Did anyone know W (or Joseph) Gregson at Marconi’s during WWII?
Carolyn Frost is seeking information about her grandfather, W Gregson. In October last she wrote:
I am hoping that you may be able to help in my search for information about my family. I have a Marconi Social Club membership card that was issued to my grandfather. His name was W Gregson (although he was known as to my grandmother as Joseph Gregson) and the card gives his name as PTE W Gregson, an address of 90 Ashley Road, Salisbury, and is dated 19/3/1942, so we know he was during WWII a private in the army. We don’t know what the W stands for, we only discovered this when we found the Marconi card. It is possible he worked at the company during the war either as an employee or as an army signaller on attachment to the company on army duty – we were told by my grandmother he was in the Royal Corps of Signals.
Above is a photograph of the Marconi Social Club Ball in Chelmsford around 1939-1943 (click on picture for a full-size image). We hope someone may recognise him from this. My grandmother Audrey is in the front row, in the long black dress and her arm across her waist, to the right of centre, with her first husband Fred Hall, the tall man behind her and to her left, wearing a tie. Joseph (or W) is on the right hand side, second row down from the back, the last man half out of frame on the edge of photo. (A small poor quality image which is probably not helpful – the whole of his face is not visible. Ed.). We sadly do not know any of the other people in the photo.
If you could help in any way I would be most grateful as this is the only information we have.
I have suggested Carolyn makes contact with a local family history society in her part of the country for assistance, and also with the Marconi Archive at the Bodleian Library. She has already pursued the avenue of army records, via the Royal Signals Museum at Blandford Forum, and other military resources, but can make no progress in this direction because she has no service number to go on. If anyone can help in any way with this query please make contact with the editor.