He was my grandfather.
At the age of 2 he was in the Southwark workhouse and was sent to Canada (Nova Scotia I believe). Unfortunately he got into trouble there and was given corporal punishment in public for fighting with a local lad.
He returned to the UK became a bricklayer and got married to a lady called Evelyn Gladys Jones from Uxbridge. They had four children Peter (my father) born in 1934, then Patrick, Kay and Jenny.
During the war he served in the Royal Navy and after the family moved to Bournemouth. He died in 1983 of cancer to the brain resulting from his war injuries. He had nine grandchildren including myself and my sister. He was much loved but a troubled man who spoke rarely about his life before the war, he served on Motor Torpedo Boats. He was also a hard man, I think looking back on it he probably had PTSD but back then they just used to call it "the war", but very gentle with his wife. I think if he had known his sister had survived and had been able to make contact with her it would have given him a great peace of mind. BTW he was also an amazing chess player.
