Chorlton Good Neighbours Care Group has been active in Chorlton, Manchester since 1967. This blog aims to capture the experiences of our members, many of whom are in their 80's and 90's. It also documents the variety of events and activities that take place in our group each week. Take a look at our website at http://chorltongoodneighbours.org
Chorlton Good Neighbours has an exhibition of the art work produced by its members who attend the art class on Thursday mornings. Here are Pauline and Margaret in front of the exhibition at Chorlton Library which runs until the end of February
The art work in place on the noticeboard in the foyer of Chorlton Library
Margaret Banks who runs the Art Class is here discussing with Pauline Robinson the best way of exhibiting the art work
On the other noticeboard in the foyer of the library we have also got information about the older men's group, tincluding the gardening club and the snooker and social afternoons. Also posters about our History Group which meets at 1.30pm on the first Thursday of each month
Bob Cowan, 93, and his wife Joyce are regulars at Chorlton Good Neighbours coffee mornings. One day last year he came in with a letter from the Russian Embassy in London, telling him they wanted to award him and other veterans the medal of Ushakov in recognition of their role in supporting Russian through their participation in the WW2 Arctic Convoys.
I followed this up and eventually found out from the Russian embassy that they were being prevented from giving the medal by the UK government because it was against the rules. We then mounted a campaign to get the government to change its mind and allow the awarding of the medal. This resulted in a front page article in the Manchester Evening News, articles in the Daily Mail and an interview on Granada Reports
The wider campaign to have an Arctic Convoy medal issued by the UK government gathered momentum because of this story and eventually the Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced in PM Questions just before Christmas 2012, that such a medal would be awarded. However, the medal of Ushakov can still not be awarded and the fight to allow the Russian Government to award this still goes on
[youtube=http://youtu.be/23s0BywHGzg]
The video above includes descriptions by Bob of what it was like to be in the Arctic Convoys and to have been rescued from the water after being on a ship (HMS Mashona) that was sunk. He also describes his experiences on the Malta convoys. Bob went on to serve in the Pacific campaign, to have been present at the surrender of Japan and to have walked through Hiroshima shortly after the Atomic Bomb.
The campaign to have the Arctic Convoy veterans contribution to the defence of this country in WWs is described in a clip from his interview with Granada TV in October 2013. This campaign which was supported and promoted by Bob's friends at Chorlton Good Neighbours, was successful when the Prime Minister in PM Questions Time in December 2013, announced the awarding of an Arctic Convoy medal for the remaining veterans
Bob Cowan, 4th from right, with shipmates onboard the HMS Ashanti off Iceland, 1942
Alan Wood, 90, is a regular at Chorlton Good Neighbours but not many are aware of what a remarkable WW2 record that Alan has. Alan was at Manchester University in 1939 and whilst there joined the University Air Squadron. He was called up in July 1942 and went into training for the RAF. During this period he flew Mosquitos and Spitfires but when he was assigned to the Coastal command Banff Strike wing in Scotland he flew beaufighters and mosquitos
It was during this time that he was shot down in the North Sea and spent four days adrift in a one-man dinghy until being spotted quite by chance by and Air Sea rescue member whilst they were out looking for someone else
Alan Wood - WW2 Fighter pilotBanff strike wing main role was to attack German shipping off Norway and in the Fjords. Alan didn't talk at all about his war experiences to his wife Joan until 50 years later and with great sadness of the many young airmen who died. In one raid 23 planes went out and only 3 returned
This video starts with Joan Wood talking about her husband Alan and his experiences in WW2 when he was a young fighter pilot. There is then an excerpt from an RAF film about Banff Strike Wing where Alan was based
Mosquito aircraft in at low level attacking two armed merchantmen In Norwegian Fjord with cannon and rocket fire, 4th April 1945
Mickie Mitchell from Chorlton , now aged 95, and a regular at Chorlton Good Neighbours served in the army and then the Fire Service in Manchester during the second world war. Here she talks about her growing up in Manchester and the Moravian settlement in Fulneck, Leeds (where a fellow pupil was Leonard Hutton, the cricketer).
She then goes on to recount her time in the fire service in Manchester during the air raids over the city and at Salford docks
John Mackay - another Chorlton Arctic Convoy Veteran
We have been running a campaign to enable Arctic Convoy veteran Bob Cowan to receive an Arctic Convoy World War 2 Campaign medal that the Russian Government wishes to award all those who supported the Russian war effort in this way. This Ushakov medal is still being blocked by UK government as "being against the rules". However, the Prime Minister announced just before Christmas that they will be awarding a UK Arctic Convoy campaign medal.
We are holding a Chorlton Good Neighbours History group event on Thursday Feb 7th at 1.30pm to celebrate our own WW2 veterans including Bob Cowan. We are also inviting to this event, John Mackay, who we recently discovered, is another Arctic Convoy veteran who lives in Chorlton. I interviewed him earlier this month and here is a video of some of that interview where he talks about his experiences on HMS Keppel in the Arctic Convoys
One of his memories is of the of the Sinking of HMS Kite on the 21st Aug 1944 l. This was published in a book about WW2 naval disasters [1].
