Thomas Cambell Beswick was born on 18 August 1920, the youngest of the three children of Thomas Beswick (1873-1961) and Mary Beswick née Cambell (1877-1932). His elder siblings were: Mary Beswick (1907-1997) and Molly Beswick (1911-2006). His birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1920 in the Salford registration district, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester).
In the 1939 England and Wales Register he is shown as a student of engineering living at 26 Lullington Road, Salford, with his widowered father and a female housekeeper. His father was described as an exporter of machinery.
The London Gazette dated 4 November 1941 shows that he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service number 107831, on 3 October 1941 as an Acting Pilot Officer on probation (emergency) and was attached to their Technical Branch. The London Gazette of 2 June 1942 confirmed that as an Acting Pilot Officer on probation that he was made a Pilot Officer on probation with effect from 26 April 1942. He served in No.133 Eagle Squadron. The London Gazette of 12 March 1943 confirmed that as a Pilot Officer on probation he was made a Flying Officer on probation (war substantive) with effect from 26 November 1942, remaining in the RAF's Technical Branch.
He married Mary Violet Denham (b.1917) in the 1st quarter of 1945 in the Wokingham registration district, Berkshire. His wife was listed in the 1946 Register of Nurses as living at Ambleside, St Leonards Avenue, Hayling Island, Hampshire. She qualified as a nurse on 28 June 1940 in London, having studied from 1936 to 1940 at The London Hospital, Whitechapel (now the Royal London Hospital). They had three children: Frances J. Beswick whose birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1946 in the Stepney registration district, Ian C. Beswick whose birth was registered in the 4th quarter of 1949 in the Hampstead registration district and Jennifer M. Beswick whose birth was registered in the 1st quarter of 1951 in the Bromley registration district.
Electoral registers in 1964 and 1965 show him and his wife listed at 33 Westmoreland Road, Shortlands, Beckenham, Kent. Registers in 2005 and 2006 show him recorded at 5 The Moorings, 2 Willow Way, Christchurch, Dorset, BN23 1JJ. He died, aged 87 years, on 5 December 2007 in the Christchurch registration district.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them