OBITUARIES & TRIBUTES (Page 1)

Brigadier SD Blackburn

We are saddened to report the death of Brigadier SD Blackburn, who lived at Kemsing, Sevenoaks.    News was received from the new owner of his house, who kindly contacted us to say that he had died before she bought the property in the Spring of 2019.

Bert Longhurst at his 90th birthday in 2015

M

Bob Howe’s Friendship with Bert Longhurst

Bob’s  other son, John, writes:

My brother recently sent me a copy of an obituary which appeared in your latest magazine of Bert Longhurst. I was intending to write to you in case there was anyone of their vintage left who took the Magazine. I believe that up to last year there were 2 other friends although I do not know their names.

My father first went to the School, I believe it would have been 1936, with Bert. They actually met on their first day at Primary School in 1930 and were the closest friends for an incredible 90 years. Whilst they lived many miles apart after the war they always kept in touch and met at countless celebrations and holidays. I will always remember Bert and his lovely wife Vera with the very greatest affection and also the times when I met and played with Chris and Clive when we were somewhat younger than today! In addition to being a wonderful human being Bert was also a very talented artist and cartoonist and had the most amazing sense of humour, together with a passion for cricket and Brentford FC.

There seemed to be so many interlinking strands between our families. Dad and Bert's birthdays were only 3 days apart, my parents and their wedding anniversaries were also just days apart. Vera's sister (who I was fortunate to meet when she was 90) was the girlfriend of my father's brother and although he was, sadly, killed in the war, she remembered him as though it was yesterday.

One of the things that Dad used to tell was that Bert was responsible for him breaking his leg when riding his bike in the summer of 1938! Apparently, Bert was off school ill at the end of the Summer term and, as they lived in the same street, Dad was asked if he would take Bert's Report home for him. There had been some resurfacing of the road and Dad took the corner too fast and the chippings gave him a puncture causing him to fall off with the resulting injury. What made it doubly worse was that Dad spent most of that Summer holiday in hospital and then recovering at home! Needless to say it did not affect their friendship.

After leaving School Dad worked for British Railways (or whatever they were called in those days) before eventually joining the GPO Telephone side as a YIT (Youth in Training). He was not called up during the War but immediately afterwards joined The Royal Signals (6th Airborne Division) and served for 18 months in Palestine which was certainly not an easy life. He completed his parachute training, won his coveted red beret and was demobbed as an NCO in 1948. It was whilst serving in Palestine that through mutual friends he began writing to a young lady in Leeds who he had never met. Nevertheless, something went right as they were married within 6 months of him being demobbed, in December 1948. Initially there was no suitable vacancy for him to transfer with GPO Telephones and they were not together permanently until 1949. I still have a letter from Dad's papers from Hugh Gaitskell who was the South Leeds MP and helped with his transfer.

Dad stayed in Leeds for the rest of his long life. Nevertheless, when I was young we would always spend 2 weeks with his parents in Ealing and he actually took me to the School once when one of his ex-teachers retired. Dad retired from what had become British Telecom in the late 1980s but went back for 2 years to help out. My brother and I were born in Leeds (he still lives there) whilst my wife and I, now fully retired, are in Bedale in North Yorkshire following 20 years in Northumberland. Dad had 5 grandchildren who all thought the world of him, and eventually 5 great-grandchildren (with another due any day ie November 2020) who were a constant source of joy and pride to him in those last years.

My mother died in 2014 after more than 65 years of happy marriage but Dad continued to live independently in his own house until a fall in 2018 when he went into a local home in south Leeds. Although confined to his bed for his last 18 months or so he was always cheerful and thinking of others. His body may have worn out but his brain and sense of humour never did.

To return to his friendship with Bert Longhurst I must add that (I have mentioned above his artistic talents) when we cleared Dad's house we came across 8 or 9 amazing hand painted cards that he had produced for special birthdays and Golden/Diamond Wedding anniversaries. They are not just artistically wonderful but showed his cartoonist's skill and recollection of past events. They are truly works of art and, had they been produced by anyone famous, would be worth a fortune. Of course, as people always say on The Antiques Roadshow 'They will be staying in the family'

I'm not sure how many of Dad and Bert's contemporaries may still be around but I wish them well. Dad and Bert were truly wonderful English gentlemen and I am proud to have been the son of one and able to call the other a friend.

Yours most sincerely

John E Howe

Editor’s Note:

To those of us who had the privilege Bert’s company for many years on the Association’s committee, he brought dignity, warmth and charm to our lives.   To this, I can add wisdom, knowledge and guidance on living ours. It is evident that he shared these endearing qualities with his friend, Bob.

Without doubt, their education at Ealing Grammar School helped build the foundation on which their characters were formed.   We, later, pupils at the school were fortunate to have the opportunity to benefit in a similar manner.

