Gordon Charles Parsons (1926-1996)

Before my fathers death in July, 1996 Gordon completed his autobiography. Although his life story is probably more interesting to the family, there are many interesting stories about life in London as a child just before the second world war. There are also interesting stories about life in the Royal Navy in which he served between 1943-1946.

The following is a short excerpt from his autobiograpy, 'My Story'.

You do not have permission to publish these excerts in any form.

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There is little I can tell you about my Ancestors, other than that my sister, with a lot of love and a considerable amount of time and money, has traced the Parsons family tree back to the marriage of one John Parsons to Alice Felps in the year of 1560. I think it's safe to assume he would have been at least eighteen years of age at the time, therefore his birth must have been around 1542 during the reign of King Henry the VIII. The Father of the great Queen Elizabeth I, and the Browns family, my mothers family, to the year 1621 in the reign of James I. In doing so unearthed two little stories the first that a great-great-great Grandfather Edward D. Parsons (1783-1831) was killed after stopping for refreshments at the Red Lion Inn, probably for a lump of bread cheese and a pint of ale, while taking a cart load of cheese to Salisbury market. Evidently he fell under his horse and cart after leaving the Inn, breaking his leg and causing concussion of the brain, dying some two hours later. The Wiltshire Independent reporting the incident on Thursday October 30th 1851, quotes, 'He had held the same situati on for 14 years, and was represented to have been very sober and industrious.' The newspaper gave his age as 70 years old.

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And here's another quite amusing story set in the 'blitz' in London 1940

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On the 6th September, 1940 bombs fell in Abbey Wood, Plumstead, Eltham, Catford, Lewisham, Welling, Bromley, Hayes and Petts Wood. The following night there were eleven major groups of fires in the East End docks, Royal Arsenal Woolwich and Siemens at Charlton, and a further fourteen major fires in Lewisham and Greenwich. At the time my Father was working nights in Woolwich Arsenal. In London that night the fire service were called to 1,031 separate fires. This does not take into consideration the number of bombs that fell without starting fires, fortunately for Mum Stella and I, only three fires were started in Sydenham and eight in Forest Hill where a young girl was living who will enter my story in a few years time. As I have just said Dad was working nights during these raids which grew in intensity as the nights went by as did the anti-air-craft barrage , the ground shook on and off all night. There were few men living in Laurel Grove and even less at home at night. The occupiers of No.'s 27 and 25. having moved out of London soon after the war started. At No.23 lived an elderly woman and her middle aged d aughter her son was now serving in the R.A.F the three of us at No.21. No.19 was Ada and her three children although Phyllis her eldest was now like Stella a young woman. Two middle aged women one with a spinster daughter at No.17 and a widow and daughter again about Stella's age at No.13. No.11 was empty. The only man, a Mr Taylor, with his wife and daughter lived in No.15. Mr Taylor had been a sniper in the first World War in which he had lost an eye. Why I tell you all this is that every night when the s irens sounded and we all made our way to our Anderson shelters he would call out the names of everyone making sure we were all taking cover and as soon as a bomb fell close by again calling to see if we were all O.K. The one thing that used to upset him was someone living just over the back always carried a lighted candle up the garden on their way to their shelter he would call put that light out night after night but no notice was ever taken. That was until the young lad responsible answered by telling him to shut up. This was, to our Mr Taylor, the last straw. The next night he was waiting for him and as I have already said as a soldier he had been a sniper, and therefore a very good shot. It so happened he also owned a rather powerful air-rifle and as the lad had no intention of putting out the candle he was determined to do it for him. Unfortunately he was not as good a shot as he thought he was and instead of hitting the candle put a lead shot right in the bum of Jimmy Sayer the lad responsible. The boys mother threatened to call the police but changed her mind knowing she could never prove who did it. The candle never went on again.

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