RabidAlien
1st Lieutenant
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Hugh Goldie
Hugh Goldie, who has died aged 91, enjoyed a long a career as a theatre director after serving as a U-boat hunter with the RAF in the Second World War and winning two DFCs.
The son of a doctor, Thomas Hugh Evelyn Goldie was born on December 5 1919 at Tywardreath, Cornwall. He was a chorister at Exeter Cathedral School before attending King's College, Taunton. On leaving school he joined Sheffield repertory company as an assistant stage manager, and was called up in 1940. He volunteered for service with the RAFVR and trained as a pilot.
After a brief spell flying Hudsons on operations over the North Sea, in August 1941 Goldie joined the newly-formed No 200 Squadron, which was sent to West Africa to seek out enemy submarines harassing the Allied convoys en route from the Indian Ocean and South Africa.
On September 28 1942 he was on patrol when he sighted a lifeboat containing survivors from a ship that had been sunk. Despite failing light, appalling weather and a shortage of fuel, Goldie circled overhead until rescue arrived. For the rest of that year he flew constant convoy patrols and reconnaissance sorties, after which he was awarded his first DFC.
In February 1943 he returned to England and converted to the Liberator before joining No 86 Squadron early the next year. From Northern Ireland and Iceland, he flew numerous anti-submarine patrols over the North Atlantic, some longer than 16 hours.
Following the German capitulation on May 5 1945, U-boat commanders were ordered to surface and display a black flag of surrender. Coastal Command crews had orders to attack those that remained submerged. For the next few days the RAF sent their anti-submarine aircraft to patrol the Baltic and the approaches to the North Sea to prevent fanatical German submarine commanders escaping.
On May 6 Goldie and his crew took off from an airfield in northern Scotland to patrol the Kattegat. A few hours later the radar operator picked up a contact 12 miles away, and Goldie headed his Liberator for the area. The schnorkle and periscope of a U-boat heading for the open sea was seen and Goldie attacked. He straddled the submarine with six depth charges before circling the area. Wreckage and oil rose to the surface and U-3523, on passage from Kiel, sank with all hands. It was Goldie's last operation, and shortly afterwards he was awarded a Bar to his earlier DFC.
In 1946 he returned to the theatre, joining the West Riding Theatre Company. He made his professional debut as a director in 1949 at the Sheffield Playhouse with Hobson's Choice, with a cast that featured Paul Eddington and Patrick McGoohan.
After a spell as director at the Liverpool Playhouse, in 1950 he was appointed associate producer at the Oxford Playhouse, where the company included Ronnie Barker.
Goldie worked on the original production of Christopher Fry's A Sleep of Prisoners, and in 1953 directed his first London production, Love's Labour's Lost, at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre.
From 1954 to 1957 he was resident director at the Theatre Royal Windsor, and when he took Mrs Gibbon's Boys to the West End in 1956 it was described by Kenneth Tynan "the best acted and directed American play since Arsenic and Old Lace".
Goldie then spent three years as artistic director at the Alexander Theatre in Johannesburg. On his return to Britain the plays which he brought to the London stage included Signpost to Murder (1961), starring Margaret Lockwood; Alibi for a Judge (1965), with Andrew Cruikshank; The Waiting Game (1966); Lady Be Good (1968); and A Woman Named Anne (1970), starring Moira Lister.
In 1974 he returned to the Theatre Royal Windsor, where he later became executive director. Productions included Laburnum Grove (1977), starring Arthur Lowe, and The Business of Murder, which opened at the Duchess Theatre in 1981 and ran for more than a decade. Goldie retired in 1986, but remained on the board and worked freelance with the Derek Nimmo British Airways Playhouse.
Goldie was passionate about cricket, playing in the minor counties for Oxfordshire whilst working at the Oxford Playhouse. He devoted much time to Richmond CC — as chairman in the late 1980s he was partially responsible for the arrival at the club of the 17-year-old Adam Gilchrist, who went on to be an outstanding Australian Test wicketkeeper/batsman and a family friend.
In later life, Goldie revealed his talent as a watercolourist, enjoying considerable success at local exhibitions and galleries.
Hugh Goldie died on December 23. He married his wife Janet, a Viennese refugee, in 1946. She survives him with their two sons and a daughter.
source: The Telegraph
Hugh Goldie, who has died aged 91, enjoyed a long a career as a theatre director after serving as a U-boat hunter with the RAF in the Second World War and winning two DFCs.
