The Life of Jack Dwan,1917 - 2015
John William Trevor Dwan’s life began on the 16th May, 1917, at Lydbrook. A rather sad event seemed to be taking place. Charlotte (nee Tinton) had given birth to her first child, and the poor little boy was cold and blue. They wrapped the little stillborn creature in a shawl and put him by the fire, while the midwife and sisters Ruby and Dorothy attended to the mother, helping to comfort her for her loss. Several minutes later, a tiny cry was heard from the depths of the blanket and it was discovered that little Jack was breathing after all. A minister was immediately called to baptise the baby, who was not expected to survive. However, after anxious days, the problem righted itself and little Jack went on for the next 97 years with hardly a day of illness. This rather inauspicious start may have had something to do with Jack’s rather suspicious view of doctors. He would never visit a doctor if he could help it!
Jack’s family went to live at Ross on Wye, where his siblings Beryl, Ben and Eleanor Vivienne were born in due course. They lived at 31, Old Gloucester Road. Although the family were not at all well off, Jack’s strong memories of a blissful childhood in this little market town remained with him all his life, and he would describe it in really vivid pictorial detail. At the age of seven he was given a present by his much loved Granny Tinton which was to be the key to his whole life. She bought him his first trumpet, hoping that he might become a player for the Salvation Army band. The little lungs which had had such a rough start took to blowing the trumpet straight away, and he was soon the youngest member of the newly formed Ross Town Band.
Seven years later, he was heard playing his trumpet by a major of the Royal Marines, and, after a successful audition , Jack entered the Royal School of Music in Deal, in Kent. At 16, he was deemed talented enough to be sent to his first ship as first trumpet. Jack remembers his bandleader’s initial look of dismay as he walked up the gangplank as a slight teenage boy. ‘I thought I was getting a proper bandsman’, the man said – but Jack soon proved that he was well up to the task in hand. Very soon he had his first two year posting to China, discovering a love for the Far East, and particularly Shanghai, which he always remembered.
By the time Jack returned to Britain, John Dwan, senior, had been posted to Salisbury, where they lived in army quarters in Harper Road. John was a clerical assistant in the Army, and taught shorthand and typing in his spare time. A certain Ruthie Newman was one of his students, and when Jack met her, he was immediately smitten! He was 19 and she was 16, and not immediately ready to start dating. But Jack persisted, and a fairly long courtship began, made difficult because of wartime. During the time that they were engaged, Jack’s ship, the Southampton was torpedoed off the coast of Cyprus, with heavy loss of life. Jack escaped due to the heroism of a nearby vessel which ignoring orders, came alongside so that some of the Marines could jump across from the sinking Southhampton. He lost all his possessions except his trumpet mouthpiece, which was in his pocket. Although he sent a telegram home, it never arrived, and for several anxious months Jack was thought to be ‘missing, feared dead’. He made his way home, however, eventually turning up in Salisbury on his sister Beryl’s wedding day! Ruth and Jack eventually married during the war, with a hastily arranged wedding, borrowed wedding dress, but with a proper iced fruit cake! They set up home with Ruth’s widowed mother in Salisbury, and this was their home for the majority of their lives, until the steep slope at the front and the huge garden became too difficult to manage, and they moved to a retirement flat in Wilton.
Jack continued in the Royal Marines during and after the war. He was a quiet man, and , considering the instrument he played, very averse to ‘blowing his own trumpet’. He loved reading in his spare time – often acting as librarian on the ships in which he served. During his time at sea, he visited most of the major ports of the world, and all the continents except Australia. He was present at D Day, helping to provide the heavy bombing bombardment which enabled the smaller ships to get to shore. When he was finally demobbed, he returned to Salisbury, but getting a job proved quite difficult. He was offered work as a hospital porter or postman. Choosing the latter proved a very happy decision. He got to know the whole area around Salisbury very well, and grew to love Wiltshire as much as his beloved Herefordshire. After working as a postman for a while, he went indoors to serve behind the counter at the GPO, eventually setting up post coding for the whole Salisbury area.
