Leslie Tom Humphries- My Grandfather

 

Hello friends and family, 

I guess my Grandfather Leslie is a good place to start ( My dad's dad). My father Trevor is still alive and respectfully I am not going to put a lot of information about him on the internet just yet, but my amazing father Trevor is the son of Leslie Tom Humphries and Muriel Joyce Humphries nee Balaam.

Leslie Tom Humphries was born on 7 Dec 1916 in Lambeth, London. Leslie was known to his family and friend as 'Les' and was the only child of  Robert and Dorothy Humphries- (nee Baldry).

Les spent his childhood years in London, being baptized in the St Thomas church in Lambeth and attending the Coopers' Company school at secondary education, located in Upminster area of the London Borough of Havering, England. 

The school had a set uniform which was compulsory with navy blue tunics and even though academics was important, sports were encouraged and all boys too part in a range of activities. Sports day was(and still is) an annual event where boys gain points for their Team, and award is given to the winning Team. There was stranger events too: including the Slow Bike Race. The winner was the person who took the longest time to travel 100 yards. Strict rules were enforced: participants had to stay in their lane and not put any part of their body on the ground. Gymnastics was an important part of school life, demonstrating the physical prowess of the boys to parents and invited guests.

In his 20's Les lived and worked in Southwark. The Southwark area is a bustling district by the River Thames. The area had a market with fresh produce, a few restaurants and businesses and cozy pubs that were welcoming spots to have a pint. A number of years was spent at Pilton Place which was built in 1930s. Les and his parents must have moved in to the area when it was fairly new with a communal Garden and more. 

Les worked as a warehouse stock keeper overseeing general operations and activities, including shipments and taking deliveries and conducting stock checks and counting inventory. Basically he made sure that consumers had access to the merchandise they were looking for.  

In 1939 Les enlisted into the Royal Navy serving as a motor mechanic until 1945. His Navy days took him all over the UK and to India in 1941. He spent time in Bombay which is now known as Mumbai on India's west coat. On the Harbour waterfront stands the iconic Gateway of India and he also spent time in Deolali with its abundance of greenery and scenic locales. Deolali has long been an important army base. All of his time in India with the navy were spent with his navy buddies 'shiner' and 'yorky'. 

I remember him speaking of Murree India- which is a mountain resort town about 19 miles northeast of Islamabad. His scrapbook of photos from India show many Murree views. It looks as though he went to many different places in India- not one specific location either to do with the Navy mission or sight seeing on free time. Les got to see the Taj Mahal which is something i've always wanted to do. This  ivory-white marble mausoleum is very impressive! 

Les was assigned to a ship belonging to the 5th Destroyer Flotilla and linked to the No 3 guns crew.  A formation of destroyers that during the war, it primarily served in the Mediterranean. 

When Les was not at sea he was part of HMS Ganges(Shore establishment) a training ship mainly in the shotley area in Suffolk about 8 miles from Ipswich. The Royal Naval Training Establishment had been at Shotley starting in 1905, it trained boys for naval service until 1973.  Ganges admitted adult entrants to the Royal Navy who only underwent 6 weeks of training.  It is particularly famous for its 143-foot high mast which all boys under training were required to ascend, at least to the half-moon and for the mast manning ceremonies held whenever a dignitary visited the establishment. 

I believe that he met my grandmother through being in Suffolk with Ganges- probably in one of the local pubs. Muriel Joyce Balaam and my grandfather Leslie Tom got married in May of 1945 in Ipswich, Suffolk, when he retired from the Navy. Les moved to Suffolk from London to be with my grandmothers family at first on Bulstrode Road before they got their own house. At one point in time my grandmothers parents and my grandfathers parents lived next door to one another ( 35 and 37 Bulstrode Road in Ipswich). Les's parents must have also moved to the Suffolk area to be closer to their son when he settled down after the military. My grandmothers father Fred was a witness to their marriage.  

Les's  father Robert purchased a house on schreiber road-  Ipswich  in the early 1950's. Sadly Robert passed away about a year after the home purchase of No. 42 schreiber road. The house was then given to my grandfather and grandmother- which later became the family home where my dad Trevor was  raised. Trevor arrived in to the world in 1955 born at the Ipswich hospital.

Around the time my father was born- Les worked as a welder - an iron founder in it's more general sense a worker in molten ferrous metal, generally working within an iron foundry.

Les and Muriel lived in the schreiber road house for the remainder of their living years. My grandfather lived their 46 years before he passed away on christmas eve of 1998.  He died of congestive cardiac failure, Ischaemic heart disease. At the very end the heart muscle was not pumping blood as well as it should and the blood backed up and fluid can build up in the lungs, causing shortness of breath along with narrowed heart arteries. 

Les also showed signs of a healing cerebral infarct - an area of necrotic tissue in the brain which caused disrupted blood supply and restricted oxygen most commonly due to a thromboembolism. Following his passing he was cremated in Jan 1999 and his ashes were scattered in the Millennium cemetery in Ipswich on Tuddenham Road as his final resting place. It is often difficult to decide on the final resting place, but my grandmother considered many options available, and decided here as it was fairly close by and she could visit the Millennium cemetery whenever she wanted. 

Les was a wonderful grandfather to me and my dad was very fond of him as a father. He was one of the most kindest and loving Man you could ever meet. Most outside memories are with my grandfather and it is the same for my dad. My dad told me about going to Rushmere duck pond and feed the ducks, or a bike ride to Tuddenham countryside/forest and eat a jam sandwich on top of a hill in a spot they thought was nice. It lies on the River Flynn just outside of Ipswich. The village contains 'The Fountain' restaurant which was my grandfathers favorite. A train ride to Felixstowe beach to make sandcastles and have ice cream. Les would always wear a shirt/tie no matter what the occasion was. 

He loved family time spending time laughing, joking and relaxing with family. As a child my dad would always take my brother and I to our grandparents house on a Sunday- where my grandparents would prepare a Sunday meal and a trifle dessert that they were incredibly proud of. The layers of custard, jelly and cream with chocolate sprinkles were a perfect combination. On the rare occasion they would make it extra special with fresh cream piped around the edges for presentation. They loved to treat us.

Grandad Les loved his little work shed at the bottom of the garden. More often or not when we arrived at my grandparents house he would be in his work shed tinkering with stuff. He was a very well respect man by everyone in the family and those that knew him outside of our little family circle.

He is loved and missed every single day and I hope he would be proud of the work I am doing with the family tree. 

Les helped my dad with a coes flyer advertising back to school clothing as a boy. The shop is a UK fashion retailer that showcases male and female fashion, plus school and formal wear located on Norwich Road in Ipswich. The flyer still remains in the shop window today.