The son of a doctor, Thomas Hugh Evelyn Goldie was born on December 5 1919 at Tywardreath, Cornwall. He was a chorister at Exeter Cathedral School before attending King's College, Taunton. On leaving school he joined Sheffield repertory company as an assistant stage manager, and was called up in 1940. He volunteered for service with the RAFVR and trained as a pilot.
After a brief spell flying Hudsons on operations over the North Sea, in August 1941 Goldie joined the newly-formed No 200 Squadron, which was sent to West Africa to seek out enemy submarines harassing the Allied convoys en route from the Indian Ocean and South Africa.
On September 28 1942 he was on patrol when he sighted a lifeboat containing survivors from a ship that had been sunk. Despite failing light, appalling weather and a shortage of fuel, Goldie circled overhead until rescue arrived. For the rest of that year he flew constant convoy patrols and reconnaissance sorties, after which he was awarded his first DFC.
In February 1943 he returned to England and converted to the Liberator before joining No 86 Squadron early the next year. From Northern Ireland and Iceland, he flew numerous anti-submarine patrols over the North Atlantic, some longer than 16 hours.
Following the German capitulation on May 5 1945, U-boat commanders were ordered to surface and display a black flag of surrender. Coastal Command crews had orders to attack those that remained submerged. For the next few days the RAF sent their anti-submarine aircraft to patrol the Baltic and the approaches to the North Sea to prevent fanatical German submarine commanders escaping.
On May 6 Goldie and his crew took off from an airfield in northern Scotland to patrol the Kattegat. A few hours later the radar operator picked up a contact 12 miles away, and Goldie headed his Liberator for the area. The schnorkle and periscope of a U-boat heading for the open sea was seen and Goldie attacked. He straddled the submarine with six depth charges before circling the area. Wreckage and oil rose to the surface and U-3523, on passage from Kiel, sank with all hands. It was Goldie's last operation, and shortly afterwards he was awarded a Bar to his earlier DFC.
In 1946 he returned to the theatre, joining the West Riding Theatre Company. He made his professional debut as a director in 1949 at the Sheffield Playhouse with Hobson's Choice, with a cast that featured Paul Eddington and Patrick McGoohan.
After a spell as director at the Liverpool Playhouse, in 1950 he was appointed associate producer at the Oxford Playhouse, where the company included Ronnie Barker.
Goldie worked on the original production of Christopher Fry's A Sleep of Prisoners, and in 1953 directed his first London production, Love's Labour's Lost, at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre.
From 1954 to 1957 he was resident director at the Theatre Royal Windsor, and when he took Mrs Gibbon's Boys to the West End in 1956 it was described by Kenneth Tynan "the best acted and directed American play since Arsenic and Old Lace".
Goldie then spent three years as artistic director at the Alexander Theatre in Johannesburg. On his return to Britain the plays which he brought to the London stage included Signpost to Murder (1961), starring Margaret Lockwood; Alibi for a Judge (1965), with Andrew Cruikshank; The Waiting Game (1966); Lady Be Good (1968); and A Woman Named Anne (1970), starring Moira Lister.
In 1974 he returned to the Theatre Royal Windsor, where he later became executive director. Productions included Laburnum Grove (1977), starring Arthur Lowe, and The Business of Murder, which opened at the Duchess Theatre in 1981 and ran for more than a decade. Goldie retired in 1986, but remained on the board and worked freelance with the Derek Nimmo British Airways Playhouse.
Goldie was passionate about cricket, playing in the minor counties for Oxfordshire whilst working at the Oxford Playhouse. He devoted much time to Richmond CC — as chairman in the late 1980s he was partially responsible for the arrival at the club of the 17-year-old Adam Gilchrist, who went on to be an outstanding Australian Test wicketkeeper/batsman and a family friend.
In later life, Goldie revealed his talent as a watercolourist, enjoying considerable success at local exhibitions and galleries.
Hugh Goldie died on December 23. He married his wife Janet, a Viennese refugee, in 1946. She survives him with their two sons and a daughter.
source: The Telegraph
Ian Samuel
Ian Samuel, who has died aged 95, served with RAF Coastal Command during the Second World War before embarking on a diplomatic career in which he was a trusted adviser to two Foreign Secretaries.
Adrian Christopher Ian Samuel was born on August 20 1915 in Colchester and educated at Rugby and St John's College, Oxford, where he read Modern Languages. Deciding on a career in the Foreign Service, he learnt Arabic to add to his French, German, Spanish and Turkish; his first postings were to Beirut, Tunis and Trieste.
The war interrupted his progress, and in July 1940 he enlisted in the RAF Volunteer Reserve to train as a pilot, later joining No 206 Squadron in its anti-submarine operations over the North Atlantic.
