FORMER SPITFIRE PILOT and PRISONER OF WAR DIES

FLIGHT LIEUTENANT TOM HUGHES, resident of Ponteland  for many years died suddenly on 31^st December 2010

Tom Hughes was a 19 year old when he volunteered for the RAFVR in 1940 and won his wings the next year.  He was initially disappointed to be sent to the Central Flying School in Wiltshire to instruct new pilots but many of his fellow officers lost their lives in missions at this time.  He went to North Berwick to train on night fighters, the Blenheims and Beaufighters but his ambition was to fly Spitfires.  This was soon realised after further training at Grangemouth and Biggin Hill.

Tom was part of the vast assembly of air power built up in North Africa and Malta in 1943 to cover the invasion of Sicily.  After the German retreat from Sicily Tom was testing a captured German Messerschmidt when the plane crashed into a vineyard but fortunately he had baled out.  Surviving a crash by using his parachute made him eligible for membership of the unique Caterpillar Club, whose members were awarded a tiny gold caterpillar by the owners of the American firm who made the parachutes, IRVIN.

As the Allies pushed into Italy Tom was No 2 in the 43 Squadron, commanded by a Polish pilot, and he was flying very long hours.  On 18 December 1943, he was on a mission around the fiercely contested Monte Cassino when his Spitfire took a hit from the German anti-aircraft batteries.  The next thing he knew he was in a Field Hospital with a German padre saying prayers over him.  At least they had saved his life!  Tom suffered severe injuries with badly burned lower limbs and a cracked head.  He was eventually moved to a prison hospital in Stuttgart where he spent over a year before a prisoner exchange brought him back home.  He was highly amused to find that he was swopped for 3 Germans.

After the war Tom went up to Cambridge to read Mechanical Sciences and at the same time he was chief instructor to the undergraduates in the gliding school.  These three years helped both his recovery from wartime trauma and to readapt to civilian life.  In 1947 Tom met Joan when his sister invited some girl friends for the weekend.  Ever the beau, he hired a plane for the afternoon and took the girls flying.  They were terrified and thrilled!  He said that Joan 'passed muster' and last June Tom and Joan celebrated their diamond wedding.  Tom worked for a number of major companies before coming north in 1968 to work for Ronson.  He died aged 89 years on the last day of 2010.

Tom was a most hospitable gentleman and a great raconteur.  Loved by all who knew him he will be greatly missed.  He is survived by Joan, his widow, who was awarded the MBE in 1983 for her work as county organiser of the WRVS and she is a former Captain of Ponteland Ladies golf club. 

Captions:

Tom at the Ponteland Memorial 2008

Tom as a young officer in the RAF.


By Muriel Sobo

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

On Remembrance Sunday the largest gathering for years stood silent under the iron-grey sky around the Memorial Hall and filled their thoughts with personal memories during the two minutes silence.  Then Dr Caroline Pryer, representing the Queen laid a wreath and thirty two more wreaths were added by organisations in Ponteland.  There was a complete cross-section of the community from the Service organisations and the uniformed youth to the pupils and staff of the High School.  Remembrance crosses at the side of the Memorial were more personal and remembered Dad, the Burma campaign and Dunkirk.

This year it is also 90 years since the Lutyens-designed Cenotaph in Whitehall was unveiled as a secular monument to commemorate the dead of the First World War.  Cenotaph literally means an empty tomb and none of the combatants killed abroad were brought back to Britain.  To remember as well in a more Christian manner a scheme was hatched to bury an unknown soldier in Westminster Abbey.  Four bodies were unearthed from the four main battlefields of the Western Front, completely unidentifiable, and brought back to England with full military pomp and ceremony.  One was chosen to be buried in Westminster Abbey and we know it as the tomb of the Unknown Warrior.   The bereaved mothers and families of those killed felt this was personal to them and thousands gathered, with wreaths, to honour the dead at 11am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  The ceremony we attended today was almost exactly as it was 90 years ago. 

The stories behind the names on our Ponteland Memorial were researched in 2005 for the commemoration of 60 years since the end of WW2 and written up into a 60-page book.  It is still available from the Town Council office for £5.

By Muriel Sobo

Remembrance Sunday

The laying of wreaths at the Ponteland Memorial on remembrance Sunday was well attended.  The Memorial was erected after the 1914-1918 war to commemorate the dead in a war supposed to be the war to end all wars!   More names were added for the 1939-1945 war.  Today we are saddened by the loss of yet more young men and women who are fighting on behalf of their country in Afghanistan.  The men, women and children of Ponteland stood together in the damp grayness of a November morning to remember and appreciate the sacrifice of many.

By Muriel Sobo

Ponteland Pays Tribute

The rain cleared, the wind dropped, and the sun shone as Ponteland’s parade of youth organisations, lead by the RAF, reached the Memorial on Darras Road. The weather did not deter a substantial crowd of all ages attending to hear the service lead by Ponteland’s four clergy and to remember those who fought for their country and did not return. As the Last Post sounded many present had their own memories of relatives or friends as well as paying tribute to the names on the Memorial. Wreath laying was led by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant, Lady Bradbury, followed by members of the village organisations.

Among those was Tom Hughes, former Spitfire pilot, who has attended the Ponteland service for many years. He became a pilot before he was nineteen, achieved his ambition to fly Spitfires and was in Malta as part of the build up to cover the invasion of Sicily. The mission was accomplished and Tom was flying a captured Messerschmitt when he crashed the plane but he managed to bale out and land in a vineyard.

The Allied forces made their way up through Italy, till later, on a mission around Monte Cassino, Tom was hit by German anti-aircraft batteries and crashed into the hillside. This time he remembered nothing when he eventually came-to on an operating table in a German field hospital with a padre reciting prayers over him. Posted missing, he was a POW for more than a year before he was released in a prisoner exchange early in 1945.

Tom, badly wounded, came back. But there were huge losses among the aircrews and ten names on the Ponteland memorial were aircrew in the Second World War, out of a total of twenty four names. They too were very young.

We will remember them all.

By Muriel Sobo

Annual Remembrance Sunday Parade

Ponteland People turned out in force to pay tribute at the Annual Remembrance Sunday Parade and Service. The parade left Ponteland Leisure Centre as usual and travelled down Callerton Lane and along Main Street before turning up Darras Road to the Memorial Hall.A short service was held during which wreaths were laid by local dignitaries, the Royal British Legion, representatives of H.M. Forces and local youth groups such as Scouts, Boys Brigade, Guides and Brownies.After the service the parade marched back to the Leisure Centre where participants were thanked and local organisations were invited to the Diamond Inn for light refreshments.

By Muriel Sobo