At our AGM, the existing committee was re-elected, with the exception of retiring members Mick Butcher and Pat Cole. Tom Stephens was elected Treasurer, and we are especially grateful to him, as without a Treasurer the branch could not continue. We still need committee members or members prepared to help in other ways, as the running of the branch is falling on ever fewer shoulders. After the business of the AGM, we heard two talks by members.
‘Great Uncle Fred’ by José Gibbs
José disclosed the secrets of the tin- exploring the shadowy world of her Great Uncle, a Sussex man, about whom little was known in the family. A cigarette tin, packed with documents sent to his relative to keep, in the late 1920s, gave some important leads on his life and service in the Sudan up to that time.
For his later life, José was dependent on doggedly pursuing Fred through many sources, as she demonstrated, including records of a scandalous divorce and his stay in the U.S.A.
'Lucky Arno' by Michael Lucas
Michael spoke about his German grandfather in law. After working in Africa and Finland, he volunteered for the Saxon artillery in 1914, serving on both Western and Eastern fronts. Later he was a union official , fighting infiltration by Communists and later Nazis. With Hitler in power he lost his union post, but assisted enemies of the regime. He survived heavy aerial bombing , a Gestapo interview following the 1944 bomb plot in which he was implicated, and the Russian storming of Berlin in 1945, dying in his 70th year.
Next Meeting
Wednesday 21st June 2017. 'Victorian way of death' by Tom Doig