On March 27 1943, Samuel was captain of a Fortress on a patrol 200 miles west of the Hebrides when a U-boat was spotted three miles away. Despite heavy anti-aircraft fire from the surfaced submarine, he dived from 2,000ft and dropped depth charges. His rear gunner saw the U-boat heel over and submerge. Then, as Samuel circled above, the submarine reappeared with its bows at an acute angle. He attacked again, and U-169, which had left Kiel to join a Seewolf group, sank vertically with all hands.
Soon afterwards Samuel converted to the Liberator, and in June he was escorting an Atlantic convoy when he was forced to ditch. He managed to land close to a destroyer, and he and his crew were soon picked up.
After serving for 15 months at Headquarters Coastal Command, in November 1944 he was released from the RAF as a flight lieutenant to return to duties with the Foreign Service.
Samuel had spells at the embassies in Turkey, Egypt and Syria – recalling that, while in Damascus, he stayed up drinking one night with Kim Philby, who lamented (entirely cynically, as his later unmasking as a Soviet spy would prove) the loss of British operatives behind Soviet lines.
In 1956 Samuel returned to the Middle East department in London and three years later was appointed Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, Selwyn Lloyd, and then to his successor, Sir Alec Douglas-Home. He accompanied both ministers on trips to Washington DC, staying at John F Kennedy's White House in 1961.
It was a difficult period for Anglo-American relations, with Macmillan's administration split over whether or not to share British nuclear secrets with the French, thereby helping Britain's entry into the Common Market. Samuel warned the Prime Minister's office that encouraging French ambitions to become an independent nuclear power risked annoying the United States. In the end the British went ahead, but ultimately failed to win over de Gaulle and succeeded only in irritating the Americans.
In 1963 Samuel embarked on a two-year posting as minister at the embassy in Madrid, after which he left the Foreign Service.
He then started a new career representing various industries in their dealings with foreign governments and international organisations. He was also director of two British trade associations in the chemical and agrochemical fields.
A man who enjoyed good food, good wine and genial company, Samuel was a popular member of the Garrick club. He suffered an unfortunate setback when, after winning a wine tasting competition, he lost much of his ability to taste and smell. These senses only partially returned over the years; in 1987 he wrote an article for The Spectator, "A Taste of Ashes", in which he described the experience.
In retirement Samuel published An Astonishing Fellow, a biography of General Sir Robert Wilson (1777-1849).
Samuel enjoyed reading, music and the theatre, and was a keen and competitive sportsman, playing hockey, cricket, tennis and golf. He also shot and skied and sailed his boat, Donna Sol, on The Solent.
He was appointed CMG in 1959 and CVO in 1963.
Ian Samuel died on December 26. He married, in 1942, Sheila Barrett, who survives him with their three sons and a daughter.
source: The Telegraph
Ian Samuel, who has died aged 95, served with RAF Coastal Command during the Second World War before embarking on a diplomatic career in which he was a trusted adviser to two Foreign Secretaries.
Adrian Christopher Ian Samuel was born on August 20 1915 in Colchester and educated at Rugby and St John's College, Oxford, where he read Modern Languages. Deciding on a career in the Foreign Service, he learnt Arabic to add to his French, German, Spanish and Turkish; his first postings were to Beirut, Tunis and Trieste.
The war interrupted his progress, and in July 1940 he enlisted in the RAF Volunteer Reserve to train as a pilot, later joining No 206 Squadron in its anti-submarine operations over the North Atlantic.
On March 27 1943, Samuel was captain of a Fortress on a patrol 200 miles west of the Hebrides when a U-boat was spotted three miles away. Despite heavy anti-aircraft fire from the surfaced submarine, he dived from 2,000ft and dropped depth charges. His rear gunner saw the U-boat heel over and submerge. Then, as Samuel circled above, the submarine reappeared with its bows at an acute angle. He attacked again, and U-169, which had left Kiel to join a Seewolf group, sank vertically with all hands.
Soon afterwards Samuel converted to the Liberator, and in June he was escorting an Atlantic convoy when he was forced to ditch. He managed to land close to a destroyer, and he and his crew were soon picked up.
After serving for 15 months at Headquarters Coastal Command, in November 1944 he was released from the RAF as a flight lieutenant to return to duties with the Foreign Service.
Samuel had spells at the embassies in Turkey, Egypt and Syria – recalling that, while in Damascus, he stayed up drinking one night with Kim Philby, who lamented (entirely cynically, as his later unmasking as a Soviet spy would prove) the loss of British operatives behind Soviet lines.