JH

Bert Longhurst – A tribute to his life

Bert Longhurst was born in 1925.  in Ecclestone Road, Ealing.

During his Junior School years, Bert was introduced to two of his great loves. He caught sight of Vera, who was later to become his wife, and his father took him to Griffin Park, Brentford.

Bert delighted his parents when he 'got the scholarship' to follow his eldest brother to Ealing County Grammar School for Boys.

Although Bert was immensely proud of his time at Ealing Grammar School and served on the committee of the OEA until shortly before he died, he was only at Ealing County for a few years before war broke out.

Ealing Grammar School and its pupils were evacuated to Aylesbury but Bert and his parents didn't want him to leave Ealing, so he transferred to Drayton Manor School.

With his older brothers in the forces, when he left school, Bert was anxious to join the RAF but initially he was too young, so he became a GPO apprentice in 1942.   But when he turned 17, he joined the RAF, causing much worry to his family and Vera

Initially, Bert was to be trained as a bomb aimer and gunner but, with the change in the course of the war, the training scheme was cancelled.  Because of his time with Post Office telephones, Bert was selected to work on radar and communications but, as the course was over-subscribed, he found himself doing a variety of roles, from working in the kitchens at RAF bases, to loading bombs and sweeping runways of snow, during some of the bitterest winters on record.

Every now and then, he was able to persuade some of the air crew to take him on a flying exercise but, to his disappointment (and Vera's delight), he didn't go on any actual missions.

Towards the end of the war Bert was offered the opportunity of early release from the RAF to re-join the GPO to rebuild the bomb damaged, telephone network.

In December 1947 Bert and Vera were married and they initially shared a house with a war widow, in Mayfield Avenue, Ealing.

Back at work, a new invention, called television, was rapidly gaining popularity and Bert was one of the small GPO team that sent the signals from BBC Lime Grove out to the transmitters and on to the growing number of viewers.

In May 1951 Christopher was born and in 1955 Bert and Vera had saved enough money to buy a house in Midhurst Road, Ealing. That was where Clive was born in 1957.

Bert continued with Post Office Telecoms, and rose through the ranks.  He moved to Regional Headquarters in Waterloo and then back to work more locally, in Ealing.

Bert's first foray into art came in the 1960s and was somewhat unusual, as, having helped with stage scenery and carnival floats, Bert was asked to paint a huge 3-masted schooner on the back wall of a church hall for a Boys Brigade Display. This may have given Bert the confidence to try his hand at a more formal painting, as shortly afterwards he started work on a picture of The Mill in Fairford, in Gloucestershire.  A familiar landmark as he had spent his childhood holidays in Fairford.  From this, he went to attend art evening classes and go on painting holidays, which helped him develop his skills.

In 1982 Bert and Vera moved from Ealing to Amersham and, in 1984 after a particularly turbulent time within BT, Bert took early retirement.

Retirement was anything but quiet.  Vera was active in any number of clubs and societies and Bert was always on hand to produce beautiful posters, notices and lend a hand at events.

Bert's art was also developing and having joined Chesham Methodist Church, and their drama Group, he was now producing beautiful backcloths and scenery, as well as playing the occasional but highly memorable cameo role.

In the early 2000s Vera was diagnosed with bladder cancer and Bert devoted more of his time to looking after her.

Sadly, on 13th December 2007, Bert lost the love of his life, as Vera died.

Bert continued with his art and a wide range of other activities - always supporting others - but the passage of time brought an inevitable deterioration in his health.

As Bert became more and more immobile (though no less mentally sharp), Christopher and Clive helped him with day to day activities but it became clear his time at Grimsdells Lane, Amersham   was nearing an end.

In April 2019, Bert moved to Glen Lyn Care Home in Minehead

Bert died on 26th August 2020 - the day the floodlights were switched off for the last time at Griffin Park, rentford, prior to the move to their new home.

Bert and the OEA

Bert was an enthusiastic   member of the Old Ealonians despite only being at the school for just over four years.

Until walking became a problem, Bert was an enthusiastic attendee at many of the OEA visits, including Denham Flying School, Wembley Stadium, Twickenham   Stadium and the All England Club at Wimbledon.   During the latter visit, Bert was delighted to find the statue of Ealing Grammar alumnus, Fred Perry, and have his picture taken below the statue.  Bert's only disappointment   was that he had smuggled an old school tie into the club and was hoping to place it round Fred's neck before the picture was taken. The statue proved too large.

During his working life, Bert's contributions to colleagues' retirement parties became legendary.  Bert would research his 'subject' and produce a hand prepared giant greetings card containing anecdotes, drawings and cartoons. He would then deliver the card together with a hilarious speech which became so popular that his office would grind to a halt while everyone stopped to hear him. Rumour has it that the General Manager of BT came to dread making his speech at these gatherings as it meant having to follow Bert!

