- Roy Jackman and Florrie Snelling
- Ronald Jeneway
- Alfred Johnston (d. Sept 1940)
- Charles George Jupe
- Percival William Keene (d. Sept 1940)
- Frederick Kemish
- Gwendoline Muriel Kitchener née Hancock
- Ronald Frank Lawrence (d. Sept 1940)
- Florence Margaret (Flossie) Lee
- Donald Maxwell Looker (d. Sept 1940)
Roy Jackman and Florrie Snelling
What stopped the late afternoon traffic in St James’ Road, Shirley on 13th June, 1942?
After last week’s “Makeshift Factories”, this week’s programme, entitled “Makeshift Wedding” will include more fascinating detail about the wartime lives of Southampton’s Spitfire Makers. It’s available from Friday by following the link below.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/progra…/w13xtv79/broadcasts/upcoming
You are invited to a wedding… A double wedding… A ‘Spitfire Sweethearts’ wedding…
Ronald Jeneway
Alfred Johnston (d. Sept 1940)
Image courtesy of The Supermariners and The Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust
Alfred Johnston was employed by Supermarine in an unknown role. He was 46 years of age when he was killed in the bombing raid on the 24th September 1940. As we have been unable to locate Alfred’s grave, floral tributes have been laid for him on the Commonwealth War Graves Memorial in Hollybrook Cemetery, Southampton.
Charles George Jupe
Educated at Ludlow School, Southampton, Charles George Jupe went on to become a skilled machinist and first aider at the Supermarine Woolston Works. After the bombing of the factory he was sent across town to work at what became the tool room and machine shop at Lowther’s Garage in Shirley.
The photos below are just a few from a wonderfully detailed autobiography of his whole life that Charles’ family have shared. We think that’s Charles in the middle of the front row of an infants class at Ludlow School. He’s pictured with his Hercules Roadster which “could be bought for 3 pounds 18 shillings and 6 pence”. He thought nothing of a day trip to Sandbanks and back. Again it’s Charles with the accordion in the middle of the front row on a Supermarine Works Outing in 1938.
Images courtesy of the Jupe family
Percival William Keene (d. Sept 1940)
Image courtesy of The Supermariners and The Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust
Percival was employed by Supermarine in an unknown role. He was 56 years of age when he was killed in the bombing raid on the 26th September 1940. Percival is buried in Hollybrook Cemetery, Southampton.
Frederick Kemish
TOP SECRET SPITFIRE PRODUCTION in the back streets of Southampton
Massive privilege to interview Frederick (Walter/Wally/Walt) Kemish, 98, yesterday.
He told us how he’d joined Weir Precision Engineering Ltd in South Mill Road, Regents Park, Southampton as a 14-year-old apprentice in the late 30s and stayed with them all through WWII eventually retiring as Works Manager in the late 80s.
He and a workmate did sign up to join the RAF but were turned down when it was found out they were in a reserved occupation!
Weir Precision is listed as one of over 300 Supermarine subcontractors, and are described as making “Machined details”.
Walter explained how “the Weir” didn’t usually make parts but rather machine tools for lots of companies like Rolls Royce and the Admiralty. However, he believes he was involved in making a top-secret bespoke part for the Spitfire.
He had to tell his parents he wouldn’t be home for several days and was asked to work round the clock with two senior engineers behind closed doors. They made what he described as “a ball within a ball” and produced two of them which they took “to the bus garage on Winchester Road” (the Hants & Dorset Bus Garage which was making Spitfire wings and where we unveiled one of our Spitfire Makers plaques earlier this year!)
He remembers reading a report shortly afterwards which said that the first Spitfire fitted with cannons instead of machine guns had shot down an enemy plane and he believes that the parts he had helped to make were used to mount and adjust the cannons inside the wings.
For more than two hours Walter regaled us with a flow of amazing memories that we have recorded and look forward to following up.
The photo of the premises is from his collection and the map shows Weir Precision along with two other nearby Supermarine subcontractors: the Solent Carpet Co and British American Tobacco.
If you can add anything about what was happening in any of these companies please share it.