In 1956 Samuel returned to the Middle East department in London and three years later was appointed Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, Selwyn Lloyd, and then to his successor, Sir Alec Douglas-Home. He accompanied both ministers on trips to Washington DC, staying at John F Kennedy's White House in 1961.
It was a difficult period for Anglo-American relations, with Macmillan's administration split over whether or not to share British nuclear secrets with the French, thereby helping Britain's entry into the Common Market. Samuel warned the Prime Minister's office that encouraging French ambitions to become an independent nuclear power risked annoying the United States. In the end the British went ahead, but ultimately failed to win over de Gaulle and succeeded only in irritating the Americans.
In 1963 Samuel embarked on a two-year posting as minister at the embassy in Madrid, after which he left the Foreign Service.
He then started a new career representing various industries in their dealings with foreign governments and international organisations. He was also director of two British trade associations in the chemical and agrochemical fields.
A man who enjoyed good food, good wine and genial company, Samuel was a popular member of the Garrick club. He suffered an unfortunate setback when, after winning a wine tasting competition, he lost much of his ability to taste and smell. These senses only partially returned over the years; in 1987 he wrote an article for The Spectator, "A Taste of Ashes", in which he described the experience.
In retirement Samuel published An Astonishing Fellow, a biography of General Sir Robert Wilson (1777-1849).
Samuel enjoyed reading, music and the theatre, and was a keen and competitive sportsman, playing hockey, cricket, tennis and golf. He also shot and skied and sailed his boat, Donna Sol, on The Solent.
He was appointed CMG in 1959 and CVO in 1963.
Ian Samuel died on December 26. He married, in 1942, Sheila Barrett, who survives him with their three sons and a daughter.
source: The Telegraph
RabidAlien
1st Lieutenant
mikewint
Captain
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
Just saw this...it's sad to see the Greatest Generation past it's twilight. Soon, they will be no longer with us. 
'We Can Do It!': Geraldine Doyle, WWII Poster Inspiration, Dies - TIME NewsFeed
Attachments
Aaron Brooks Wolters
Brigadier General
RabidAlien
1st Lieutenant
wheelsup_cavu
1st Sergeant
Wheels
RabidAlien
1st Lieutenant
He was of the WW1 generation, but deserves to be here, too, I believe. Frank Buckles passed away Sunday 2-27-11.
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/world-war-i/generation-has-gone-28264.html
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/world-war-i/generation-has-gone-28264.html
Flight Lieutenant Don Nelson
Flight Lieutenant Don Nelson, who died on March 20 aged 91, flew 33 bombing operations as a navigator with the Pathfinder Force having already completed a full tour with a Desert Air Force Wellington bomber squadron.
Nelson joined No 7 Squadron in the spring of 1944 shortly before Bomber Command came under the direction of the Supreme Allied Commander for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. For the next three months, the Pathfinders were heavily engaged in supporting the operation.
The key to their success was accurate navigation and precise timing, placing great responsibility on Nelson and his fellow navigators screened off in the fuselage of their Lancasters. In the build-up to D-Day, Nelson attacked the French railway system and stores depots. Immediately before the invasion the huge coastal gun batteries were marked with flares and target indicators which the main bomber force used as aiming points. For his work over this period he was mentioned in despatches.
Nelson flew with one of the squadron's flight commanders who frequently acted as master bomber. Orbiting the target to give aiming instructions to the following bombers, often under heavy anti-aircraft fire, was a perilous task, and 7 Squadron lost three commanding officers in the space of only a few months.
In the weeks that followed the invasion, Bomber Command made many attacks against the V-1 flying bomb sites in the Pas de Calais. These small targets, often close to inhabited areas, had to be marked very accurately in order to avoid civilian casualties. Nelson also attacked Le Havre, where a large force of E-boats posed a serious threat to the shipping resupplying the Allied forces.
Later he attacked the strongholds at Boulogne and Calais, ports that were vital in helping to resupply the armies advancing eastwards. At the end of September he was awarded a DFC.
Towards the end of August, Bomber Command resumed its attacks against German industrial centres, and Nelson's crew marked Kiel, Bremen and Stettin and also acted as master bomber on a number of raids. He attacked Saarbrucken in October, his 70th and final operation. At the end of his tour he was awarded a Bar to his DFC.
Donald Kenneth Nelson was born in north London on February 23 1920 and educated at Tollington School. Aged 19 he volunteered for flying duties in the RAF and trained as a navigator in South Africa. In March 1942 he joined No 37 Squadron, a Wellington bomber squadron of the Middle East Air Force.
The arrival of Rommel and his Afrika Korps transformed the situation in the desert war, and Nelson and his colleagues attacked shipping in Tobruk and Benghazi in addition to supply dumps and advanced airfields as Rommel pushed towards Egypt.
