OBITUARIES

[seren]

Harry Widdup, for all the people on One Guy who may have known my Uncle Harry who emigrated to New Zealand, I have just had word from his son Andrew also in New Zealand, that Harry passed away on Tuesday evening, he was 90 years old soon to be 91 on the 10th November. Its so very sad because he was the last of my late mothers siblings. seren

[Stanley]

Thanks for the news Seren. A good age but still sad.

[Thomo]

Would that have been the Harry Widdup who's mother lived at 78 Rainhall Rd, in the 1940's, and was in the RAF in WW2 and as a flight engineer was awarded the DFC?

[seren]

My Uncle Harry lived at 13 Calf Hall Road with my grandparents Ernest & Sally Widdup ,he was a flight engineer in the RAF in WW2 and was awarded the DFC,it hung on my grandma's wall for many years I remember reading it & the citation from the King,there is a website called Lancaster JB603 & on the page, first regular crew there is a group photo, he is second from the left, i have the wings from his uniform. Were there two Harry Widdup's in Barlick?

[Seren, I corrected your `JB63 to `JB603'...Tizer]

[Stanley]

Almost certainly, more Widdups about than you could poke a stick at!

[Tizer]

Here is the link to the Lancaster 603 web page and photo that Seren refers to showing Harry Widdup and crew: Lancaster 603

This link to the New Zealand Bomber Command Association's Facebook page shows a recent photo. The caption lists Harry Widdup: LINK

And another of their Facebook pages noting Harry's passing away: LINK

[seren]

Thanks for the links Tizer, and the correction I do get a bit number blind at times, sorry I stated it was the DFC and should be the DFM ,i was only a child and used to look at this medal every day in my grandmas, it looked like half a crown to me!

[PanBiker]

What a lot of people forget is the age of these young men. The pilot on the photo with your uncle Harry only looks about 18. What a responsibility to have on you shoulders.

[Tizer]

Jack `Boy' Cornwell was only 16 when he won the VC for his bravery on HMS Chester at the Battle of Jutland! And he's the 3rd youngest to win the VC, the other two being in earlier wars.

Seren, I'm glad to be of help. My father was in the RAF in WW2, my South African maternal grandfather was in the Inniskilling Fusiliers and Hampshire Regiment (not at the same time) in WW1 and fought in Salonika and on the Western Front, my dad's uncle lost both his legs in WW1. My Blackburn grandfather was a shuttlemaker during WW1, a protected occupation (without shuttles there would be no cloth and without cloth no uniforms) but he had to work wherever he was sent and was away from home much of the time. We're lucky to have lived in a time of no world wars!

[Thomo]

It now seems certain that the Mrs Widdup at No. 78 Rainhall Rd would have been Harry's Grandmother who later also emigrated to the Southern Hemisphere. As a child in the early 1940's I knew her as "Mother Widdup" our next door neighbour. When Harry had a weekend pass he would come to see her, often accompanied by friends they would sit on the wall between our homes and wait for my older Sister to appear, now aged 89 she would have been 1 year younger than Harry. I also recall Harry and two of his friends pushing me up and down Long Ing at breakneck speed in my wheelchair. God Bless you Harry, and thank you for the model Spitfire.

[seren]

The lady at 78 Rainhall Road was a relative to my grandparents she was called Maggie and her son was also called Harry, but he wasn't in the RAF ,they did go to Australia and this Harry Widdup became the managing director for WD & H O WILLS the tobacco company. I do have some paper work somewhere about the family, Raymond Pickering in Barlick another of my relative's sent me the info. It's nice to know someone else remembered Harry.

[Moh]

Warren Mitchell - Alf Garnett - has died aged 89.

[Stanley]

Cynthia Payne is dead, 'Madame Cyn' who kept a brothel in the suburbs. (LINK) I read her book and she always seemed to me to be a harmless fun-loving person.

[Tizer]

and this Harry Widdup became the managing director for WD & HO WILLS the tobacco company.

Wills Tobacco...sorry about this but I can't resist imparting bits of useless information. In 1892 the Great Western Railway had to convert all its track from broad gauge to standard gauge to match the rest of the country. They planned to do it over a single weekend using an army of navvies and engineers and very careful preparation. They would usually provide the navvies with abundant free beer or cider but on this special occasion they couldn't risk ending up with drunken men at work. So they had a word with one of the GWR's major shareholders, Wills, and the navvies were provided instead with free tobacco by the Bristol company. The ploy worked well and all the track was re-laid on the weekend, test runs were made on Sunday and regular trains were running again on the Monday. Imagine doing that today!

[Stanley]

Some fool would undoubtedly sue them......

[Nolic]

One of the Wills family lived at Eshton Hall, Gargrave in the 1920's/30's. My mum was in service there before she went to work for the Whittakers in Skipton. Nolic

[Tizer]

In my post above describing the GWR's switch to standard gauge I gave the wrong year and have edited it to show the correct one, 1892. Gangs of men were each allocated a short stretch of track and they all began at the same time. Here is a quote from a railway forum:

"The famous weekend was regauging the 177 miles (including branches and sidings) between Exeter and Penzance which was planned well in advance. There was a lot of preparatory work in the weeks and months leading up to it, including pre-drilling sleepers, prefabricating complex junctions on site and making sure the nuts and bolts on every joint were free to move. New standard gauge stock was distributed throughout the south west on well wagons or temporary broad gauge bogies in the weeks ahead and regauged. All broad gauge stock was worked empty to Swindon on the night of Friday 20th May 1892 and stored in 15 miles of temporary sidings. 4,200 men commenced regauging the entire line and branches at daybreak on Saturday and it was completed at 4.04am on the Monday. Not quite overnight but certainly less than 48 hours."

[Julie in Norfolk]

RIP Jonah Lumo age 40. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/34853536

[Stanley]

I heard that as well Julie. 40 years old is far too young!

[Nolic]

RIP big guy. So much talent, so much potential. Robbed by a cruel disease.Nolic

[PanBiker]

Yes RIP Jonah, probably one of the best players of all time.

[Cathy]

Stevie Wright. Singer and frontman from The Easybeats.
Born Leeds UK. Aged 68 years old.

Monday I've got Friday on my mind.
Sorry.
She's so fine.
Evie part 1. Evie part 2. Evie part 3.

With Evie. RIP

[Stanley]

See THIS for the Guardian report of the sudden death of Motorhead lead singer Lemmy Kilminster from aggressive cancer diagnosed on Boxing Day. I liked a lot of their music, full on rock and roll and heavy metal. No compromise!

[PostmanPete]

John Clark, former owner of Fernbank Mill has passed away this morning. A lovely man who will be sadly missed by all the Barlick posties who had the good fortune to have known him.

[Stanley]

I'm sorry to hear that. Only last night I was watching the Reverb Factory footage of him at the felling of the Fernbank chimney....