Flight Lieutenant Albert Gill
Royal Air Force
Born: 23rd June 1920
Story
Albert Gill was the son of Charles Gill (1890-1956) and May Underwood (1891-1953), who married in Stanley, Wakefield on 20th July 1919. Charles Gill had enlisted in the First World War, and was President of Kippax Central Harriers Club for Cyclists, as well as working at 32 High Street as a Fruit and Fish Salesman. Before the War, Albert was living with his parents, and maternal grandmother, Almena Ann Underwood (née Riddle, 1871-1939) who was from Sibley, Leicestershire, but spent her last days in Kippax. Albert worked as a stores clerk for Reece Button Hole Machinery spare parts, and was also a member of the First Kippax Troop of Boy Scouts. His father Charles joined the ARP wardens, and moved to New Street. On 1st September 1939, it was reported that Charles had inadvertently become the first Kippax man to be injured during the War:
Albert married Marjorie Norton in 1940 and then joined the Royal Air Force in April 1940. Later in 1940, the couple had their first son, Barry. Albert trained as a flyer in South Africa before serving in North Africa. He was a Flying Officer when it was reported that Albert had gone missing in the Mediterranean. He managed to write two letters home to Marjorie confirming he had been taken prisoner before his wife received official confirmation that he was being held in a Prisoner of War Camp. Marjorie later received a cablegram indicating that Albert was free, and indeed Albert subsequently turned up in Kippax, unheralded, but much to the delight of their 4-years-old son Barry, who was reportedly “strutting about with a Union Jack and wearing a R.A.F. hat several sizes too big for him” in celebrating the return of his father, on 22nd September 1944.
By the end of the War, Albert Gill had reached the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Albert and Marjorie had a second son, Paul, in 1945. Paul has said that, in common with many war veterans, his father rarely spoke of his war time experiences.
Albert passed away in Bedford in 1992. Paul has subsequently researched his father’s time in the R.A.F. and created an album, which he has passed onto his son.
Charles Edward Gill
Born: 28th September 1923
Charles was Albert’s younger brother, and appeared on the 1945 and 1946 Service Registers, and gave his address as Kippax High Street. Charles married Dorothy Townend in 1945.
After the War, Charles and Dorothy moved to the Intake, and then 12 Park Avenue. Charles passed away on 25th November 1999
Kippax Roll of Honour 