Jack remained a Royal Marine Bandsman in his heart for his whole life. In his spare time, he was soon playing with local brass bands and dance bands, eventually becoming a member of Wilton British Legion Band, who have been his friends and colleagues for many years. We would often go with him to fetes and carnivals around the local villages where the band were playing. Jack’s real love of music and skill as a cornet player led to him being much in demand as a trumpet teacher, and he taught a number of people to play. He was most reluctant to charge for this, always saying that he had no formal qualifications, as if playing first trumpet in the Royal Marine Band could possibly not be qualification enough! I think, actually, that he felt that his gift had been given to him freely, and that he must pass it on as freely to others. He eventually came to be much in demand as a player of the Last Post and Reveille at Remembrance Services, military parades and military funerals all around the South of England. Jack was still playing with Wilton Band at 94, though he had given up marching at 90. Just before he left the Salisbury area, the Band put on a wonderful concert for him to celebrate his life in music. He took part in his last military parade when he was 95. We had taken him to a British Forces Day at Trowbridge Park. He was wearing his medals and a blazer with a Royal Marine Badge, was spotted by a member of the British Legion, and pushed all round Trowbridge in his wheelchair as a proud member of the parade.
Mum and Dad loved to holiday in Cornwall, and, once they had discovered Porthleven, never wished to go anywhere else. They would have at least a fortnight there every year, and, Dad having discovered Porthleven Town Band, always took his cornet along with him. He would join them in their practises and performances on the quayside of lovely little Cornish villages, which added greatly to his holiday pleasure. He is still remembered by fondly by Porthleven Town Band.
Jack’s other great interest was to worship, along with Ruth, at Bemerton Methodist Church. They were involved with many aspects of church life. He never forgot his many friends at Bemerton and always enjoyed reading the newsletter. He overcame a natural shyness to become a speaker at various groups and meetings, loving to talk about his experiences over the years. He had a keen sense of humour, and loved the ridiculous – and over his life he stored up a wealth of funny stories that could keep people laughing for hours. Jack had a most natural connection to children, and loved to play with them and talk to them.
When he lost Ruth, it became evident to us that he had the beginnings of Dementia, and he became unable , at 94, to live any longer on his own. He came to live in a lovely Care Home in Trowbridge. Losing Ruth must have been the hardest thing he ever had to cope with. They had been happily married for 67 years, and he missed her every day. But true to form, he never complained, was unfailingly kind to everyone, loved to see family and friends, especially his great grandchildren, and continued to enjoy reading, drawing and listening to music. He died very peacefully at his Care Home in January 2015, with his two daughters at his side.
Alison Craddock
John William Trevor Dwan’s life began on the 16th May, 1917, at Lydbrook. A rather sad event seemed to be taking place. Charlotte (nee Tinton) had given birth to her first child, and the poor little boy was cold and blue. They wrapped the little stillborn creature in a shawl and put him by the fire, while the midwife and sisters Ruby and Dorothy attended to the mother, helping to comfort her for her loss. Several minutes later, a tiny cry was heard from the depths of the blanket and it was discovered that little Jack was breathing after all. A minister was immediately called to baptise the baby, who was not expected to survive. However, after anxious days, the problem righted itself and little Jack went on for the next 97 years with hardly a day of illness. This rather inauspicious start may have had something to do with Jack’s rather suspicious view of doctors. He would never visit a doctor if he could help it!
Jack’s family went to live at Ross on Wye, where his siblings Beryl, Ben and Eleanor Vivienne were born in due course. They lived at 31, Old Gloucester Road. Although the family were not at all well off, Jack’s strong memories of a blissful childhood in this little market town remained with him all his life, and he would describe it in really vivid pictorial detail. At the age of seven he was given a present by his much loved Granny Tinton which was to be the key to his whole life. She bought him his first trumpet, hoping that he might become a player for the Salvation Army band. The little lungs which had had such a rough start took to blowing the trumpet straight away, and he was soon the youngest member of the newly formed Ross Town Band.
Seven years later, he was heard playing his trumpet by a major of the Royal Marines, and, after a successful audition , Jack entered the Royal School of Music in Deal, in Kent. At 16, he was deemed talented enough to be sent to his first ship as first trumpet. Jack remembers his bandleader’s initial look of dismay as he walked up the gangplank as a slight teenage boy. ‘I thought I was getting a proper bandsman’, the man said – but Jack soon proved that he was well up to the task in hand. Very soon he had his first two year posting to China, discovering a love for the Far East, and particularly Shanghai, which he always remembered.
