Is Dame Vera Lynn really a war hero?
The Royal Mail has issued a set of commemorative stamps to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day on 8 May. The 'Valour and Victory Presentation Pack' features ten men and women whose courage and determination, in the words of Royal Mail, 'helped shape the outcome of the second world war'.
Another criteria in selecting the ten was 'diversity'. One or two curmudgeons on social media have muttered about 'wokeness', but that is unjust. For many decades, the valiant contribution of Indians, Nepalese and West Indians to the war effort was overlooked or, worse, airbrushed out of British history books. So well done to the Royal Mail for including in its ten 'true heroes' Bhanbhagta Gurung, who was awarded the Victoria Cross serving with the Gurkha Rifles in March 1945; Trinidadian George Arthur Roberts, the first black man to join the London Auxiliary Fire Service in 1938; and fighter pilot Mahinder Singh Pujji, one of the first Indian Sikhs to volunteer for the RAF.
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This was in Holland Park Drive in Rhyl. George Owen was just aged five at the time. The photo was taken by Bernard Bestwick who lived on the corner of Donald Avenue and ran a Chromium Silver Plating business on Vale Road. He also had an amusement arcade called Joyland in Queen Street near the Victory Club. George, who was born in Rhyl and worked as a printer at the old Journal Offices in Russell Road, said: "I was five years old and I am shown circled alongside my sister Diana who was two years old. My mum Margaret Owen was standing behind us and my late elder brother Gordon is shown on the left. At that time we lived nearby at 53 Rhuddlan Road. My sister and I are still in good health. George is shown circled alongside his sister Diana who was two-years-old and his mum Margaret Owen (Image: Bernard Bestwick / Shared by George Owen) "Sadly Bernard Bestwick's son was killed in action during the D Day landings. His details are on the Rhyl War Memorial. "Rank, Name and Service Number: Corporal Bestwick, Bernard Francis 4201568; Service: Royal Hussars Royal Armoured Corps (H.Q. Sqn. 13th/18th) Died: June 10 1944, Age: 28. "He was the husband of Dorothy Bestwick shown at the front of the photo sitting on the left with a child on her knee. "The lady on the extreme right, beneath the flag, was Queenie Westbury who, with her husband Percy Westbury, ran the Gem Grocery Stores (now a house) on Rhuddlan Road, where we were all registered with our ration books [George still has his]. George Owen (Image: Submitted by George Owen) "The area in the photo behind Holland Park Drive was all fields but is now all built up." George made mention that in the VE Day street party photo it is mainly women and children in attendance. "I assume they [the men] had either not returned from the forces, were at work or were celebrating in the pub," he said. "I mentioned that during the war my family lived at 53 Rhuddlan Road. One memory I have is of me playing in the front garden and men arrived and took away our metal iron gate. "I ran into the house but dad said it was for the war effort as they were short of material make bombs. "Ironically, it was revealed much later that this was just morale-boosting as the metal was dumped the sea later because it was not suitable." George now lives in Clapham, London, with his partner Angela. He said: 'I visit Rhyl fairly regularly to see family and friends and though the old place has its problems, like anywhere else, I still get a fix from a bracing walk on the prom and a pint in the Swan." George is hoping that Journal readers will be able to identify other people in pictured in the photo.
