Mum’s true mettle shone as the Iron Lady of Cleethorpes
BRITAIN is full of unsung heroes and heroines who deserve recognition. Here, in our weekly obituary column, the moving and inspiring stories of ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives, and who died recently, are told by their loved ones.
We always said that my mum and the Queen had a lot in common. Both were born in 1926, crammed so much into their long lives, and both dedicated themselves to civic duty.
Mum — an only child who grew up in surrey — was just 17 when, desperate to get involved in the war effort and always adventurous, she managed to inveigle her way into the First aid Nursing yeomanry. she dropped her application papers in a muddy puddle so the authorities couldn’t read her date of birth.
Barely out of school, she was sent first to scotland, then to Calcutta, India, as part of what was known as Force 136, the cover name for a branch of the special Operations executive (sOe) which encouraged and supplied resistance movements in enemy-held territory.
she started off nursing, but her talents were soon spotted, and she became one of those responsible for receiving Morse code messages from British agents dropped over Japanese lines.
at one point, Mum and another girl, Molly, were in contact with about eight agents each, could recognise each one by their individual style of tapping out Morse, and were the only two people who knew where all the agents were in enemy territory.
It was a dangerous job, but Mum loved it. and she adored India — the people, the country, the expat life. she joined the Calcutta swimming Club, where she met my father, william skane-Davis, a Major in the Royal Indian army service Corps and a keen swimmer, too. after
MY MUM SHEILA
the war, they married, moved back to england and Mum put her SOe work firmly behind her, rarely speaking of it.
Dad became a manager with Marks & Spencer, and she was a marvellous wife and brilliant mother to me, Linda, and Clive.
There were many house moves over the years, but everywhere we went, Mum made a wonderful home for us.
For the latter years of Dad’s career, they settled in Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire, and, finally, she could put down roots and get involved.
She opened a flower shop, the Fleet Floral Service, started the Cleethorpes Ladies’ Conservative Luncheon Club, and realised a long-standing ambition to get involved in politics by standing as a Conservative councillor.
Mum was driven by a sense of duty and a genuine desire to improve the lives of others. known for refusing to give ground to her political opponents, the Grimsby evening Telegraph dubbed her ‘The iron Lady of Cleethorpes’. in 1980, after many years of public service, she was elected Mayor and Dad, who’d retired by then, was her consort.
She had a fabulously successful year and loved every minute of it. She was just about to embark on a new path as an alderman when Dad’s health deteriorated.
ONCe again, she put his needs before her own and they moved to Javea in Spain, where the warm weather better suited his health. They had nine happy years there before Dad died in December 1988.
She grieved for Dad — they had been married for 42 years — but Mum got on with her life in Spain, her focus on friends, family, travelling, and always helping other people.
in 1995, Mum, who was 69, married Ralph Jones, a retired banker, and the adventures started again. They travelled widely and spent six months sailing round the coast of America in a motor cruiser. Sadly, they didn’t have long. Poor Ralph died suddenly after just four years of marriage, and Mum was on her own once more.
She rallied again — i never saw her down — holidaying with her girlfriends and welcoming all of us — including six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren — to her home. in her late 70s, she went to Africa on safari and took the Blue Train, from Pretoria to Cape Town, through the Cape Winelands.
in recent years, she found comfort in the friendship of John Russell, with whom she shared coffees, meals and holidays — active up until the end, squeezing everything she could from life. i couldn’t have asked for a better, more loyal, caring, generous or public-spirited Mum. When she died, a little piece of the British empire died with her.
SheIlA JoneS, born november 2, 1926, died June 25, 2018, aged 91.