LETTER: A Wembley airman and wartime POW, 1940-45

My father in the first weeks of captivity, when razors were not available, and consequently (as he wrote home) 'most of the fellows here look like Biblical characters'.
 

Dear Editor,

An article written by me about my father G.C.G. 'Todd' Hawkins is about to appear in the November 2024 issue of Bristol Blenheim magazine. I've taken the liberty of writing a 288-word description of the article, which is attached to this e-mail, and which might perhaps appear on the Wembley Matters blog if you thought it of sufficient interest to readers.

In the first half of last century Todd's family was well known to such Wembley personages as G. Titus Barham, the Rev. J.W.P. Silvester (who as vicar of St John's church married my parents), and his son Victor, the prominent dance-band leader. Todd's own career ended in a stroke of extraordinarily bad luck after nearly five years in captivity.

 

‘Todd’ Hawkins, 1911-45

An RAF airman, from a family once well known in Wembley, was shot down over occupied France on the first day of the Battle of Britain and spent nearly five years as a prisoner in Germany, only to be killed by ‘friendly fire’ a few days away from liberation.

‘Todd’ (Gordon Cyril George) Hawkins flew as a navigator/bomb aimer in Blenheim bombers. His story, illustrated by photos and his own drawings, is now told in an article by his son Richard in the latest issue of Bristol Blenheim, the magazine of the Blenheim Society. The article is based on material preserved by Todd’s family, including letters he wrote home and cartoons he drew while a prisoner, as well as wartime mentions in the Wembley News.

Todd was born in 1911, left school at fourteen, and became a clerk in the Workers’ Travel Association. His life before the RAF was nearly all spent in Wembley, while its population grew from 10,000 to 100,000. His parents were Henry Frederick Hawkins (shopkeeper, organiser of the Wembley town band, and active in the Wembley Tradesmen’s Association and sports club) and Susannah Jane Hawkins, eldest daughter of James Wood Blackmore, the first LMP policeman to be stationed in Wembley.

Todd met many Canadians among his fellow prisoners, and might have emigrated to Canada if he had survived the war. Over 200 of the cartoons he drew as a POW did survive. It is hoped that they will have a permanent home in the RAF Museum at Hendon.

Copies of the Nov. 2024 issue of Bristol Blenheim with the article on Todd can be obtained from the editor, Ian Carter, through the Blenheim Society website, https://blenheimsociety.com/contact

 

 

Richard Hawkins