Allen, Euetts, Douer,
Green, Rush, Ashford, Armes
Middle: Bell, Cladwell, Olby, Pardon, Scott, Hubbard,
Brett, Rudling, Owen, Webb, Tortice
Front: Catchpole, 2Lt TC Jones, Maj Bob Hamond, Brig
CJ Wilkinson DSO, Capt HM
Davies, Sjt E Thompson, Perry-Warnes
|
After further service in BAOR,
Cyprus, India and West Africa he retired from the army
in 1958. His retirement was recorded in The Britannia No 51 May 1958:
As a trainer of soldiers he will be hard to replace
and will long be remembered for the personal, almost
possessive, interest he took in the welfare of his
men. His appointment as a Company Commander at The
Infantry Junior Leaders Bn was well chosen. Some of
our most promising NCOs came from that Bn during his
time there. He had a wonderful knack of making
humorous asides on life in general, and yet at the
same time maintaining a perfectly straight face. He
once suggested that the Army could solve the
recruiting problem by putting a large notice in the
national newspapers asking all civilians why they were
prepared to be messed about in general when they could
join the Army and be messed about by the experts! The
remark was made with such a serious expression that
one young subaltern, who did not know Dickie very
well, was seen to nod his head in earnest agreement.
We are all delighted that the Lord Bishop of Norwich
has approved of him as an ordinand.
The Britannia No 54 Aug 1959
announced that Dickie was ordained
as a Deacon at Lichfield Cathedral on 24 May and was
serving in the parish of Whitchurch-cum-Doddington,
Shropshire.
Norfolk, The Church and The Army were three strands
that were interwoven and reappeared again and again in
the Davies family: Great Grandfather - Vicar of
Wiggenhall St Mary; Grandfather - Rector of Holy
Trinity, Heigham; a Great Uncle - Vicar of St Stephen’s,
Norwich; a Great Uncle - Chaplain to the Army. During
the next 20 years Dickie was Rector at Scarning with
Wendling, Norfolk; Rector of Ightfield near
Calverhall, Shropshire; Chaplain to HM Borstal, Stoke
Heath; Rector in Catfield, Norwich, Chaplain to the
Norfolk & Norwich Hospital and Assistant Chaplain
to HM Prison, Norwich; Rector for Bunwell near
Carleton Rode, Norfolk; Master at Charterhouse, Hull
and temporary Chaplain to Addenbrooke’s Hospital,
Cambridge. He and Joan returned to Sheringham on his
retiring from the Ministry in 1981 and he swam in the
sea again, even on 1 April one year. Dickie was
Chaplain to the Sheringham Branch Burma Star Assocn
and President of the RBL Sheringham. On moving to Holt
in 1991, they had lived in 65 homes and became members
of the congregation at St Mary’s, Kelling.
Dickie enjoyed all social occasions and interaction
with people. He had a huge circle of friends whom he
amused with his humour and pronouncements. A familiar
figure, whizzing around Holt in his buggy, he
terrorised pedestrians and motorists with his speed
and unpredictability, more than once tipping it over.
Dickie liked village fetes and collecting things. His
speciality was beating stall-holders down at the end
of the afternoon until they were too exhausted to
protest! He did not enjoy ill health and increasing
infirmity. One Sunday, he commented on my sermon: ‘I
am sure it was very good but I can’t hear now.’
He organised this service and chose the hymns. In ‘Father,
hear the prayer we offer’ the words asking ‘for
strength that we may ever live our lives courageously’
reflected that he did. ‘I vow to thee, my country’
bids us hold together the 2 countries; this earthly
one of sacrificial action and the other, the heavenly
one ‘of gentleness and peace’.
Dickie was a much loved man who loved people. He
treated his soldiers, his parishioners, his prisoners
and his patients as his family - he loved them and
needed them.
Phrases from 2 very different prayers are most
applicable to Dickie: RL Stevenson’s bid: ‘that
bearing about with us the infection of good courage we
may be diffusers of life’ and, for one who loved the
sea so much: ‘Protect me My God, my boat is so small
and your sea is so great.’
At the Committal in the churchyard, Last Post and
Reveille were sounded by Keith Pegg of the Sheringham
Salvation Army and the words of the Burma Epitaph
were read: When you go home, Tell them of us and say:
‘For your tomorrow we gave our today’.
Dickie is survived by his widow Joan, children
Malcolm, Claire and Philip, 6 grandchildren and 3
great-grandsons. Revd Angela Dugdale and JLR
Webmaster comment:
Dickie and I often corresponded but, sadly for me,
never met.
|
|
 Walter Leeks of Long
Melford, in 1936, aged 38. He served with the Norfolk
Regiment in WW1 and is pictured right in a Football Team
photograph.
Walter was born in 1898 in Lawshall, Suffolk, but his
family lived for many years in Long Melford.
It is assumed that he was called up in 1916 at the age
of 18 years, and served for a few years after the war,
but no-one can remember any details of his service or
his regiment.
It is believed that he may have been gassed during the
war which may have accounted for his relatively early
death at the age of 38.
His daughter Peggy would like to know more of Walter's
service. Click
here for full details of the query.
Should any readers have any knowledge of Walter Leeks
please write via the Norfolk Section Editor. |
| Hugh
Rackham DCM of Wymondham, on 7 May
2002, aged 89. He served with 4 R Norfolk and is
survived by his widow Mary and children Ann, David and
Gill. JLR |
 William Taylor, Cpl,
5779473 on 2 Feb 1999. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 19
Dec 1915, Bill, known as 'Spud', travelled to London
before the war.
He had trained as a carpenter and joiner then served in
the 6th Bn, The Royal Norfolk Regt.
While part of the 18th Division he was captured by the
Japanese in Burma and worked in the Japanese labour
camps of the Burma-Siam Railway for nearly four years.
Considering the trauma and conditions during his
capture, suffering over 100 bouts of malaria,
infestations of skin worms and lack of vitamins, he
managed, with help, to get back to a reasonable state of
health, albeit with a recognised War disability pension.
Bill resumed his trade after the war then moved to
Romford with his wife Julia in 1949 and bought a house.
He ended his career as a building site manager.
Subsequently they moved to South Woodham Ferrers in
1975, close to their son and daughter.
His wife Julia predeceased him by 2 years.
He is survived and missed by his children Julie and
Peter. Peter Taylor
(Peter, Competition Secretary, Eastern
Centre Austin-Healey Club (UK) proudly wears Bill's
FEPOW lapel badge and runs a mean race. Ed.)
Postscript May 2005: See Restoration of Bill Taylor's Japanese bugle |
|
B&C Norfolk Editor