Ems Valley Gazette Roy zooms in on big day... man who got to know Vera Lynn in wartime turns 100
Emsworth resident Roy Murrell has celebrated his 100th birthday.
Lockdown meant the big occasion was low-key but his family showered him with gifts and messages and he chatted to relatives here and abroad on Zoom.
They plan a big gettogether when restrictions are lifted.
Roy – full name Albert Roy Murrell – was born on May 30, 1920, in Montgomery Street, Hove. His dad, Albert, was in the Royal Navy and his mum, Elizabeth, was in service.
His father was invalided out and became a labour exchange manager after
Roy Murrell then and now,during WWII and at home in Emsworth
which the family, including two sisters (Joan and Pat), moved around the country living in Uckfield, East Grinstead, Sittingbourne, Plashetts (near Kielder), Dover (where Roy swam a lot) and Folkestone.
He played rugby to a high standard for his school and trained to be a telephonist, but his main job was for the
NAAFI (Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes) at Shorncliffe Camp, just outside Folkestone.
From there he landed a telephonist’s job at the General Post Office in Maidstone, starting at 26 shillings a week.
Roy was working there when WWII started. As a member of the Royal Signals, training started at Prestatyn in August 1940 and ended in
Hammersmith, London mid1941.
Each day a three-ton army truck took him to Storey’s Gate, where Churchill was based. Roy got to know Vera Lynn as most Sundays she would sing for troops at the Hammersmith Palais.
In 1941 Roy headed for North Africa. He spent the next four years on the North African coast working in the 8th Line of Communication signals group. He returned to England after VE Day and during a few weeks’ leave he met Peggy.
She had been a sergeant major in the ATS and they had spoken frequently on the phone while he was at Hammersmith but had never met. Roy’s final posting was to Iserlohn in Germany for 18 months. Roy and Peggy married in August 1947.
Roy rejoined the GPO in Maidstone. Two children arrived – Michael in 1950 and Margaret in 1951.
He continued playing cricket for the Post Office team (often as captain) and for many years was treasurer of the local Civil Service Sports and Social Club.
In 1966 Roy transferred to what was to become BT. The family moved to Canterbury and they remained there until his retirement in 1985. The following year he and Peggy moved to Emsworth.
Early on he and Peggy travelled around by train and bus. They also got involved in local issues such as hospital bus routes.
Sadly Peggy died in 2012 following dementia.
Roy and Peggy in 1997, when they celebrated 50 years of marriage
Roy, who has seven grandchildren and 12 greatgrandchildren, still loves sport – football, rugby and greyhound racing, but especially horse racing – and remains in his own home supported by regular visits from carers, and visits from family and friends.