Ray Beresford
Ray Beresford (1933 – 2019) was born in Long Eaton, Derbyshire to Elsie and Albert. He had two older siblings, Eugene and Madge and Johnny Walker, an orphan taken in by Ray’s parents, became a lifelong friend, more like a brother. After a short apprenticeship as an electrician, Ray worked...
Raymond (Ray) John Kite
Raymond John Kite, Ray (1943 – 2023) was born in Oxfordshire on 3rd June 1943 to Kath and Joseph, an older brother to Jeff. Ray went to Kidbrooke Green Juniors and then Eltham Green Comprehensive schools. At sixteen Ray started work for Trafalgar Engineering in Rotherhithe before working for Peak...
Raymond Edwin Wilsdon
Ray was born in East Oxford to Alice and Frank Wilsdon on 25th June 1921, ten minutes ahead of his twin brother Cyril. The twins had an older brother, Kenneth and a younger sister, Nancy. They all attended Southfield Grammar School. Their father died suddenly when they Ray was 10,...
Raymond Lyon
Raymond John Lyon (1933 – 2019) was born on 19th July 1933, to Vera and John. His early years were spent growing up in Croydon, with his younger sister Yvonne. He was evacuated to Brighton and then to Wales during the war. He was required to work hard on a...
Raymond Ward
Raymond Alexander Ward (1924-2018) Ray was born in Lewisham, the only son of George Sopp. He later changed his name to Ward. He got a scholarship to Beckenham Grammar but left school at 16 and became a clerk. During the war he was assigned to teaching radar. After a successful...
Reg Lawson
Reg Lawson (1936 – 2019) was born on 17th August 1936, to Jenny and Arthur. He had two older sisters, Barbara and Dorothy. Arthur died when Reg was only a few years old, and Jenny brought the children up on her own for a number of years. At school, Reg...
Reginald Beckington
Reginald Gordon Joseph Beckington (1928-2018) was born in Risca, Wales, to Thomas and Winifred and had three siblings John, Lillian and Winnie. His father died when he was very young. He did his National Service in the Navy and then ran the NAAFI in Port Said. Reg returned home and...
Richard (Dick) Patrick William Steele
Richard Patrick William Steele, Dick (1945 – 2024) was born to Eileen and William Steele on 12th September 1945 in Welwyn Garden City, a younger brother to Anna. Living in Brockett Close and then Beehive Green, Richard attended Templewood School. Achieving his childhood ambition of learning to fly airplanes, Dick...
Richard Godwin
Richard Ian Godwin, Richard, was born on 6th November 1968 and grew up in the quiet Oxfordshire parish of Ducklington where his father Ian was a builder and his mother Anne worked in the village shop. He and his younger brother Peter attended local schools. Richard joined his father in...
Richard John Maltby
Richard John Maltby (1964 – 2020) was born on 2nd December 1964. He grew up in York with his mum Pat, dad Brian and sister Sarah. Richard trained as a stonemason. His work took him around the UK and at the age of 19 he moved to Cornwall and joined...
Richard Walter Lawrence (Laurie)
Richard Walter Lawrence, Laurie (1933 – 2023) was born in Kenton, Harrow on 28th March 1933, a younger brother to Michael and Sylvia. Laurie’s mother died in an air raid in World War 2 when he was ten. Their father died eight years later after Laurie had joined the Royal...
Rita Lucas
Rita Joyce Lucas (1926 – 2019) was born in Portsmouth to Evalina and James Williams. She had an older brother Norman, and an older sister Marion. At the start of the war, Rita was evacuated to Winchester. When her family relocated to Shinfield near Reading, Rita joined them leaving school...
Rita May Woodham
Rita May Woodham (1933 – 2021) was born on 3rd February 1933 in Slough and lived there all her life. Her parents were William and Winifred Edwards, and she had an older sister, Jean. She went to James Elliman School, after which she worked for Eton Rural District Council. Rita...
Rita Smith
Rita Ann Smith (1944–2019) was born in Kingston to Mary and Ernest. She grew up with sister Ina and brother Jim, in Godstone and went to school in Oxted. Rita married Alan in 1965. Maria was born a couple of years later, and Carl a couple of years after that....
Robert ‘Bob’ Gaskell
Robert ‘Bob’ Gaskell was born in Pontefract on 30th September 1943, to Joseph and Minnie. He grew up there with his siblings, Eric, Rita and Peter. Their mother died when Bob was seven years old. At the age of 15 he went to work at the Prince of Wales Colliery,...
Robert (Bob) Andrew Wilson
Bob was born on 31 May 1943 in Hamilton on the shores of Lake Rotoroa on the North Island of New Zealand. With his older brother Neal and younger sister Jan, Bob enjoyed being outdoors and was fascinated by nature. Through his interest in collecting fossils, making bone studies of...
Robert (Bob) Desmond Luck
Robert Desmond Luck, known as Bob, was born in Caterham, Surrey to Gwen and Desmond Luck on 6th August 1942, the eldest of four children. He attended Caterham Hill School before joining Peugeot cars as a mechanic at the age of fifteen. Bob transferred his mechanical skills to the aeronautical...
Robert (Bob) Douglas Williams
Robert (Bob) Douglas Williams (1950 – 2022) was born on 24th May 1950 and grew up in Australia and as a ‘hippie’ travelled to Indonesia. He was married to Suzy and had two children Sam and Allys and grandchildren who knew him as ‘Dodo’. His interests included motor bikes and...
Robert (Bob) John Escudier
Robert ‘Bob’ Escudier (1943 – 2018) was born on 30 October in Battersea, the third of five children. His career was in the sale of curtains and blinds at TE Smith Blinds and Curtains before eventually setting up his own successful business, R&G Blinds, with his brother George. After the...
Robert Edward Holroyd
Robert Edward Holroyd (1931 – 2020) was born on 6th January 1938, to Gladys and Ratcliffe. He grew up in Elland with his younger sister, Irene. As a boy, he was a keen sportsman and maintained his passion throughout his life. After leaving school, Robert worked at David Brown’s Gears....
Robert Leeves
Robert Frank Leeves (1938–2019) was born in Peacehaven, the eldest of Alice and Maurice Leeves’ four children. When he left school, Robert got a job with an electrician, repairing radios and televisions. Married life with Susan started in a rented semi-derelict house in Newhaven, but they moved to Australia to...
Robert Onions
Robert ‘Bob’ Onions (1946-2015) was born to Hedley and Evelyn in South Wales, younger brother to Peter and Richard. Bob attended Grammar school in Cowbridge and then went to Birmingham University where he read Law, eventually joining the Civil Service in London. In the 1970s he moved to Hong Kong...
Robert Soper
Robert John Soper (1956-2018) was the middle child of Joyce and John Soper. From the age of five there were signs of ill health. He was treated for for cerebral palsy at the age of eight and at the age of 20, Robert was diagnosed with Ataxia-telangiectasia. This would affect...
Robin Neil Hannay
Robin Neil Hannay (1933 – 2021) as a child lived in Derby with his sisters Pam and Wizz. He went to Bemrose Grammar School. Robin left home to start a student engineering apprenticeship at Guy Motors, Wolverhampton. In August 1960 Robin married Jean. Their first house was in Fordhouses, Wolverhampton,...
