In an earlier posting, I highlighted the plight of Second World War veteran, Mark Mead and his wife Cynthia. As I said then, just before his 90th birthday, Mark and his wife were facing the upsetting prospect of having to sell their beloved bungalow and move to a smaller property after their retirement income plummeted as a result of the 'Equitable Life' scandal.Now a happy ending of sorts could be in sight.
The report in the Guardian newspaper sparked much debate and led to a multimillionaire making the family a business proposal.
While they decided not to take up the offer, it prompted them to come up with a similar solution. A family member is to buy a share of the small mews cottage in Edenbridge, Kent, which will soon be the Mead's new home and which should give them more capital to top up their diminished income.
What a fine old Brit Arthur is :
* His plane was shot down over Belgium in 1942. He was captured and sent to the infamous Stalag VIII-B camp at Lamsdorf on the Polish-German border.
* In 1945, he was one of thousands of prisoners forced on the 'Long March', when Hitler decreed that all allied PoWs should be marched , on foot and in spite of winter conditions, closer to Berlin from the camps in central Europe.
* Towards the end of the March he was put in front of a firing squad after trying to steal some turnips from a passing farm cart. He recalled : "Peter Blaskey, a fellow PoW, and I, were tied with our hands behind our backs to small trees ... Presently, the officer reappeared with three of his soldier guards and took up a position in front of us. He snapped out a command, and the three lifted their rifles, aiming straight at us, from a distance of about 20 feet. I was terrified. There was total silence. Then he snapped out another command, and the soldiers put down their rifles. The officer came over and cut the ropes around our wrists and we re-joined our companions."
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