British History

On this day in history….11th April 2001

On this day in history : 11th April 2001 – The death of much loved Welsh-English actor, comedian, writer and singer Sir Harry Secombe….

Harry Donald Secombe was born in St. Thomas, Swansea on the 8th of September 1921; he was the son of a shop manageress and a grocer…. He went to a state grammar school from the age of 11…. Being a religious family (his brother, Fred, was to become a clergyman) Harry attended Church regularly and sang in the church choir…. On leaving school he considered a career as an opera singer….however, in 1937 he became a pay clerk in a shop….

He was to join the Territorial Army – and then during world War 2 he served in the North African Campaign, Sicily and Italy, as a Lance Bombardier with No.132 Field Regiment…. It was whilst in North Africa that he was first to meet Spike Milligan….

Harry joined the concert party in Sicily, performing comedy routines to entertain the troops….and after the War he was to team up with Spike as a comedy duo…. In 1946 he became one of the comics at London’s Windmill Theatre…. His radio break came when he was made resident comedian on the BBC Welsh programme ‘Welsh Rarebit’ – and he went on to make regular contributions to the popular show ‘Educating Archie’….

He was to meet fellow comedian Michael Bentine and along with Spike they were introduced to Peter Sellers…. This was to lead to a collaboration for a radio comedy programme entitled ’Crazy People’….which changed its name after the first series to become ‘The Goon Show’…. A hugely successful series which ran for a total of 238 half hour episodes and 12 specials between 1951 to 1960….

Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe – Fair use

The Goon Show team made several films to accompany the radio show, including ‘Down Among the Z Men’ in 1952…. Harry, now enjoying success as a comedian, began a tandem career as a singer and had a number of best selling albums…. He appeared in various stage musicals, including ‘Pickwick’ (based on Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers) in 1963, from which came his single ‘If I Ruled the World’, which reached No.18 in the UK charts – and was later to become his signature tune…. His most successful chart topping song was ‘This is My Song’, which reached No.2….

Image credit : Jacob Whittaker via Flickr

His film work included numerous films, such as ‘Jet Storm’ and ‘Davy’ (about a music hall performer) in 1958, ‘Oliver’ (in which he played Mr. Bumble) in 1968, ‘The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins’ in 1971 and ‘Starstruck’ in 1972….

In 1968 he was given his own TV show – ‘The Harry Secombe Show’ – which was first aired on BBC1 on Christmas Day 1968 and ran until 1973….

In 1963 he was awarded a CBE and knighted in 1981….

His later career saw a more serious Harry Secombe…. His rotund appearance having disappeared, after losing 5 stone in weight following a severe attack of peritonitis in 1980…. In 1983 he became the host of the religious TV programme ‘Highway’….

Ill health began to mar his life…. He suffered a stroke in 1997 and was diagnosed with prostate cancer in September 1998…. A second stroke in 1999 forced Harry to give up his TV career…. He also suffered from diabetes….

Harry died in hospital in Guildford of prostate cancer on the 11th of April 2001…. His ashes were interred in the churchyard of Shamley Green Parish Church… His tombstone reads “To know him was to love him”….

He left behind his wife Myra, whom he had married in 1948 and their four children….

On this day in history….10th April 1929

On this day in history : 10th April 1929 – The birth of British racing driver Mike Hawthorn – who was to become the United Kingdom’s first Formula One World Champion in 1958….

Born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, the only child of Leslie and Winifred Hawthorn, Mike had a privileged upbringing…. He was educated at the prestigious public school, Ardingly College, in West Sussex and then went on to study at Chelsea Technical College – before going into apprenticeship with a commercial vehicle manufacturer…. All in preparation for taking over the business his father owned in Farnham, Surrey – The Tourist Trophy Garage, which supplied and serviced high-end cars such as Jaguar and Ferrari….

Mike Hawthorn began competitive racing in September 1950, at the Brighton Speed Trials, in a 1934 Riley Ulster Imp…. His father, who himself raced motorcycles, encouraged Hawthorn’s interest in motorsport – providing him with first motorcycles and then cars in which to compete….

Some may term Hawthorn as having been spoilt….his parents certainly doted on him…. With his flamboyant nature, boyish good looks and don’t care attitude he was perhaps a larger than life figure – reflected by his 6ft 2” height…. He liked to party hard, enjoyed a pint whilst holding court at his favourite local pub – the Barley Mow in Tilford – and would tear around the countryside in his car – often chasing girls…. Dapper in his attire, he was always recognisable by the bow tie he wore, even when racing….

