MR WILLIAM TURNER - Local "expert" on Accrington Pals

Atarah · 07-07-2007, 08:05

Hi, it is with regret that I would like to let people know that Bill died on Thursday night. He became our local "expert" on the history of the Accrington Pals. A lovely man! He will be missed.

Atarah

Gayle · 07-07-2007, 09:49

That is sad news - a very nice gentleman - my condolences.

WillowTheWhisp · 07-07-2007, 11:42

Very sad news indeed Atarah. He was incredibly helpful to us when I was trying to trace information about my late husband's grandfather. Lovely man. May he rest in peace and my condolences to his loved ones.

mallard · 07-07-2007, 11:45

Yes that was bad news he will be sadly missed

cashman · 08-07-2007, 16:43

sorry to hear that news, a great guy will be missed by many.

Doug · 08-07-2007, 18:40

My condolences, a good and gracious man

Retlaw · 31-07-2007, 22:46

Many thanks to all of you who posted condolences on the death of William (Bill) Turner. All is not lost however, he passed on to me all his files and his computer. I have worked with Bill for the past 20 years, not just on the Accrington "Pals", but my other project, which was finding all the men in what was then called Greater Accrington, (now called Hyndburn) who took the Kings Shilling 1914-1918, so far I have 13500 names in my database.

I was with Bill the day before he died when he thanked me for all the work I had done for him, and made me promise to keep the name of the "Pals" alive.

Retlaw

garinda · 31-07-2007, 22:52

The best of luck carrying on the good work.

It is appreciated.

Aromaanne · 31-07-2007, 23:01

So sorry to hear about Bill´s death. We worked on The Accrington Pals programme for the BBc Songs of Praise way back when he came into Ben Hargreaves school to give us an insight in tothe Pals plight, made a great impact and the programme was great! A gentle , kindly intelligent man whoo contribited a lot to Accrington.

cashman · 01-08-2007, 00:36

Good luck n thanks retlaw, its a valuable thing you do.

Retlaw · 06-07-2009, 23:02

IN MEMORIAM.
In Memory of William Turner "Accrington Pals"
Who died two years ago.
Sadly missed by his
Wife Ruth, daughter Loise,
and his researcher Walter.

Retlaw.

Atarah · 06-07-2009, 23:23

Gosh, Retlaw, is it two years since Bill died. That has passed!

Atarah

mikeperry109 · 13-08-2009, 12:24

Was listening to Mike Harding's song, did some research, then bought Bill's book. Really excellent. So sorry that he passed away two years ago. My grandfather Ned Tyson from Darwen fought with the 6th East Lancs in Gallipoli and Mesopatamia, and I have a huge WW1 library. Wrote and article on Walter Tull for the Great War magazine last year.
Mike Perry

BenchTheatre · 19-04-2010, 09:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retlaw

Many thanks to all of you who posted condolences on the death of William (Bill) Turner. All is not lost however, he passed on to me all his files and his computer. I have worked with Bill for the past 20 years, not just on the Accrington "Pals", but my other project, which was finding all the men in what was then called Greater Accrington, (now called Hyndburn) who took the Kings Shilling 1914-1918, so far I have 13500 names in my database.

I was with Bill the day before he died when he thanked me for all the work I had done for him, and made me promise to keep the name of the "Pals" alive.

Retlaw

I should like to add my condolences to those expressed about the passing of Mr Turner.

My amateur theatre company, Bench Theatre of Havant, Hampshire, staged a production of The Accrington Pals in 1984 and with Bill's kind and generous help, The Company was able to stage an exhibition in the foyer at the same time. He also appealed for information through our programme.

It was whilst researching the production (in order to expand our web-based archive) that I came across Mr Turner's details and thought how it might be nice to extend our link by inserting some contact details along the lines of those which I found in the programme. Not wishing to publish Mr Turner's address on-line without his permission, my investigations led me to this forum and to the sad news of his death.

I should like to help you continue your research by publishing a link to your current archivist's e-mail address (if you wish) on our website Bench Theatre, Havant, Hampshire, so if someone could e-mail me some details via my profile, I should be very grateful. i hope to publish the "Accrington Pals" page within the next few weeks, but can amend it to include additional details at any time.

Regards
Melanie

garinda · 19-04-2010, 10:02

What a wonderful tribute to his work.