In these strange and difficult times of the Coronavirus lockdown it is interesting to read about the lives of past residents of Husthwaite who lived through terrible times of conflict. Tombi Peck, a daughter of Ralph Andrew Irwin Dees, born in South Africa and christened Chloris Mary Irwin Dees but called by her nickname Tombi, short for ntombazana meaning ‘little girl’ in Xhosa and Zulu has sent fascinating accounts of her life and many tales about her father [some of which are included in the section about the Dees family in the book “The Wailes family from Husthwaite”, now only available as a CD]. She has remained in touch, occasionally sending further memories.
Tombi Peck’s memories of Ralph Andrew Irwin Dees born Beacon Banks 1913
Robert Irwin and Edith Dees together with their children and many servants lived at Beacon Banks from 1913 to about 1919, possibly moving from their Wallsend Hall estate in Northumberland, in an area of major industrial pollution to cleaner and safer rural Husthwaite when WW1 was imminent. Their youngest son Ralph Andrew Irwin Dees was born at Beacon Banks in September 1913 and baptised at St Nicholas’ Church by the archdeacon of Northumberland. The family later moved to Faldonside on the River Tweed, next door to Sir Walter Scott's home 'Abbotsford' and close to where the Home family (cousins of Edith Dees) once lived. John Norman Moncaster from Husthwaite, back from the war, was chauffeur to the family at Beacon Banks and he and his wife moved with the Dees to Scotland, where they had two daughters. The Moncasters eventually returned to Husthwaite – their oldest daughter and three sons still live in the village [The Barker family]. Tombi recalls “My father kept in touch with their chauffeur, 'Monkey' (Mr. Moncaster) from the time he was ten years old until he was in his 60's....When he and my mother visited England in 1971 one of their visits was to Monkey who was then in his late 80's”.
Ralph’s father died in 1923 when he was only 10 years old and his mother moved to South Africa where she lived with the eldest son James who was farming in the Transvaal. Ralph then went to school in Johannesburg for a few years, continued his education in England at Berkamstead School, after which the family returned to SA and he went to work in the offices of a mine before becoming active in WW2.
In the Transvaal in 1940 he married Chloris Barbara Tainton Browne, who was born there. According to Tombi, “my father came back from North Africa after the defeat of Rommel for just two days before he was posted to Italy where he stayed until well after the war, so I was fortunate....my mother taught me to love my Dad despite him being ‘Up North’ as it was described in South Africa....we finally met properly for the first time when I was 4 ½.... (he had a wait of over 9 months to be re-patriated)...there was a ‘queue’ to get our men home....when they went up to North Africa they went by ship, but after the war with our having lost so many ships during the war they were in somewhat limited supply.....the American troops were lucky....they were ‘flown’ home in the large transport planes they had in abundance. I always feel very lucky that my Dad got home....even if it took some time....his only injury was loosing the skin off the palm of his right hand when they had to respond to a bombardment at night in mid-winter when they’d been asleep (he was a gunner on the 25 pounders)....he couldn’t find his right hand glove, being still half-asleep picked up a shell, slammed it into the breech of his gun with the inevitable result!!”
“My father Ralph Andrew Irwin DEES No. 1777787V, Bombadier 1/16 Battery, 1/6 Field Regiment South African Army U.D.I.C. was on the 25 pounders at El Alamein. He was also at Tobruk, the Gazala Gallop. He then went on to Italy where he ended the war up in the North somewhere.”
“The happiest story was how he was cured of his appalling stammer....I only ever heard a slight stammer if he was extremely tired......an Italian gun had focused on the lorry he was driving (he’d been to pick up supplies)....his only recollection of the incident was that he had to keep his tin hat on....it kept being blown off by the percussion of the exploding shells......he was within sight of his mates who enjoyed ‘Ralph’s private battle with Mussolini’.....when he got back to the trench and his mates they filled him with peach brandy (the South African cure-all) ....hours later one of his friends said to him...”Ralph do you realise you’ve been talking the hind leg off a donkey and you haven’t stammered once!”....After that he seldom stammered...only when he was extremely tired!
My father was stung by a scorpion while in the Abyssinian desert....there were 2 main species they could have come across....one had a lethal sting the other didn’t, it was, merely painful. One night my father was stung by a scorpion...naturally as it was dark he didn’t know which species it was....he went to the battalion doctor who said....”Take two aspirin....if you wake up tomorrow morning you can be grateful you were stung by the non-lethal one!””
Ralph was also a well known cricket player and after the war joined various amateur dramatic clubs with his wife – “if they were doing Gilbert and Sullivan he was always cast in the leading bass role”. He died in Thame, Oxfordshire in 1998, four years after his wife Barbara. Tombi Peck herself became well known for her books on cake decoration and was founder member of the British Sugarcraft Guild.
Text reproduced by kind permission of Tombi Peck.