By 1952 he had switched to single seater racing cars and won his first Formula Two race at Goodwood…. He came to the attention of Enzo Ferrari….and made his Formula One debut in the 1952 Grote Prijis van Belgie, finishing in fourth place…. By the end of the season he had gained his first podium place with a third at the RAC British Grand Prix….

In 1954 he was to be involved in a crash which left him with severe burns…. It was also the year his father was killed in a road accident…. Hawthorn inherited the business and left Ferrari to join Tony Vandervell’s Vanwall team, so he could spend more time at the garage…. However, after just two races he went back to Ferrari….

Hawthorn in his Ferrari in the Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina – Public domain

In January 1955 Hawthorn replaced Stirling Moss on the Jaguar team…. He won the 1955 les 24 Heures du Mans – a race which saw one of the worst ever disasters in the history of motor racing…. Hawthorn had overtaken Lance Macklin in his Healey and had braked suddenly as he saw he had been ordered into the pits…. Macklin swerved into the path of Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh; the Mercedes collided with the Healey and then mounted the embankment and entered the spectator area…. It hit a concrete stairwell and disintegrated, sending debris into the crowd…. Levegh and 84 spectators were killed….

Mercedes withdrew from the race; Jaguar were asked to do the same but opted to continue and went on to win…. There was much scorn from both the public and press – Hawthorn was cleared of all blame following an Inquiry – but the accident was to haunt him….

In 1958 he won the Formula One World Championship, just one point ahead of his rival Stirling Moss…. Immediately after his victory Hawthorn announced his retirement from Formula One….

Just three months into retirement, on the 22nd of January 1959, he was driving his Jaguar down the A3, near to Onslow Village, Guildford, when he lost control at about 80 mph…. It was around midday, the weather was foul with heavy rain and gusting winds…. For years there was speculation as to what actually happened – but it appears he may have been racing at the time….

It seems Hawthorn had been on the forecourt of his garage in Farnham, just before setting off for an appointment in London, when a grey Mercedes drove passed slowly…. The driver was Rob Walker, a rival of Hawthorn’s in the racing world and an associate of Stirling Moss…. Walker flipped a cheeky ‘V’ sign at Hawthorn and sped off in the direction of Guildford…. Hawthorn leapt into his Jaguar and gave chase along the Hog’s Back – the A31 between Farnham and Guildford…. Hawthorn caught the Mercedes up and the two cars joined the A3, with the Jaguar now ahead…. Walker was then to witness with horror as Hawthorn’s car spun out of control, colliding with a lorry heading in the opposite direction, before crossing the grass verge and hitting a tree – ironically, the only tree in the vicinity…. Hawthorn was killed instantly….

A 1959 Jaguar 3.4 Mk 1 – similar to the one Hawthorn was driving at the time of his death. Image credit : Allen Watkin CC BY-SA 2.0

Hawthorn was engaged at the time of his death, to fashion model Jean Howarth…. He had one son after a romantic interlude with a French girl following his win at the French Grand Prix in 1953…. It is also thought Hawthorn was suffering from a terminal kidney disease and had only been given another three years to live…. If this were true then perhaps his death was a more fitting way for him to go….

Hawthorn’s grave, West Street Cemetery, Farnham – Image credit : Jack1956 – own work – CC BY-SA 4.0

British History

On this day in history….9th April 1969

On this day in history : 9th April 1969 – The maiden flight from Filton Airfield near Bristol to RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, of the first British-built Concorde….

Concorde 002 maiden flight – Edward Boiling via Flickr

Concorde 002’s first flight took place five weeks after the maiden flight of the French prototype Concorde 001, which flew from Toulouse on the 2nd of March….

The main purpose of Concorde 002 was as test and development of the fleet of 16 Concordes of the Anglo-French collaboration…..

As Concorde took off from Filton huge crowds and news reporters gathered to watch…. On board there were no passenger seats – but 12 tons of test equipment….and chief test pilot Brian Trubshaw, co-pilot John Cochrane and engineer Brian Watts….

Concorde 002 cockpit – Hugh Llewelyn via Flickr

The aircraft flew the 50 miles north-east to RAF Fairford, as the runway at Filton, at less than 9,000 ft long, was too short for Concorde to land again…. The journey took 22 minutes – and Fairford was to become Britain’s main test centre for Concorde…. At the end of this first flight, when asked how the crew were feeling, chief test pilot Brian Trubshaw relied “I think we’re all pretty buck to be frank”….

Concorde 002 first flew supersonic on the 25th March 1970 – it hit its maximum speed of approximately 1,350 mph on the 7th of October 1971…. The first commercial flights of Concorde took place on the 21st of January 1976 – with British Airways flying from Heathrow to Bahrain and Air France from Paris to Rio….

After Concorde 002 had finished its test programme it arrived at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton to go on permanent display in the Fleet Air Arm Museum….

