AN appeal made by Looking Back has finally been answered. Rick Hardy of Owermoigne sent in this photograph of the Owermoigne football club taken in 1938. Colin Wallis, the son of Eric Wallis, who stands in the centre of the back row, had sent the picture to Rick.
Rick said at the time: "Eric Wallis moved away from the village shortly after this photograph was taken and lives in North Devon. The pair of them, along with Eric's brother-in-law, visited Owermoigne Cricket Club for the first time on Sunday, May 22, 2005.
They had been visiting the graves of Eric's parents and his sister at our local church. It was the cricket club's web pages that prompted them to send the photograph in the first place."
Rick made it his mission to collect information about the team mates, but one man, Ron Symes, third left in the back row, proved hard to track down.
Rick said: "Eric has a rough idea of what happened to his team mates, but hasn't been able to find out anything of Ron Symes."
AN appeal made by Looking Back has finally been answered. Rick Hardy of Owermoigne sent in this photograph of the Owermoigne football club taken in 1938.
Fast forward two years and Ron Symes's daughter Dreenia Burke has got in touch to fill in the gaps.
She explained: "My dad lived in Owermoigne until he joined the Merchant Navy during the war. He was on the convoys and was bombed in the North Sea. He came into Hull for repairs to his ships and met my mum Joan.
"As you may know, the North and South of England in those days were miles apart and my dad never thought he would see my mum again. He sailed out of Hull and again was bombed in the North Sea and came into Hull for repairs. He again met my mum, fell in love and got married."
"My dad was a ship's carpenter and, in Hull, he is known as Chippy, but when he goes back to Dorset, his nieces call him Uncle Ron."
After the war, the couple made their home in Hull and had two children, Dreenia and Ron Junior.
"My mum and dad lived in Hull most of their married life, but for 18 years lived in Leeds, as my dad worked on the St James's Hospital as the Chief Clerk of Works until he retired," said Dreenia.
"After he retired my mum and dad came back to Hull to be near myself and brother.
"Unfortunately, my dad has been a widower for 18 years now. He has no grandchildren as my brother and myself never had any children."
Ron did, however, leave relatives in Dorset. The late Louie Pouncey had a garage at Owermoigne and Betty Symes, later Waddington, had a daughter Yoland, who now lives in Shrewsbury.
Another sister was Elsie Speed, who had a hardware shop in Wool and Bovington, and had a daughter, Diana, who still lives in Wool.
Ron's Dorset years made a lasting impression on him, however, his daughter explained: "I would also say he has been in Kingston upon Hull since 1942 and has never lost his Dorset accent."
"He goes to many Merchant Navy committees and marches with the veterans on Remembrance Sunday. I always go and watch as he puts a wreath at The Cenotaph because he is an old Navy veteran."
She added: "If anyone wants to contact him from the old days in Owermoigne and Weymouth, his address is 70, Highcourt, Orchard Park Estate, Kingston upon Hull. HU6 9SX, his telephone number is 01482 857540.
I am sure at 87 he would love to hear from some of the folks who still remember him."
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