Mark Howlett
Mark Andrew John Howlett (1964-2019) was the son of Rita and John Howlett and the younger brother of Debbie. He grew up in Oxford and attended Redefield School. He left school at the age of 16 and became a driver, qualifying to operate HGVs. Mark married Lindsey in 1993. Their...
Martin Chandos Taylor
Martin Chandos Taylor (1952 – 2020) was born in Chelsea on 23rd May 1952 to Alfred and Lady Ursula Taylor, the youngest brother to Peter and John. Martin’s childhood was spent in Kew, attending a school in Gunnersbury. Martin took a degree in Arabic and Oriental Studies at university before...
Martin Gilbert
Martin Thomas Gilbert (1921 – 2019) was born in Folkestone on 8th February 1921, to Charles and Dorothy. He had a younger brother. Martin won a scholarship to The Harvey Grammar School. In 1937, he started an electrical engineering apprenticeship in London with Marryat & Place and gained a Higher...
Martin John Smith
Martin John Smith was born in Wolverhampton on 1st July 1959 to Jean and Bernard. He had three siblings, Paul, Sue and Robin. He passed his eleven plus exam and went to Penistone Grammar School, followed by Huddersfield Technical College. Having started work at Shelley Textiles, Martin made the decision...
Mary Cole
Mary Catherine Cole (1923-2019) was born in London, the only daughter of William and Mary McCarthy. Her father was an ardent socialist, and strongly influenced the beliefs that she held all her life. At the beginning of the war she joined the Wrens, and was stationed at Chatham. After the...
Mary Gordon
Mary Gordon (1923–2019) was the fourth of seven children born to John and Ethel. She grew up in Manchester. Her father died when she was seven, leaving the family in poverty. Mary left school at 14 to work at a munitions factory. She met Wilfred and they had a son,...
Mary Leach
Mary Leach (1931-2018) was born and raised in Stonyford, the third of nine children. Like many girls in those days, she left school at 14 and entered the world of domestic service. When she was 20, Mary married the 21 year old George and, not long after, Mary gave birth...
Mary Roberts
Mary Alice Roberts (1930 – 2019) was born on 2nd June 1930, to Annie and Jack Wilkinson, in Fartown, Yorkshire. Her sister, Margaret, was born when Mary was sixteen. She went to Greenhead Grammar School, then worked at ICI, dye testing in the laboratory. Mary married Norman in 1950, at...
Mary Urquhart
Mary ‘May’ Hannah Urquhart (1931 – 2018) was born in Lockerbie but spent her childhood and early adulthood in Dundee. She was the youngest of nine children. She left school at 14 to work as a window dresser at a department store in Dundee. She met her future husband David...
Matthew ‘Matt’ Trotter
Matthew ‘Matt’ Trotter (1939 – 2021) was born on 14th January 1939 in Washington, County Durham, to Bob and Rosie Trotter. He had five siblings, Joe, Jackie, Bobbie, Billy and Maggie. Matt joined the RAF aged 15, after his father and brothers. He reached the rank of Sergeant in Bomber...
Mervyn Stuart-Smith
Mervyn Stuart-Smith (1927 – 2021) was born on 28th January 1927 to Beatrice and Gilbert Smith in Frenchay, near Bristol and had a younger sister Margaret. Mervyn’s early life was impacted by the Second World War and the death of his mother at the age of fourteen. Following his National...
Michael (Mike) Lewis
Michael (Mike) John Lewis (1950 – 2019) was born to Beryl and Jim Lewis on 1st January 1950. He had a younger sister, Annie. The family moved frequently with his father’s RAF postings, but often returned to his Grandparents’ farm in Kinsley, Yorkshire. Michael started boarding at Pocklington School in...
Michael John Sawbridge
Michael John Sawbridge (1937-2015) was born on 21 October in Brazil where his father had settled after the First World War. After boarding school in England and a brief spell as an accountant, Mike was called up to do his national service. He served in the RAF and later became...
Michael Penny
Michael Penny was born on 28 July 1917 in Taunton. During World War II, he served in the RAF before rejoining the family timber business when the war ended. Michael enjoyed playing sports, particularly tennis, squash, and hockey, and walking trips across the country. He married his wife Jean in...
Michael Tudor
Michael Tudor (1965 – 2019) was born in Liverpool to Cathy. He had two sisters, Tina and Alison. He passed his 11+ and went to Campion grammar school but left without any qualifications. He left home at 16 and did various jobs in Liverpool. He met his life partner, Diane,...
Michael Wagner
Michael Wagner (1917 – 2017)was born in London on 2 November, the second of three children. He joined the army during World War II and, after being captured in North Africa, managed to escape from an Italian Prisoner of War Camp, spending five months hiding in a chapel. After the...
Michael Walmsley
Michael Walmsley was born on 9th September 1960 to Pauline and Roy. He had a younger brother, David, and was close to his maternal grandparents. He grew up in Holywell Green, West Yorkshire. Michael was a lifelong Liverpool FC supporter, travelling all over England to watch them play and sometimes...
Michel Prigent
Michel Pierre William Prigent (1943-2019) was born in Hereford, to Margaret and Pierre. He was the eldest child of four, with brothers Alain, William and sister Jean. The first three years of his life were spent in England and then in Brittany, but the family followed his dad’s postings first...
Mona Stakes
Mona Stakes (1927–2019) was born in Dewsbury, the only child of Leonard and Florrie Spurr. She had an idyllic childhood which came to an end when her dad fell ill and died when she was only ten. Mona grew up very quickly, taking responsibility for many of the household chores....
Neil Faraday
Neil Michael James Faraday (1968-2018) was born Neil Redhead in Cambridgeshire, to Margaret and John. He was the middle child of three, with brothers Martin and Andrew. He went to Dartford Road Infants and Westwood Primary School and then on to Hereward School for his secondary education. Neil’s first job...
Nic Snow
Nic Snow (1963 – 2019) was born in Hammersmith to Betty and Alf. He had three siblings, Malcolm, Elaine and Chris. His parents separated when Nic was nine, and he and Chris spent a year in New Zealand with their father. On return, Nic spent chunks of time with his...
Nicholas John Levine
Nick was born on 21st December 1938 the second child (Catherine was born 1935) of Sydney and Leila. The family were evacuated to Berkhamsted while Sydney stayed mostly in London working at the Ministry of Supply and on air raid duty. After the war the family moved to Highgate where...
Nicholas Price
Nicholas Ernest Price (1939-2018) Nick was born in Stanmore in Middlesex to Ernest and Margaret Price. He had an elder sister, June. Nick’s first job was in avionics with Ultra Electronics in Park Royal. Later he joined the family business making pottery vases. Nick married Frances, ‘the girl next door’,...
Nigel Watson
Nigel Jerome Edwin Watson (1947–2019) was born in Southall, one of seven children, and grew up mainly in Putney and in Wolverhampton. He was a talented guitarist, singer and composer. He collaborated and toured with numerous well-known artists, in particular, Peter Green. Nigel had three children, Josh and Alistair in...
