A Fighter like my Mam? 25 10 22
... this blog perhaps a sequel to "A naïve man..?" first published 2017 12 14 when all in all it took 18 hits, and subsequently 2025 1 30 when so far it has taken only 1 fresh hit...
But like our mother I could never take humiliation lying down...
When J.E.S. K our Dad didn't return like many of the fathers on our row of 2 Up and 2 Down pre-WW II, and probably pre-WW I, terraced houses in England's North West town of Bury, Lancs., and the Minister of War's telegram, or letter, arrived to say our Dad had died from natural causes, our Mam knew differently and so began her war with the British Establishment That her 1/2 English 1/2 Irish husband of 39 had volunteered for war service out of a mistaken idealism, too old to be drafted for war service, a man with a wife and 2 children, who in any case was already contributing to the war effort, constructing packing cases for the Aircraft manufacturers AVRO of Manchester, where we lived at the outbreak of WW II.
It was in one of the lower courts in which she took her exception to the War Minister's edict that he had died from Natural Causes: as the Crown Lawyer, someone for whom war service was in all probability actively avoided, said to our mother: "You can't prove that your husband didn't die from Natural Causes" she rebuked him with the words "And you can't prove that he did!"
When her case was referred to the High Court where Lord Justice Tom Denning was the presiding Appeal Judge, later in his career to become The Master of the Rolls, Britain's Premier Advocate, he found in her favour with the words: "It was not her job to find anything, but that it was incumbent upon the Crown to prove otherwise, awarding her, and a good many more War Widows, a War Widow's Pension", in this by now high profile test case.
Subsequent history attests to the verdict of Justice Denning.
I personally can attest to how losing one's sleep like the time he decamped from Connel just north of Oban to Bunesan on the northern coast of the Island of Mull in all probability in atrocious weather conditions, which is the norm in those climes, writing home when he talked of his first task was to construct a hut for the chef to cook in, for he was presently cooking out of doors. Then imagine the war time food, aside from the months if not years he endured sleeping rough under canvass malnourished and poorly equipped.
In my own case I started on the bottom rung of the ladder and progressed to the exalted position, aged 35, to that of Research and Development Manager who, with Mr Phillip Crompton of James R. Crompton and Bros Ltd, founded in 1830, I visited Finland and the Company OyV in the last week of his life: before tragically dying when his skittish horse through him to a fatal head injury, the upcoming weekend. With no male heir Phillip's Company thereafter fell into a series of misfortunes, culminating with a takeover in 1986, four years after his untimely death.
The new owners then entrusted me with the task of recovering the company's market share of casing paper outlets which had been lost, after intensive work during the following 2 year period: regaining an order for 20 tonnes of paper that had been returned unfit for purpose two years before.
Now the rub...
As Project Coordinator I got to visit all seven users of this special long-fibre paper wet-strengthened with a solution of viscose, i.e. a soluble derivative of cellulose which is then regenerated in situ on the paper machine to produce the supreme wet and dry strength subsequently required in the customer's processes. Making untold numbers of visits to the USA, West Germany as it was then, Belgium, France and Finland. And when towards the end of the 2 year period the Finnish Company began making overtures to the efffect I should join them, which at first I turned down.
Finally however I conceeded to accept a 4 year directorship at twice my UK salary plus a generous relocation package.
Phoning my boss, the Research and Development Director of the new-look JRC Company, I had worked 13 years up to Christmas Eve in 1987 in order to hand in my letter of resignation, imagine my shock when instead of accepting my letter, he tried to pursuade me to accept an envelope he had for me. Judging by its weight it must have contained 13 months of my current salary as the redundancy package payable in law at the time, that I was being offered, together with 20 other ppl, in order that the new owners could meet their projected bottom line, or so the rumour circulated had it.
Suffice to say it wasn't an easy decision trying to live one more time in the strange cultures of Swedish and Finnish speacking Finland of 1988, but guess what? Here I am in 2025 still getting to like it more and more grateful that no matter how difficult the going got they never saw fit to kick me out after doing my best but unbelievably retired me on the Friday of my 65th birthday in 2004 only to start me again the following Monday as a Management Consultant for another 3 years after fighting and winning two more patent disputes and ending my career writing the first drat of "A Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice" commissioned by the EU sponsored group of Cellulosic Casing Manufacturers in C.I.P.C.E.L.