He also attacked Heraklion airfield on Crete and targets on the island of Rhodes. In September 1942 he completed his tour of operations and returned to England to be a bombing instructor.
In the final months of the war, Nelson flew with a special RAF transport unit that maintained a regular route across the Pacific to Australia and New Zealand. In January 1946 he was released from the Service.
Nelson became a technical representative for large companies in the building trade, including Pilkingtons and Goodlass paints. Among his assignments was hanging lead doors at the Bank of England. Skilled at DIY, he once converted a mahogany dining table to a drop leaf table during the afternoon prior to an evening dinner party. He also made ball gowns for his wife.
It always rankled with Nelson that Bomber Command's contribution to the defeat of Hitler was overlooked after the war. He was very active in the Pathfinder Association, serving as both its treasurer and its president. He also supported the initiative to build a memorial to Bomber Command in London's Green Park, personally raising more than £2,500 for the fund.
Don Nelson married, in 1943, Edna Mather. She died in 1986, and he is survived by a son and a daughter; a second son predeceased him.
Source: The Telegraph.
Flight Lieutenant Don Nelson, who died on March 20 aged 91, flew 33 bombing operations as a navigator with the Pathfinder Force having already completed a full tour with a Desert Air Force Wellington bomber squadron.
Nelson joined No 7 Squadron in the spring of 1944 shortly before Bomber Command came under the direction of the Supreme Allied Commander for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. For the next three months, the Pathfinders were heavily engaged in supporting the operation.
The key to their success was accurate navigation and precise timing, placing great responsibility on Nelson and his fellow navigators screened off in the fuselage of their Lancasters. In the build-up to D-Day, Nelson attacked the French railway system and stores depots. Immediately before the invasion the huge coastal gun batteries were marked with flares and target indicators which the main bomber force used as aiming points. For his work over this period he was mentioned in despatches.
Nelson flew with one of the squadron's flight commanders who frequently acted as master bomber. Orbiting the target to give aiming instructions to the following bombers, often under heavy anti-aircraft fire, was a perilous task, and 7 Squadron lost three commanding officers in the space of only a few months.
In the weeks that followed the invasion, Bomber Command made many attacks against the V-1 flying bomb sites in the Pas de Calais. These small targets, often close to inhabited areas, had to be marked very accurately in order to avoid civilian casualties. Nelson also attacked Le Havre, where a large force of E-boats posed a serious threat to the shipping resupplying the Allied forces.
Later he attacked the strongholds at Boulogne and Calais, ports that were vital in helping to resupply the armies advancing eastwards. At the end of September he was awarded a DFC.
Towards the end of August, Bomber Command resumed its attacks against German industrial centres, and Nelson's crew marked Kiel, Bremen and Stettin and also acted as master bomber on a number of raids. He attacked Saarbrucken in October, his 70th and final operation. At the end of his tour he was awarded a Bar to his DFC.
Donald Kenneth Nelson was born in north London on February 23 1920 and educated at Tollington School. Aged 19 he volunteered for flying duties in the RAF and trained as a navigator in South Africa. In March 1942 he joined No 37 Squadron, a Wellington bomber squadron of the Middle East Air Force.
The arrival of Rommel and his Afrika Korps transformed the situation in the desert war, and Nelson and his colleagues attacked shipping in Tobruk and Benghazi in addition to supply dumps and advanced airfields as Rommel pushed towards Egypt.
He also attacked Heraklion airfield on Crete and targets on the island of Rhodes. In September 1942 he completed his tour of operations and returned to England to be a bombing instructor.
In the final months of the war, Nelson flew with a special RAF transport unit that maintained a regular route across the Pacific to Australia and New Zealand. In January 1946 he was released from the Service.
Nelson became a technical representative for large companies in the building trade, including Pilkingtons and Goodlass paints. Among his assignments was hanging lead doors at the Bank of England. Skilled at DIY, he once converted a mahogany dining table to a drop leaf table during the afternoon prior to an evening dinner party. He also made ball gowns for his wife.
It always rankled with Nelson that Bomber Command's contribution to the defeat of Hitler was overlooked after the war. He was very active in the Pathfinder Association, serving as both its treasurer and its president. He also supported the initiative to build a memorial to Bomber Command in London's Green Park, personally raising more than £2,500 for the fund.
Don Nelson married, in 1943, Edna Mather. She died in 1986, and he is survived by a son and a daughter; a second son predeceased him.
Source: The Telegraph.
Vassili Zaitzev
Master Sergeant
RabidAlien
1st Lieutenant
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General