Obituaries
LESLIE
DALE
Les Dale, our friend and comrade for many years, died on 22nd May in
Newport Hospital on the Isle of Wight, aged 84 years.
He and his wife Queenie joined Ealing Branch in 1952. Les accepted our
case after discussion with another comrade (the late Jack Law) during
their time on the land together as conscientious objectors during the
Second World War. Right from the outset, he became active in the work
of the branch, soon excelling at the job of literature secretary. What
heady days they were, with rapidly increasing sales of the Standard
plus much other literature besides. His experience was put to good use
when we worked together on the production committee of the Standard in
the late 1950s and early 60s.
Les had a very fine knowledge of horticulture and agriculture and was
also well versed in medieval history. With his firm grasp of the
materialist conception of history he wrote periodically for the
Standard and gave lectures on his favoured topics to various Party
branches.
Sadly, his wife died of leukaemia at the early age of 48. It was a
bitter blow to all who knew her, but Les showed great courage in
carrying on despite his grief. Now that he is also gone, we will miss
him greatly but will cherish the memory of his erudition and his keen
philosophical wit.
ETC
BOB
MILLER
Bob Miller, who died last month aged 67, first joined the old
Merseyside Branch of the Party in 1970 after having been active in the
National Secular Society, but left the Party for a time after a branch
disagreement. When Merseyside Branch revived in the 1980s, Bob rejoined
and was a stalwart at meetings and worked hard selling the Standard,
most typically at Williamson Square in Liverpool for many years. At one
point BBC local radio used recordings of Bob on his pitch there in one
of their programmes analysing the distinctive Liverpool ‘scouse’ accent.
For a short while Bob served on the Party’s Executive Committee and
took his duties seriously and with a certain degree of dedication. He
remained a staunch socialist until the end, the last 15 years or so of
his life blighted by unemployment, this being in no small part related
to his activities as a militant trade unionist in Merseyside during the
1970s and early 80s.
DAP
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