John Joseph Eckett

[leefer]

Served in both Royal Navy and Army during the WW2 war.....i cannot find any info on him.
I know he did the Murmansk run or something similar...but thats about all i know.
He is Donnami's father(my wife)....little is known on his days during the war,sadly a long time gone now,we have a great photo of him in a Red Beret.

I know its a longshot but just thought i would ask.

 

[dochines]

Did he live in the UK, if so any idea where as both phone books and electoral registers can help trace him

dochines

 

[davelambert271]

England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2006

John Joseph Eckett

Birth Date: 18 May 1925

Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1983

Age at Death: 58

Registration district: Swindon
Inferred County: Wiltshire

Volume: 23 Page: 2268

 

[davelambert271]

??

Marriages Dec 1947

Eckett John J - Jackson Harrow 5f 843
Jackson Elsie M - Eckett Harrow 5f 843

 

[leefer]

Both bits of info are correct...ta.

He was born in the St Pancras area.........really wondering about his time in the forces....we were told that he got booted out of the navy for petty misdeameamours.....and walked straight into the Army.

 

[dochines]

I think you may have to apply for his service records from the Army and Navy direct as nothing is yet available on line. Your wife can do that as a living next of kin as I assume her mother has died as well. Forms are available to down load. Sadly takes quite a lomg time.

I noticed John Joseph was born 18 5 1925. He travelled to Melbourne with his wife Elsie and childen Mark and Michael, arriving 26 4 1957 on the ship Strathmore. He was described as a tube driver

I also noticed first world war records for a Joseph John Eckett who could well be his father ( naming pattern was common) If so he was a private in the Northampton Regiment and then the Beds and Herts Regiment

dochines

 

[leefer]

Her grandad was William Eckett Dochines...but will take your advice and get Donnami to write.

Incidently Donnami was born in Australia...her dad loved it there but her mum wanted out

Strange because they settled in near Adelaide,Port Elizabeth(Gawler) so Donnami is suprised they sailed to Melbourne?
She is adamant they didnt!

He was never a tube driver either but the details are correct about her mum Elsie and her brothers Mark and Mike.....

Tube driver may have been a whitey to help get the family in.

 

[gibbo]

A lot of passengers were also noted as arriving in Freemantle western Australia but only because that was the first port of call to Australia, and as they were on the ship they were noted as arriving there, they then carried on their journey to their desinated arrival port. Well so i was told :2fun::2fun:

So maybe you Eckett family did "call in" to Melbourne on their way to Adelaide.

Their migration index states Adelaide.

Title Strathmore 26/5/1957 Eckett, John Joseph
Contents date range 1957 - 1957
Series number AP120/1
Control symbol NN
Item barcode 927170
Location Adelaide
Access status Not yet examined


FMP has their Destination post as Melbourne.

 

[leefer]

Interesting.....will check that out with Donnami's brother.

Interestingly on the return journey to England the ship only got as far as Suez then there was problems resulting in a train trip from Italy back to blighty.
Kids loved it but Donnami's mother Elsie May informed me it was a nightmare.

Will keep you posted when and if we get any info on her dad.

 

[leefer]

Found out today that Joseph worked at the British Tube factory in Port Elizabeth near Gawler.
Maybe the mix up with the Tube driver

 

[joaning]

Tube Mills railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tube Mills railway station was a railway station on the Gawler railway line located in the inner northern Adelaide, Australia suburb of Kilburn. It was located approximately 8.4 km by railway from the Adelaide Railway Station, and was demolished in the late 1980s.

The British Tube Mills (later Tubemakers) factory was located adjacent and the station could only be accessed from the factory.

Trains were scheduled to stop at Tube Mills for shift changes, but outside these times, some trains were timetabled to stop at Tube Mills on request.

The British Tube Mills works were served by rail. Rail access to the works was via the Up North Main only, meaning trains either had to come from Dry Creek and shunt into the works or work "wrong line" from Islington.

The British Tube Mills works were originally located on both sides of Churchill Road. Rail access to the eastern works was provided via a level crossing over Churchill Road. The level crossing has long since been removed, but evidence of it is still visible.

 

[leefer]

Thanks Joan...very interesting.

AS i said to Gibbo fate plays such a big part in peoples lives,Joe(as he was known to family and friends)loved the country and desperatly wanted to stay...but events dictated they returned to England.
I never got to meet him as he passed on a year before i met Donnami.
And as fate would have it Joe's brother Fred got fairly ill at the same time as Joe many years back.....heart bypass was needed,Fred got his and is now still alive and kicking living in Sunny Malta,sadly John Joseph didnt get his in time.

He was a free spirit and some of his stories from his war days are legendary in the family....he was a highly skilled woodworker as well as working as a glass blower in the now famous Whitefriars glass factory in London.
We still have a laugh about the time he come back home at Xmas after a few to many and fell asleep against his house wall and litterally had to be scraped away from it the next morning after being frozen against it.:biggrin:
His coat and trousers were stuck strong.

So thanks all with your efforts...and when i get his war records i will post them on this thread...Gibbo has kindly informed me that his immagration records are available also....so they will be interesting also.