Photos courtesy of Frederick (Walter) Kemish and The Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust
Gwendoline Muriel Kitchener née Hancock
Gwendoline Muriel Kitchener née Hancock – 29th April 1915 – 7th July 2015
“Aunt Gwen”
Worked on Spitfires at Sewards Garage and Hursley Park
Information courtesy of her nephew Ray Hancock
Aunt Gwen was born at 39 Wilton Road, Upper Shirley, Southampton on 29th April 1915. One of 11 children and the sixth daughter of the family. The house, now demolished, was right next to Shirley School.
Uncle Ray, Raymond Alan Kitchener, was born in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, on 29th April 1917. He was exactly two years younger than Gwen. He died on 8th July 1999.
In 1939 Ray was an Accounts Clerk RAF 543354-Calshot., and a Flight Lieutenant on retirement from the RAF. Gwen and Ray met at an airman’s dance at Calshot. They used to run a bus for the girls From Woolworths and all the shops. Initially her mother and eldest sister were reluctant to let her attend the dances but they relented in the end. After they married Gwen used to go to the dances at Calshot with Ray but didn’t get much of a dance as Ray played the drums in the orchestra.
Gwen worked at the tobacco factory then, because she couldn’t get a job anywhere else and her father was a foreman there. Gwen enjoyed the job as it was a “nice clean job” and paid well.
In this photo Gwen is probably around twenty years old
Photos courtesy of Ray Hancock
Gwen’s wedding at St James to Raymond Alan Kitchener in 1940.
Extract from an Oral History interview with Gwen in 2010. Published with permission…….
“I had only known him (Raymond) for about 8 months – I met him in the November and we were married in the April, I was married at St James Church. We went to live in Holbury near Calshot and we lodged with a man and a woman – the man worked in the Agri Oil Works as they were then – now its that great big place [Fawley Refinery]. Mr Macdonald [he was called] – he worked there and we have been married seven months when my husband was posted abroad and of course I went back to my mum. We didn’t know where he was going but we were lucky really because he ended up in Rhodesia – he could have gone to Singapore or anywhere like that.
My husband was away for four years during the war. I worked at Vickers, first of all at the top of Wilton Road – there was a big place there and then we went up to Hursley Park and Vickers were there [too]. The men used to make these big templates and we used to stamp them with the numbers on – Bottom Top Londron – parts of the aircraft.
I used to work at Vickers from 8am until 6pm at night – you would come home and have your tea and then go down in the shelter every night – I didn’t have much of a social life during the war because my husband was away. We went to the Guildhall and we had a dance – I used to like going to the Guildhall to the Policemen’s Balls because they were very nice”.
The bridesmaid on the left in the wedding photos was Rosina Lambert, who on 11th October 1941, married Gwen’s younger brother Owen Douglas Hancock (16th September 1919 – 1st August 1942). He was a Sergeant Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, a U/T Pilot and was killed in a plane crash in Lincolnshire. He was buried in West End Cemetery.
Owen and Rosina Hancock
Another of Gwen and my father’s older brothers, Ernest William Hancock, (16th January 1909 – 30th April 1945) was killed on active service in the Mediterranean area. Flying Officer RAFVR. Commemorated on Alamein Memorial, Egypt.
Therefore of the three Hancock brothers who joined the RAFVR, my father Wilfred Victor Hancock (11th April 1917 – 22nd June 1990) was the only one to survive.
Excerpts from “St James’ Park – From Shirley Rec to Renovation – 1907-2014” by Michaela A Lawler-Levene and the FoSJP History Team.
Ronald Frank Lawrence (d. Sept 1940)
Image courtesy of The Supermariners and The Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust
Ronald was employed by Supermarine in an unknown role. He was 24 years of age when he was killed in the bombing raid on the 24th September 1940. As we have been unable to locate Ronald’s grave, floral tributes have been laid for him on the Commonwealth War Graves Memorial in Hollybrook Cemetery, Southampton.
Florence Margaret (Flossie) Lee
The memories of Florence, “Flossie” Lee were sent to us by her son, Rex Budd, and are now featured in one of our Spitfire Makers pennants.
There is more information on Florence on The Supermariners website. Click here to view it
Donald Maxwell Looker (d. Sept 1940)
Image courtesy of The Supermariners and The Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust
Donald was an Aircraft Electrician at Supermarine and also a member of the 13th Hampshire Brigade of the Home Guard. He was 31 years of age when he was killed in the bombing raid on the 26th September 1940. Donald is buried in St Mary Extra Cemetery, Southampton.
The Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust 