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ST EDWARD’S
r
h
u
b
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bay, which set it on fire. When
the navigator went to bail out,
he found the mid-upper gunner
was sitting there. Later they
told me that underneath us was
the German fighter. I think that
the fighter pilot could see we
were in terrible trouble and was
seeing us bail out, counting us
and just watching to see that we
all got out alright. It was so close
that when the navigator jumped
he was a bit scared that he was
going to hit the other aircraft.
When the crew were safely out,
I bailed out and landed unhurt.
I tried to lay up at day and
walk by night. I was in farmland
and trying to make it to
Luxembourg. After three days
of evading troops and sleeping
in barns, I came to the Rhine.
It was December and I didn’t
fancy swimming it, so tried to
walk across behind a horse
drawn cart, but I was spotted
by the guards and that was it. I
met up with the surviving crew
at the Interrogation Centre.
The bomb aimer was shot
after capture. He had fought
in the Spanish Civil war on the
communist side against the
Germans. Eventually I ended
up in Stalag Luft 1 prisoner of
war camp, where I stayed till we
were released in 1945 by the
Russian advance.”
After the war Gervase
worked with the Air Ministry
setting up post war Air Traffic
Control, working in London,
Paris and Cairo. In 1948 he
met and married Mary. By
then Gervase was a student at
Worcester College, Oxford
where his tutor was Lord
Asa Briggs. In 1950 he joined
the Civil Service as a Factory
Inspector. In those days the
Civil Service moved their staff
around, so the family moved to
Lyndhurst, Leicester, Glasgow,
then finally in 1965 back down
south to Wiltshire. In 1975 he
took early retirement from
the Civil Service and in 1978
became involved with the
independent group which built
the Cricklade Leisure Centre.
In 1980 he and Mary took up
sheep farming. Since his days
at St Edward’s he was always a
keen squash player and finally
gave it up in at the age of 78,
but continued to play tennis.
In 2013 for the first time, since
he bailed out 60 years before,
he was once again back in a
Lancaster bomber for a taxi
run at the Lincolnshire Aviation
Centre. His most recent visit to
St Edward’s was in November
2014 to be presented with
the belated award of Bomber
Command Clasp.
PENNEY
– On 6th October
2015, John Penney (C, 1945-
1950), brother of Roland
Penney (C, 1945-1949). John
studied at Queen’s College, St
Andrew’s before joining the
RAF in 1958. He worked as a
General Practitioner from 1960-
1970, and an Occupational
Health Physician from1970-
1990.
PERKINS
– In 2015, Patrick
Harold Hillard Perkins (F,
1948-1934). He was in the RA
from 1954 to 1956, becoming
2nd Lt, and serving in the TA
from 1957 to1965 as Captain.
He attended Trinity College,
Dublin from 1956 to 1960. He
was Administration Manager
at GKN, Redditch, from 1960
to 1985, before becoming an
independent consultant.
PLUMRIDGE
– On 3rd April
2015, Christopher Plumridge
(D, 1958-1961), brother of
Timothy Plumridge (D, 1951-
1955), after a long illness.
The following obituary has
been taken from
The Telegraph
;
Chris Plumridge, who has
died aged 70, was, throughout
the 1990s, the
Sunday Telegraph
’s
golf columnist as well as the
author of numerous books on
golf. His writing skills, and a
natural sense of humour, won
him a faithful following among
the newspaper’s readership
and also among readers of his
columns in
Golf Illustrated
,
Punch
and many other newspapers and
magazines around the world.
Plumridge was the inaugural
editor of both
Golf International
and
The European Tour Yearbook
,
which he continued to edit until
his death, and was the author
of numerous books with titles
such as
How to Play Golf
,
Golf
Characters
and
It Can Only
Happen to a Golfer
. He also had
a reputation as a witty after-
dinner speaker. Christopher
Harry Plumridge was born at
Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, on
21st April 1944 and grew up
at nearby Flackwell Heath.
From an early age he and his
older brother Tim ventured
on to the Flackwell Heath
golf course from their home
behind the 15th green. Chris
became good at the game,
his five handicap enabling
him to tee-up in the Carris
Trophy at Moor Park, and had
considered turning professional.
Educated at St Bede’s School,
Eastbourne, and then at St
Edward’s School, Oxford, after
leaving school Plumridge tried
a number of jobs. A period
spent in stockbroking ended
when he was fired after falling
asleep at his desk following a
heavy “business lunch”. His
father ran a furniture business,
so he then launched his own
company, selling furniture parts
to manufacturers, before his
mother, exasperated by his
lack of enthusiasm, offered
him £1,000 to “Go out and
get a proper job”. He used the
money to follow his girlfriend
(and later wife) Vanessa to
South Africa, employing his
time on the voyage by taking
a correspondence course
in journalism. He worked in
advertising when he got there.
He returned to Britain in 1971,
following the death of his father,
and married Vanessa the same
year. He continued to work in
advertising until his appointment
as editor of
Golf International
launched him on his career in
journalism. Well respected
by his peers, Plumridge also
became good friends with many
professional golfers, in particular
Seve Ballesteros, whom he had
known since the golfer was
19. For the last 20 years of
his life Plumridge, a member
at Beaconsfield Golf Club,
was forced to stop playing the
game owing to a neurological
condition which impaired his
ability to walk. None the less
he remained a member of the
Association of Golf Writers
until his death, and was an active
force behind the scenes at the
European Tour and the inception
of the Golf Foundation. After
Vanessa’s death in 1998, he
met his partner, Sally Dinning,
who survives him with his two
daughters.
PRICHARD
– On 21st
September 2015, Anthony
Cowles Lowther Prichard (G,
1941-1946). Anthony served
in the RASC from 1946 to
1948, before attending Lincoln
College, Oxford, from 1948 to
1951. He was Assistant Master
at Hurstpierpoint College from
1952 to 1954, and Kingston
Grammar School from 1954 to
1976. Anthony was Headmaster
at Kingston Grammar School’s
Lower School from 1976.
PRINGLE
– In 2014, Michael
Pringle (G, 1939-1942). Michael
attended Law School from 1942
to 1943, before serving in the
RAF until 1946. He became a
solicitor in1949, and retired in
1985. He was Deputy Chairman
of Industrial Tribunals from
1977, and Chairman of the Legal
Aid Area Committee from 1982
to 1985. He was Vice-Chair of
Mayday Hospital from 1969 to
1972, President of the Society
of Family Practitioners from
1983 to 1984, President of the
Middle Thames Yacht Club from
1976 to 1980, and a member of
the RSM Liveryman Feltmakers
Company.
O B I T U A R I E S