More details emerge of mystery wartime photo
MORE information has come to light about about a mystery that has kept Coventry residents (and beyond) guessing for the past month.
Last month, we reported on a World War Two picture that had been discovered in the back of a wardrobe and appeared to show some sort of ritual or celebration in the Walsgrave area of the city.
Family tragedy led David Joyce, to discover the picture. It features his first wife Pamela who passed away not long after they had started a family. Now in his 80s, Mr Joyce wanted to find out more about Pamela’s early life, after his son mentioned he could not remember his mother.
The past month has seen eagle-eyed readers get in touch from as far as Colorado, and has led to the possible identification of some of the people in the photo, helping us get closer to solving the mystery, and get some answers for Mr Joyce.
Born in Coventry, David Joyce worked at the Courtaulds factory where he met and married his first wife, Pamela Evans, who lived in Walsgrave.
The pair had two children, Jonathan and Edward, who are now in their 50s. The family moved up north, but tragedy struck as they were settling into their new life, and Pamela passed away from a terminal illness in 1977.
The boys were nine and 11 and as David explained: “Things were tough, but you pull your shoelaces up and continue.”
Mr Joyce has remained up north, and it was just last month he came across the photo buried in the back of a wardrobe.
Mr Joyce said: “The photo just happened to drop out on the floor, I saw it was contained in an envelope with a German stamp and I thought wow, what’s that?”
Mr Joyce thinks that the picture was sent by his late wife’s mother to her husband and Pamela’s father, Sergeant William Bradley (Bill) Evans.
Mr Joyce said: “In the early part of the 1939-1945 Second World War Sergeant William Bradley (Bill) Evans was taken prisoner by the German Army in Greece, from where he was marched to Southern Austria and interned in Stalag 18A.
“At about this time, 1939 or 1940, a photograph was taken and sent to him presumably by his wife Alice, which eventually reached him in his imprisonment. I have identified one of the little girls on the front row as being their daughter (and my first wife) Pamela who will have been about four years old at the time. “
The picture appears to originate from the Walsgrave area of Coventry, and shows a group of neighbours standing for a photo in their Sunday best. Two women wearing veils in the middle of the photo, and several of the men wearing flowers in their lapels, suggests it could be a wedding party. However if that’s the case there are no clear stand out grooms.
Pamela and her family lived about 500 yards from Walsgrave Parish church, which still stands today, and Mr Joyce seems to remember tiny chapel in the vicinity.
We’ve had some readers get in touch with us to say that they recognise family members in there, and even pointing to what the celebration could be.
Amazingly, we had Cov Kid Mark Rushworth get in touch all the way from Colorado. Mr Rushworth said: “My family and I are very confident that the lady on the left in the veil is Eva Coulson (became Eva Loseby when she married). The lady to the right of her in the picture, also in the veil, we believe is her best friend Doris Germie.
“Eva was my Grandfather’s sister. Arthur Percy Coulson and Eva Coulson lived in
Stoke Row, Walsgrave. Their parents were Frank and Florence (nee Hobbins) Coulson.
“My greatest regret is not seeing these photos when my Grandfather was alive and I was living in Coventry. I didn’t even know these photos existed until he died. My sister brought them to me in Colorado 10 years ago. “
From Mr Rushworth’s recollection, it seems that a good few members of the Coulson family were in in the photo alongside his great aunt Eva, which could show it was an extended family celebration.
Mr Rushworth added: “In your photo, the gentleman sitting on the far left with the cane, may be Eva and Arthur’s Grandfather. I also recognise the two children sitting on the far left, at the front. Again, from photos I have. Same with a few other faces in this group. “
Mr Rushworth sent us this picture, which features members of that same Coulson family from the picture.
He said: “The lady on the front row, far left, next to the gent in the suit, is in your photo. She is seated second from the right, between the lady with flowers and the larger lady on the end. I think she is Eva and Arthur’s cousin or Aunt? She is in many of my family photos.”
We had another reader, Judith Bramwell, get in touch to say it could be a picture of a celebratory meal after a religious ceremony.
Mrs Bramwell believes that the girls in white dresses have just come out of a confirmation ceremony at Walsgrave Parish church.
Mrs Bramwell said: “There are possibly three families in the picture all dressed for the occasion especially the young children and they would probably share a celebratory meal together after the service. I was about 18 when I and two other girls were confirmed in All Saints Church, Allesley village in 1954 and we wore special white dresses for the occasion and all the families came to support us.
“In that period of time both Protestant and Roman Catholic children were christened, confirmed and married in church. Life in those days was very different to what it is now as family and friends supported each other and the church was a part of every day life.”
Another reader, Ann Hopkins, got in touch to say she also thought the veiled girls showed it to be a confirmation celebration.
The number of girls in white veils would certainly mean this makes sense, and as Mr Joyce told Coventrylive, taken in around 1940, it seemed like a celebratory atmosphere, where they “didn’t know what was coming.”
We also had a reader called Veronica get in touch with us, after her 85 year old mother spotted some familiar faces in the crowd.
Veronica said she hopes that by sharing this, it will help identify others in the photo.
She said: “My mum, Pat Hall, nee Watkin, grew up in Walsgrave village, she only recognises two people.
“The tall lady in dark jacket five from the left middle row as Lizzie Evans and the gentleman on the back row to her right is her husband Joe.
“They lived in Woodway Lane and had a daughter Mary, who married Shepherd and a son Jack who married a German lady called Regina.
“Mary and Jack could be two of the children.”
Whilst it is likely that this was a celebration after a religious ceremony, it is possible that there are members of the Coulson family, or others who have been spotted, that could help us find out more.
When we asked Mr Joyce he was so determined to find out more about who his late wife is sitting with in the picture, he said: “I want to give my adult sons a piece of what they might have lost.”
If you think you can help shed further light on this mystery, do get in touch with Naomi our community reporter: naomi.desouza@reachplc.com