Richard ("Dicky" as he preferred) was awarded a George Cross for
"great gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty" having disarmed
bombs dropped in World War Two. Here I am at an attractive crematorium near
Warrington where his ashes are scattered.
He was born in London and with a degree in mechanical
engineering was worked for London council until war was declared in September
1939. He joined the Naval Unexploded Bomb Department from HMS Effingham and
worked as an assistant. The following year the Luftwaffe targeted British ports
and bombed them mercilessly. They also laid mines near the neck of the ports to
explode an ships coming into dock.
On 16/17th September 1940 the Luftwaffe dropped 25
parachute mines on to London causing widespread damage. Only eight exploded and
the 24-year-old Dicky volunteered with two others to
disarm them (Reginald Ellingworth and Richard Ryan.)
This was almost suicidal stuff as the bombs were fitted with self-destruction
mechanism which triggered when the bomb was opened up. While opening the bombs
they may started ticking (with a 22-second delay clock) and they had to run.
They neutralised the first three mines successfully.
Four nights later four more parachute bombs fell
on Dagenham but only one exploded. The three men went to investigate. One had
to be drilled so a fuse could be pulled out. This deemed the bomb safe and Dicky was left to deal with it. The other two men walked
across to look at the last bomb which was about 200 yards away and hanging from
a parachute in a warehouse. Without warning it exploded killing both men. As Dicky has been delayed handling a bomb he wasn’t harmed.
All three were awarded George Cross medals. Dicky was presented with his at Buckingham Palace on 17th
June 1941. I know where Reginald Ellingworth and
Richard Ryan are buried and they’re on my list to visit.
Aged 28 Dicky married
Ruby Fair and they went on to have three sons. He went on to serve with the
mines counter-measures section for the navy, was appointed torpedo officer of
the light cruiser HMS Dido in the Mediterranean in 1942. He fought in the
coastal waters of North Africa and during Operation Vigorous and was involved
in the Allied landings in Sicily, Salerno and Anzio.
When World War Two was over he left the navy and
worked for the Atomic Energy Research Establishment as a maintenance manager
and researcher. He became a chief design engineer at Calder Hall nuclear power
station in Sellafield and toured the country giving
lectures on nuclear power. Aged 47 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of
the British Empire in 1963. After retiring he this quiet and modest man divided
his time between Cheshire and the Algarve (he outlived his wife.) He was
cremated here where I’m stood.
Walton Lea Crematorium lies within Lord Daresbury’s old estate (the Grade II listed Walton Hall)
and is a tranquil and peaceful setting to sprinkle someone’s ashes. The large
car park comprised only one car there that Thursday afternoon when I arrived.
The owner of the other car was an old man who I could see in the gardens of
remembrance. He stood with his eyes fixed on specific plaque for a few minutes.
I waited until he’d finished until I alighted from the car and had a chat with
him. I guessed he’d been visiting his wife’s ashes but it was his son’s on what
would have been his 60th birthday (he’d died in boyhood.)
I had a stroll around the extensive estate and
did the customary salutes around the crematorium. Dick’s ashes were scattered
in the Autumn Section but I didn’t see a sign pertaining to it. I did a hearty
stiff general salutes across the whole area and left.