Concorde 002 at the Fleet Arm Museum – Photo credit : Ian Kirk

British History

On this day in history….8th April 1905

On this day in history : 8th April 1905 – The birth in Easebourne, near to Midhurst, West Sussex, of Helen Joseph – an early activist against the apartheid system in South Africa….

Born Helen Beatrice May Fennell, in the village of Easebourne, near to Midhurst, Helen grew up in London with her parents and brother…. She graduated from King’s College, University of London, in 1927 with a degree in English….

She travelled to India, where she taught at the Mahbubla School for Girls in Hyderabad for three years – before moving to South Africa around 1931 and settling in Durban…. Here she married Jewish dentist, Billie Joseph, 17 years her senior….

During the Second World War Helen served as an information and welfare officer in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force…. At the end of the War her marriage ended in divorce….

In 1951 Helen applied for the position of Secretary-Director of the Medical Aid Society of the Transvaal Clothing Society…. It was then that she was to meet Solly Sachs, the trade unionist, head of the Garment Workers Union and anti-apartheid activist….

Helen became a founder member of the Congress of Democrats – an ally of the African National Congress (ANC) – and she also became national secretary of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW)…. She was appalled at the treatment of women in South Africa…. On the 26th of June 19 she was one of the leaders to read the clauses of the Freedom Charter in Kliptown, Soweto…. The meeting, involving a gathering of 3,000 people, was broken up by police on the second day – but by this time most of the Charter had already been read out…. It was a meeting from which Nelson Mandela escaped arrest by disguising himself as a milkman, as he was on a banning order at the time….

On the 9th of August 1956 some 20,000 women marched on the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the Pass laws, designed to segregate the population…. Helen was one of the main organisers of the Women’s March – and it was perhaps the highlight of her political career….

She was arrested and charged with high treason in December 1956 – and then banned in 1957…. Her trial dragged on for four years before she was finally acquitted in 1961…. However, despite her acquittal, on the 13th of October 1962, she became the first person to be placed under house arrest under the Sabotage Act, which had been recently introduced by the apartheid government…. She was to survive several assassination attempts, including bullets being fired through her windows and a bomb wired to her front gate…. She was also to survive cancer in 1971 – and continued to campaign for freedom and justice for all people in South Africa…. The last banning order against her was lifted when she was 80-years-old….

Helen was awarded the ANC’s highest award for her devotion to the struggle…. She died in Johannesburg on the 25th of December 1992….

Image credit : Steamhunter – own work – CC BY-SA 3.0

British History

On this day in history….7th April 1976

On this day in history : 7th April 1976 – Controversial MP John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party – causing a Parliamentary crisis, as he leaves the Government with a minority of one….

John Stonehouse – Photo credit : Andre Cros – City archives of Toulouse CC BY-SA 4.0

Prime Minister James Callaghan had been in power for just two days and was left with 315 MPs to the opposition parties’ 316…. In his resignation Stonehouse had attacked the Government, saying it was “dangerous and unrealistic”….and he called for an immediate general election…. Stonehouse himself was facing prosecution at the Old Bailey, after faking his own death….

Stonehouse’s troubles had begun in the early 1970s…. He had set up a string of companies but by 1974 most were in financial difficulty….and he had taken to ‘cooking the books’…. Desperate to find a way out, on the 20th of November 1974 he had left a pile of clothes on a Miami Beach – leading the authorities to believe he had drowned – or had even been eaten by sharks! So convincing was his stunt that a minute’s silence was held for him in the House of Commons….

In reality Stonehouse was actually in Australia setting up a new life with a fake identity and his mistress – his secretary Sheila Buckley…. The police eventually caught up with him in Melbourne on the 24th of December 1974…. He was deported back to Britain six months later….and was remanded in Brixton Prison – but released on bail in August 1975…. Although they were not comfortable with the circumstances Labour had not expelled him from the Party and he continued to serve as an MP…. However, at a meeting of the Party at his constituency of Walsall North, a committee had voted 47-1 to ask him to resign…. When he did eventually resign in April 1976 he lashed out at the Labour Party, accusing his constituency of prejudging him….

Stonehouse’s trial began on the 27th of April – he faced 18 charges of theft, forgery, attempted insurance frauds and conspiracy…. Sheila Buckley also faced charges…. After 68 days he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years imprisonment…. Buckley received two years, suspended for two years….

In 1979 Stonehouse was released on health grounds and in 1981 he married Sheila Buckley…. He was to die of a heart attack in 1988…. As for Jim Callaghan – he managed to cling on to power – with the 1977 Lib-Lab pact….finally losing the 1979 general election to Margaret Thatcher….