Bert was a talented artist, cartoonist and public speaker and he would often produce beautiful signs to direct members to OEAAGMs or to advertise the sale of school ties.

Bert's formal painting skills developed during the 1970s and although he became quite prolific, Bert was too modest to offer any of his paintings for sale. When he was 90 his family arranged an exhibition of his work to which friends and family were invited.

In 2019, having moved into a care home. Bert was finally persuaded to allow some of his paintings to be sold to help raise funds for the refurbishment the disabled facilities at his church. Bert's comment was that they might raise "a bob or two” to help with the fund raising. In the event, the sale raised just over £900 and paid for the whole project!

If Bert had a main focus during his time on the OEA Committee it was the production, placement and preservation of the honours board recording the names of the Old Ealonians who gave their lives during the two World Wars. Some of these people were friends and contemporaries of Bert's and his determination to live up to the promise that 'We will remember them' was never allowed to diminish.  After the school closed and was replaced by the West London College, the memorial board has been moved around the building several times. firstly, in the Ealonian Room and later in other parts of the college.   Wherever the college authorities placed it, Bert would always pay his respects every time he visited the site.  It would be a fitting memorial to Bert, if the OEA Committee were to ensure that the  board remains prominently displayed.

Bert Longhurst was a funny, talented, generous, thoughtful man who will be sorely missed. Perhaps the best epitaph for him would be that he was 'a gentleman of the old school'.

Bert Longhurst

Died 26th August 2020, aged 95

We are saddened to learn of the death of Bert Longhurst, a stalwart member of the Old Ealonians Association and a long standing committee member.  

Bert brought dignity, warmth and charm to the lives of those who knew him and will be sorely missed.

We extend our sincere sympathies to Bert’s, sons, Christopher and Clive, and to their families.

     Robert Desmond Howe

       Died 2nd May 2020, aged 95

We are saddened to learn of the death of Robert Desmond Howe (Bob), a former pupil of Ealing County School who passed away after a very short battle against Covid-19 in the care home in which he had been resident for almost 2 years.

His son, Bob (Junior) recalls that his father had fond memories of Ealing, which he left in 1948 to marry his mother in Leeds, where they lived until she died 6 years ago.  His father continued to live in the marital home until 2018.

Bob was in the same class as the late Bert and Vera Longhurst. He and Bert were life-long friends, despite not seeing a lot of one another, and both worked for BT.   Their birthdays were only a matter of days apart, and Bob always said that if he remembered to send Bert a Birthday card, he could be sure of getting one back a few days later!

We extend our sincere sympathies to Bob’s family.

Paul Waterhouse

9th July 1936 to 24th June 2020

Paul Waterhouse attended Horsenden Primary School, Greenford, before gaining a scholarship to join Ealing Grammar School in the Autumn of 1947.   

His son, John, recalls that his father was extremely proud to attend Ealing Grammar School and, apart from English, he enjoyed every lesson.  After leaving school he eventually passed his English exam, which enabled him to follow John Winslow into the Royal Navy, where he joined the Fleet Air Arm. 

The Fleet Air Arm Association has written the following tribute to Paul:

'It is with sadness that we are writing to let you know that Lt Cdr Paul Waterhouse Royal Navy, passed away peacefully on 24 June 2020.      

A Fleet Air Arm Observer, Paul joined the Royal Navy in 1958 flying Sea Venoms, Sea Vixens and Phantoms off Victorious, Centaur, Eagle and Ark Royal. After two operational tours in Sea Vixens, he flew Phantoms on a two-year exchange with the US Navy in Miramar California and embarked in the USS Forrestal. Later he helped form the Phantom Intensive Flying Trials Unit 700P NAS at Yeovilton in 1968. In May 1969 he was the first of the Royal Navy's team of three 892 NAS Phantoms to beat the world speed record for flying across the Atlantic during the Daily Mail Transatlantic Air Race. The Head of the Team was the then Captain Ray Lygo.  Paul was a well respected 'looker' and instructor, the last Senior Observer on 899 and a good friend to many.

After leaving the Navy, Paul became Sales Director for a well-respected printing company.

Paul lived for many years in Windsor with his wife, Jane.   Sadly, Jane also passed away suddenly this year, in March.  Paul was with her and, though extremely ill himself, was courageous by her side.

Paul and Jane were staunch supporters of the Old Ealonians for many years and will be remembered with great affection by fellow members.

When we learnt of his part in the 1969 Trans-Atlantic Air Race, he kindly provided a full account of the event which was published in our newsletter to members of the Old Ealonians Association.  

This account is now featured in the Library Section of this website.

Your Editor had the privilege of knowing Paul and Jane as fellow residents of Windsor and frequently ran into them at the local supermarket.  It was always a pleasure to see them both and they always had a very positive attitude to life and they imparted that to others.

JH (Ed)