VETERAN RECEIVES MILITARY HONOURS AT HER FUNERAL
JOAN SERVED IN RAF AND HELPED MANY OTHERS VIA THE BRITISH LEGION AND RAF ASSOCIATION
A Second World War veteran who went on to help countless fellow former service personnel has died, aged 102.
Joan Earthy, née Shergold, of Sapcote, signed up to join the Women’s Royal Air Force at the age of 22, in the early part of the war.
She was posted to the Isle of Man, where she worked in air traffic monitoring and plotted the paths of enemy aircraft to help RAF fighters attack incoming planes.
Joan was later posted to other bases, including Biggin Hill, near London, and Poddington in Northamptonshire.
In 1944 she transferred to the medical branch of the RAF and trained as a dental nurse, helping pilots and air crew who had suffered mouth injuries in battle.
Her son, Steve, said: “She told me some of the patients were often very badly injured and so frightened that she used to have to comfort them and sometimes hold their hands during treatment.”
In 1946, she went to work as a dental nurse for one of the RAF dental officers who had set up a private practice in South London.
She met her husband, John, in 1948 and they were married the following year. He died in 1964.
Joan continued helping war veterans for the rest for her life.
Steve said: “She came from a family who had served their country in many conflicts over the years and her father, Henry James Shergold, fought in the Zulu Wars and the Sudan, where he served under General Gordon and was recommended for the VC on three occasions.
“She has been a life-long member of the RAF Association and has received awards for her work selling poppies and was also an active member of British Legion.”
Joan’s funeral took place at South Leicester Crematorium in Countesthorpe, where she received military honours – the Royal Air Force Ensign flag draped over her coffin.
Steve, 71, who also lives in Sapcote, said: “The funeral went very well and we had standard bearers. It was very well attended.
“I think my mother was probably the oldest person in Sapcote.
“She was a brilliant mum. When I was young she was always very caring and involved in all that I was doing.
“She was the same with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“She had four grandchildren and now seven great-grandchildren, with one born a few days after the funeral.
“Mum also used to be a nanny before the war and a little girl she used to look after, called Sorel, has always stayed in touch.
“She’s a great-grandmother herself now and she was there at Mum’s 100th birthday party and was watching the funeral online, too.”