My hero

[lawrie]

My hero,
he was born in 1919, to a middle class couple, his father was a manager of a 'gentleman's tailor'.
A somewhat sickly child who missed a lot of schooling due to having asthma, even so, at the age of 20 was a
sergeant-gunner in the British army, & was soon sent off to Burma for the war effort.
As soon as they arrived, they were 'chased' down to Singapore where all were captured by the Japanese.
Some poor souls stayed & worked building railways, my hero was shipped off to Japan, imprisoned & made
to work in the coalmines, just perfect for a 20 yr old skinny asthma sufferer.
It wasn't long before a 'fortunate' accident resulted in him visiting the hospital for a rudimentary
'repair' to get him back down the mines.
He realised that more visits down the black-holes would be the finish of him, & health & safety didn't apply
for asthma sufferers,(no-one in fact)  so whilst laying there he hatched the plan.
The doctors daily assessment concluded him to be fit, GERRUP, GERRUP they shouted, but my hero didn't,
& pointing to his waist down, he indicated paralysis, the 'doctor' came back shortly with others & produced
a pin, he then started jabbing the soles of each foot. One hint of a flinch & it would have been over.
This procedure was carried out the the entire duration of the war, can you begin to imagine the utter
resolve required to endure that? Knowing that every day you HAD to just lay there & endure the pain.
One day, there was a loud rumble & the ground shook, no-one knew what it was, then it happened again, shortly
after, all the prison guards flung the gates open & started bowing & scraping to them & offering food, the war was
over & the 2 bangs & rumblings were the atomic bombs going off.
He spent so long on the bed, that when it was finally all over, he couldn't actually walk at all, he was shipped
to the states on a stretcher, across the states on a stretcher, & back to the UK on the Queen Mary (troopship)
on a stretcher.
Once home, he had to learn to walk again.
An unbelievable clever, practical & inventive man, so much so that in the early 60's everyone was laughing at
his latest home-made gadget, he appeared to be hoovering the lawn, he'd cobbled-up a old broken hoover & adapted
it with blades & cowling & was cutting the grass with a 'floating' grass cutter, stupid idea that, that will never
catch on!!
All his working life was spent as an electrical engineer, mainly tv's radios & the like, & for a while had his
own business in a small unit.
In the 50's, not many homes had mains sockets in the rooms, so the light-sockets were used via a fly-lead on
a bulb adaptor, I can even remember the electric clothes-iron being used!!
As you may by now have guessed, my hero is my old dad, I as a kid my train-set was connected to the light
socket, & one day the train didn't work, when I told him, he promptly removed the 'plug' & stuck 2 fingers
on the 240v pins, 'OK there, plenty of juce'!! His bloody heart must be made of granite!!
Of course, next time it stopped working, numbnuts here, thought, 'ha, I know how to check it',
& did the 'finger' test, I can still feel the 50 cycle 'thump' as my shoulders tried to jump from
their sockets!
So with the above info, it can be seen that he's a right tough old bird,
Whilst in the TV game, & 8 track & VHS tape machines were in vogue, he often said 'I recon that all this data
could be digitised & somehow stored on a little chip'.      USB sticks & SD cards anyone??
Mum passed 9 years ago & he staunchly & independently carried on on his own.
A few months ago, he had a fall in the garden & lay there for 4 hours before a neighbour found him, the
paramedics then couldn't move him for another 4, several more falls & hospital visits resulted in him
being admitted to a care-home, the girls there were absolutely fantastic, I've never seen such care &
devotion as those ladies.
Then the inevitable, pneumonia, back in intensive care, then we were told to prepare for the worse, they
put him in the 'end of life' room to die, we were told to expect to lose him in 1 to 3 days, well here
we are, 10 days on, just had a call from the hospital to say he'd passed on at 0615 this morning.
I'm an 18 stone oaf, & have tears in my eyes, bye hero.
Hope you guys don't mind my post, I feel people should know about these forgotten heroes.

[daveh]

Sorry for your loss Lawrie, thanks for taking the time to tell us a bit of his story.

[GhostDog]

Deepest sympathies, man. Reminded me of my old Grandad - just don't make them like that anymore!

[Blubber]

Strength and wisdom to cope with your loss.
My condolences. 

[VladTepes]

It helps to share these things.

Condolences from me and @Mrs Vlad on your loss, he sounds like a fantastic fella.

[Rod G]

God knows you'll miss him.  Feeling for you Bro.

[Notty]

Thinking of you and your family 

[Kiwifruit]

Very sorry to hear of your Dads passing.
Great words.
They dont make too many men like that these days.
Guess he just couldnt put off going to see his mates any longer.
Kia Kaha Lawrie.

[gsxbarmy]

So sorry to hear of your loss Lawrie. I lost my Mum on Xmas Day evening, the last few months of her life were in and out of hospital with the inevitable calls to "get across quickly" a few times, before that call late Xmas morning. Nothing prepares you for it, even though they tell you of the inevitable. Mate I still have tears in my eyes some 4 months on.

Hang onto those memories, smile and raise a glass to your Dad - he sounds like he was one big tough softie.

Many condolences Lawrie, feeling for you

[Globalrider]

Condolences Lawrie, your Dad was a a hero!
Stan

[ARH]

Nothing more I can add to what's already been said... other than deep deep respect ... they don't make em like that any more.....

[Mick_J]

Deepest sympathies Lawrie, I lost my hero 26 years ago to the big C, I know what you are going through.

[lawrie]

Thanks everyone for the kind words, whilst I fully realise that all you & thousands of others have similar
stories tell, I just HAD to speak up for these old-timers, no-one else will, they really are an end of
an era.
I was a bit reluctant to post, as I thought I might be out of order, but seeing your words, I feel quite
chuffed for him.

[coldhands]

That was a lovely moving post , thinking of you and your hero 

[Mrg]

I was very taken back by this .. its men like that  we will always miss from our lives ,, a true gentleman