The following article appeared in the Northern Whig on 16th July 1946:
‘How Mrs R. Cosby of 129 Urney Street, accompanied by her sister, crossed to London three days ago looking for the son whom she had not seen for a long time, and how she eventually found him, makes strange reading.
Mrs Cosby had an idea that the boy might be in the Irish Guards, but the only address she had was, “The Basement, Shepherd’s Bush Flats, London.”
Unable to find any such address the sisters spent Saturday and Sunday sitting in parks anxiously scanning the faces of all who passed by.
On Sunday evening, while wandering through Shepherd’s Bush, they approached P. C. Norman Smith on his beat.
The officer listened to their story and asked a few questions. “Is your son the holder of the D. C. M.,” he queried. The mother, astonished, replied: “Yes”.
P. C. Smith remembered that twelve months previously he had occasion to go to Curwen Road, Shepherd’s Bush, and that while in that road he had met a man – the man he believed the two women were looking for.
The constable took the women to Hayden Park Flats in Curwen Road. The quest was ended. There was the son and his wife and family and a happy reunion followed.’
What an amazing story!
Steve Russell
(Thanks to Colin Woodley for sending me the article)
Truly amazing
Yes Young Kerrins a truly amazing story. An indication of the simple times we lived in, in the olden days, and one of the benefits of having a copper on the beat!
I can just about claim I lived then…..I was ten days old!