"I was asleep in my hammock when I was woken by an explosion, shortly followed by a second. I was up and into my boots as action stations sounded. I already had my duffel coat on as we were ordered by the captain to sleep fully clothed in case we ourselves were hit by a U-Boat torpedo. I made my way onto the upper deck and headed for my action station, HMS Kite was astern of our position and sinking fast. Within no more than a minute of me reaching the upper deck HMS Kite was fully submerged. I made my way to the bridge, where my action station was, and carried out a sweep of the surrounding area but could not pick up a contact with the U-Boat. The Keppel circled the survivors as we continued to look for the U-Boat responsible for sinking HMS Kite until support arrived. When both HMS Mermaid and Peacock arrived the Keppel then drifted amongst the survivors who were scattered far apart. I had been ordered to go to the foc'sle with a hard line, where I saw a large number of the men covered in thick oil and clinging to carley rafts or bits of wreckage.
I was stood alongside AB Pritchard when a carley raft with two men on it came towards us. AB Pritchard threw his line out to the men but it fell short. One of the men on the raft shouted 'are you too old to throw a line'. As both AB Pritchard and myself were a lot older than the rest of our crew it was not uncommon for our own shipmates to comment on our age. The men in the carley raft must have been wondering who had been sent to rescue them as they drifted aft where they were eventually hauled on board. Many of the survivors on wreckage tried to swim to the Keppel and I saw several seamen drown as they did not have the energy to make it to us. I still believe that a lot more would have made it if they had held onto whatever wreckage they were clinging to and waited until we could launch our own whaler. I suppose panic and fear take control of you in such an awful situation
.
Afterwe had collected all the remaining survivors we headed back towards the protection of the fleet and I went below to our mess. One of the survivors was in our mess telling us of his ordeal. I remember some of the Keppel crew members trying to make light of what had happened to him by asking him how it was he had only got his feet wet. He told us that he had jumped from the deck of the sinking Kite straight into a carley raft. We gave him the nickname of 'CAT'. It was not long before we were given our orders to leave the fleet again and search for the u-boat that had sunk HMS Kite.
Unfortunately not all that were rescued by us from the icy waters of the North Atlantic survived and both myself and AB Pritchard, being older members of the crew, were detailed to prepare the dead seamen for burial. This entailed wrapping their bodies in canvas, putting weights at their feet and sewing up the canvas putting the last stitch through the nose (old navy superstition).
My duty at the burial service was to place the dead seamen one at a time on a sloping board and cover them with the Royal Navy flag. We held onto the body and flag whist a short service was carried out. The officer leading the service would then give us the signal to release the body into the sea and to their grave. Each individual received the same service whether they were an officer or not. Only a few of our crew attended these services as our new orders were to search for the u-boat that had sunk HMS Kite and the Keppel had to be fully manned".
Bernard Leach
[1]On a Sailor's Grave (No Roses Grow) Maritime Disasters of the Second World War, Mike Kemble, Woodfield Publishing , 2005 pp153-154
Chorlton’s World War 2 Veterans Thurs Feb 7th 2013 1.30pm
At Chorlton Good Neighbours, Wilbraham St Ninian’s Church , Egerton Rd South, Chorlton
£1.50 charge for tea & biscuits - All welcome
A tribute to some of Chorlton Good Neighbours members who served in World War Two:
Bob Cowan, for whom we mounted a successful campaign for an Arctic Convoy medal to be awarded to veterans such as himself and also John Mackay of Chorlton who is also a veteran of the Arctic Convoys
Alan Wood, fighter pilot, who was once shot down over the North Sea and was adrift in a one-man dinghy for 4 days
Mickie Mitchell, who drove army petrol tankers round during the Manchester blitz
The session, led by Bernard Leach, will include film footage of the Arctic Convoys, an interview with Bob Cowan and a presentation to Bob to mark his being awarded the recently announced Arctic Convoy Survivors medal. We have also invited the Russian Ambassador to present the medal of Ushakov which the Russian Federation have awarded to Arctic Convoy veterans. We hope that Bob, John, Alan and Mickie will all be at the presentation to contribute and answer questions
AB Seaman Bob Cowan 1941
HMS Mashona, 1942
Alan Wood, fighter pilot 1941
For further information ring Chorlton Good Neighbours on 881 2925 or email BTLeach@gmail.com
Les Jones singing at the New Year's Party held on Tues Jan 8th 2013. Les stepped into the breach when the entertainers who had been booked, called off at the last minute as one of their number was taken to hospital.
Happy New Year to all our supporters. We are having a New Year's lunch on Tuesday 8th January, midday for some of our older members who have spent the majority of Christmas on their own.
A couple of requests to help us out:
Has anybody got any Christmas crackers (unused!) that they can spare for the lunch
If you have any unwanted Christmas presents and wish to recycle them please could you bring them into the office and if they are chocolates, the office staff will enjoy them very much! But seriously, any unused gifts will be used as raffle prizes at the New Year's lunch
n settlement in Fulneck, Leeds (where a fellow pupil was Leonard Hutton, the cricketer).
ckers (unused!) that they can spare for the lunch