大象传媒

My grandfather, John "Jack" Walter Pickles, died on Dec. 25, 1942 at Middleton Sanitorium at Ilkley from TB secondary to pleurisy. My father, Peter John Haskard Pickles, was only 7 years old at the time and was living in Normanton at his grandparents' home (Hilda and Herbert Walter Pickles). Dad remembers the bobbies coming to the door on Christmas morning with notification of his father's passing, and then remembers his grandparents ushering him upstairs so he wouldn't hear the conversation. It is sad that I never had the chance to know my grandfather - he was a colliery engineer in Normanton and at the time of his death, he had been a Private in B Company, 50th (Wakefield) Battalion, Yorkshire Home Guard. (My Dad recalls that he may have been stationed at Altofts, Normanton.) His war record from the Ministry of Defence stated that he enlisted on 30 March 1941 and was discharged 22 December 1942 in consequence of death.

My father believes that it was only 5 days from the time his father went to Middleton Sanitorium to the day he died. My grandmother (Lily Pickles nee Rowney) never took him to visit his Dad before he died, nor explained why his Dad was in the hospital, and this has affected my Dad for most of his adult life. The memories my Dad of his father are good memories and he adored him, but he never got to say good-bye.

John Walter Pickles is buried in Normanton Cemetery in an unmarked grave (that's another story in itself). My Dad has been back to Normanton on several occasions but has not been able to physically locate the grave.

I also notice that my grandfather's name is not on any of the war memorials for Normanton or Wakefield. Is this due to the fact that he was not "killed in action"?

I would also be interested in receiving any additional information or photos of the Home Guard unit that my grandfather was enlisted in.

Shortly after my grandfather's death, my grandmother [who was a nurse matron at Pontefract (not sure of hospital)] met & married Arthur Eric Foster (he was a Sergeant in the Lake Superior Regiment [motor]). Step-Grandpa Foster had been born in Sheffield, but had emigrated with his family to Ontario, Canada between 1920 and 1930. How my step-grandfather and grandmother met is not known, but looking at my step-grandfather's photo album he kept during 1940-1945 during his tour of duty, he was in England for a short period of time. After this marriage, my grandmother and my Dad emigrated to Canada. Step-Grandpa Foster passed away a few years ago. He was a kind and gentle person who loved life and loved nature. He was known as "the Beaver" by many of his friends. Grandpa Foster never spoke about his tour of duty during WWII. I can't begin to imagine the horrors he saw. I have read serveral articles on Canada's war website and the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor) had been involved in many horrendous battles, including Hochwald.

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