Richard Walter Lawrence (Laurie)
Richard Walter Lawrence, Laurie, 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 Navy. He served...
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,...
Rodney Birks
Rodney John Birks (1944 – 2019) was born on 14th March 1944 at Stratford Hospital, London, to Elsie and Alf. He had an older brother, Geoff. He grew up in Leytonstone. After school and technical college, he got a four year apprenticeship with Ford and qualified as an engineer. He...
Roger Locke
Roger Malcolm Locke (1945 – 2018) was born in Yorkshire to Hilda and Alf. He grew up in Shelley with his sisters, Hilary and Gillian, and his brothers, John and Andrew. Not keen on school, Roger preferred hunting and later owned and trained gun-dogs. He was a keen sportsman and...
Roger Woods
Dr Roger Paul Woods (1948 – 2020) was born in Winchmore Hill, London, on 30th December 1948. He was the only child of Rose and Henry Woods. Roger completed a degree at University College London in Anthropology and Linguistics. He worked for Camden Social Services and gained a Masters in...
Ronald (Ron) Fred Herbert Muggridge
Ronald Fred Herbert Muggridge, Ron, was born in Edenbridge on the 25th January 1928 to Bill and Fanny Muggridge, a younger brother to Dennis. Ron left school at 14, working in a factory making machines and aircraft parts until the end of the Second World War. Conscripted for National Service...
Ronald Delwyn O’Dare
Ronald O’Dare (1937 – 2018) was born in Cardiff on 28 August, one of seven children. After leaving school, he worked on deep sea trawlers and then joined the Merchant Navy. Ronald loved the outdoors and enjoyed camping. He married Pauline in 1962 and they had three sons: Mark, Craig,...
Ronald Furley
Ronald Furley (1937 – 2017) was born on 23 October in Nottingham, an only child. He began working in Boots as a Trainee in the Special Labs, making prescriptions, before changing career to become a Jeweller. He specialised in clock and watch repairs and had extensive knowledge of gems. Ronald...
Ronald Wilson
Ronald Wilson (1948 – 2021) was born in the village of Shilton near Burford on 30th September 1948 to Joan and Isaac. He had two older siblings, Les and Patricia. Ron attended the village school in Hailey and then Wood Green secondary school. He married Margrit in 1968. He was...
Roy Davidson
Roy Davidson (1932 – 2017) was born on 8 April in Liverpool, the eldest of three children. He worked firstly as a cowhand after leaving school and then in a variety of factory jobs. Roy helped set up a number of sports clubs in Didcot and was a keen cyclist....
Roy Stead
Roy Stead (1941 – 2019) was born on 3rd June 1941, to Emily and Willy. He grew up in Bradley with his big sister, Kathleen, and his brothers, Leonard, Brian and Reuben. His mother died when he was still young and Roy went to live with Kathleen and her husband....
Ruth ‘Barbara’ Handley
Ruth ‘Barbara’ Handley (1930-2018) Barbara, as she was always known, was born in Oadby, Leicestershire, on 19 March 1930 to Reginald and Edith Tunnicliffe. She had one brother Reg, who predeceased her. Educated at Blackpool Collegiate School for Girls, she entered Sheffield University to read French and English, and in...