But like our mother I could never take humiliation lying down...
When J.E.S. K our Dad didn't return like many of the fathers on our row of 2 Up and 2 Down pre-WW II, and probably pre-WW I, terraced houses in England's North West town of Bury, Lancs., and the Minister of War's telegram, or letter, arrived to say our Dad had died from natural causes, our Mam knew differently and so began her war with the British Establishment That her 1/2 English 1/2 Irish husband of 39 had volunteered for war service out of a mistaken idealism, too old to be drafted for war service, a man with a wife and 2 children, who in any case was already contributing to the war effort, constructing packing cases for the Aircraft manufacturers AVRO of Manchester, where we lived at the outbreak of WW II.
It was in one of the lower courts in which she took her exception to the War Minister's edict that he had died from Natural Causes: as the Crown Lawyer, someone for whom war service was in all probability actively avoided, said to our mother: "You can't prove that your husband didn't die from Natural Causes" she rebuked him with the words "And you can't prove that he did!"
When her case was referred to the High Court where Lord Justice Tom Denning was the presiding Appeal Judge, later in his career to become The Master of the Rolls, Britain's Premier Advocate, he found in her favour with the words: "It was not her job to find anything, but that it was incumbent upon the Crown to prove otherwise, awarding her, and a good many more War Widows, a War Widow's Pension", in this by now high profile test case.
Subsequent history attests to the verdict of Justice Denning.
I personally can attest to how losing one's sleep like the time he decamped from Connel just north of Oban to Bunesan on the northern coast of the Island of Mull in all probability in atrocious weather conditions, which is the norm in those climes, writing home when he talked of his first task was to construct a hut for the chef to cook in, for he was presently cooking out of doors. Then imagine the war time food, aside from the months if not years he endured sleeping rough under canvass malnourished and poorly equipped.
In my own case I started on the bottom rung of the ladder and progressed to the exalted position, aged 35, to that of Research and Development Manager who, with Mr Phillip Crompton of James R. Crompton and Bros Ltd, founded in 1830, I visited Finland and the Company OyV in the last week of his life: before tragically dying when his skittish horse through him to a fatal head injury, the upcoming weekend. With no male heir Phillip's Company thereafter fell into a series of misfortunes, culminating with a takeover in 1986, four years after his untimely death.
The new owners then entrusted me with the task of recovering the company's market share of casing paper outlets which had been lost, after intensive work during the following 2 year period: regaining an order for 20 tonnes of paper that had been returned unfit for purpose two years before.
Now the rub...
As Project Coordinator I got to visit all seven users of this special long-fibre paper wet-strengthened with a solution of viscose, i.e. a soluble derivative of cellulose which is then regenerated in situ on the paper machine to produce the supreme wet and dry strength subsequently required in the customer's processes. Making untold numbers of visits to the USA, West Germany as it was then, Belgium, France and Finland. And when towards the end of the 2 year period the Finnish Company began making overtures to the efffect I should join them, which at first I turned down.
Finally however I conceeded to accept a 4 year directorship at twice my UK salary plus a generous relocation package.
Phoning my boss, the Research and Development Director of the new-look JRC Company, I had worked 13 years up to Christmas Eve in 1987 in order to hand in my letter of resignation, imagine my shock when instead of accepting my letter, he tried to pursuade me to accept an envelope he had for me. Judging by its weight it must have contained 13 months of my current salary as the redundancy package payable in law at the time, that I was being offered, together with 20 other ppl, in order that the new owners could meet their projected bottom line, or so the rumour circulated had it.
Suffice to say it wasn't an easy decision trying to live one more time in the strange cultures of Swedish and Finnish speacking Finland of 1988, but guess what? Here I am in 2025 still getting to like it more and more grateful that no matter how difficult the going got they never saw fit to kick me out after doing my best but unbelievably retired me on the Friday of my 65th birthday in 2004 only to start me again the following Monday as a Management Consultant for another 3 years after fighting and winning two more patent disputes and ending my career writing the first drat of "A Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice" commissioned by the EU sponsored group of Cellulosic Casing Manufacturers in C.I.P.C.E.L.
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