| Asbestos victims' claims delayed Victims of asbestos face a further delay after a Court of Appeal ruling on compensation. bbc.co.uk |
Harry Prowse My uncle Harry Prowse, who has died aged 89, was one of the last of Churchill's "few". Born in Chelsea, south-west London, he joined the RAF straight from school. As a handsome Spitfire pilot, he rarely had to buy his own drinks. But at the age of 19, he was fighting in the Battle of Britain, and by the time he was 20 he had been shot down twice, interrogated by the Gestapo and shipped off to the notorious Stalag Luft III PoW camp.It took many decades for Harry to talk freely of the camp, but during his retirement, enjoying the wide vistas from the veranda of his wood cabin on the banks of the Rio Grande in Brazil, he described cold, hunger, boredom and horror. He suffered paralysis, possibly from malnutrition, which prevented him from taking part in the ill-fated wooden horse escape that led to the slaughter of runaway prisoners.While Harry had nothing good to say about the prison guards – and what he did say in the rare letters that reached home was scrubbed out by censors – he spoke warmly of the German doctors who treated him with compassion.He survived the forced march through the Polish winter as his captors attempted to escape the advancing Russians, eventually arriving home amid the celebrations of VE Day. The Red Cross had warned my grandmother that Harry might behave strangely. He said later that he felt he had little to say to anyone who had not shared his experiences.Harry won promotion and planned to stay in the airforce, but found it difficult to settle in postwar England. The final straw came at Twickenham, where he had taken my mother – his little sister – to watch rugby. He was in uniform and a military police sergeant, who had not seen action, reprimanded him for having tunic buttons undone.Harry accepted a job growing oranges in São Paulo state, sailed to Brazil with his young wife, the former Windmill dancer Margaret Harris, who had waited for him to return from the war, and made his life there. He flew light planes and learned to speak fluent Portuguese. Later, Harry delighted in the advent of satellite TV, which brought him not only Brazilian soap operas but British sport. He revelled in Formula One and Chelsea's recent football successes.He is survived by his son Martin, daughter Janice, grandchildren Andrew and Angela, and sister Jean. The Brazilian airforce staged a flypast at his funeral – he would have liked that.guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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