By the time Jack returned to Britain, John Dwan, senior, had been posted to Salisbury, where they lived in army quarters in Harper Road. John was a clerical assistant in the Army, and taught shorthand and typing in his spare time. A certain Ruthie Newman was one of his students, and when Jack met her, he was immediately smitten! He was 19 and she was 16, and not immediately ready to start dating. But Jack persisted, and a fairly long courtship began, made difficult because of wartime. During the time that they were engaged, Jack’s ship, the Southampton was torpedoed off the coast of Cyprus, with heavy loss of life. Jack escaped due to the heroism of a nearby vessel which ignoring orders, came alongside so that some of the Marines could jump across from the sinking Southhampton. He lost all his possessions except his trumpet mouthpiece, which was in his pocket. Although he sent a telegram home, it never arrived, and for several anxious months Jack was thought to be ‘missing, feared dead’. He made his way home, however, eventually turning up in Salisbury on his sister Beryl’s wedding day! Ruth and Jack eventually married during the war, with a hastily arranged wedding, borrowed wedding dress, but with a proper iced fruit cake! They set up home with Ruth’s widowed mother in Salisbury, and this was their home for the majority of their lives, until the steep slope at the front and the huge garden became too difficult to manage, and they moved to a retirement flat in Wilton.
Jack continued in the Royal Marines during and after the war. He was a quiet man, and , considering the instrument he played, very averse to ‘blowing his own trumpet’. He loved reading in his spare time – often acting as librarian on the ships in which he served. During his time at sea, he visited most of the major ports of the world, and all the continents except Australia. He was present at D Day, helping to provide the heavy bombing bombardment which enabled the smaller ships to get to shore. When he was finally demobbed, he returned to Salisbury, but getting a job proved quite difficult. He was offered work as a hospital porter or postman. Choosing the latter proved a very happy decision. He got to know the whole area around Salisbury very well, and grew to love Wiltshire as much as his beloved Herefordshire. After working as a postman for a while, he went indoors to serve behind the counter at the GPO, eventually setting up post coding for the whole Salisbury area.
Jack remained a Royal Marine Bandsman in his heart for his whole life. In his spare time, he was soon playing with local brass bands and dance bands, eventually becoming a member of Wilton British Legion Band, who have been his friends and colleagues for many years. We would often go with him to fetes and carnivals around the local villages where the band were playing. Jack’s real love of music and skill as a cornet player led to him being much in demand as a trumpet teacher, and he taught a number of people to play. He was most reluctant to charge for this, always saying that he had no formal qualifications, as if playing first trumpet in the Royal Marine Band could possibly not be qualification enough! I think, actually, that he felt that his gift had been given to him freely, and that he must pass it on as freely to others. He eventually came to be much in demand as a player of the Last Post and Reveille at Remembrance Services, military parades and military funerals all around the South of England. Jack was still playing with Wilton Band at 94, though he had given up marching at 90. Just before he left the Salisbury area, the Band put on a wonderful concert for him to celebrate his life in music. He took part in his last military parade when he was 95. We had taken him to a British Forces Day at Trowbridge Park. He was wearing his medals and a blazer with a Royal Marine Badge, was spotted by a member of the British Legion, and pushed all round Trowbridge in his wheelchair as a proud member of the parade.
Mum and Dad loved to holiday in Cornwall, and, once they had discovered Porthleven, never wished to go anywhere else. They would have at least a fortnight there every year, and, Dad having discovered Porthleven Town Band, always took his cornet along with him. He would join them in their practises and performances on the quayside of lovely little Cornish villages, which added greatly to his holiday pleasure. He is still remembered by fondly by Porthleven Town Band.
Jack’s other great interest was to worship, along with Ruth, at Bemerton Methodist Church. They were involved with many aspects of church life. He never forgot his many friends at Bemerton and always enjoyed reading the newsletter. He overcame a natural shyness to become a speaker at various groups and meetings, loving to talk about his experiences over the years. He had a keen sense of humour, and loved the ridiculous – and over his life he stored up a wealth of funny stories that could keep people laughing for hours. Jack had a most natural connection to children, and loved to play with them and talk to them.
When he lost Ruth, it became evident to us that he had the beginnings of Dementia, and he became unable , at 94, to live any longer on his own. He came to live in a lovely Care Home in Trowbridge. Losing Ruth must have been the hardest thing he ever had to cope with. They had been happily married for 67 years, and he missed her every day. But true to form, he never complained, was unfailingly kind to everyone, loved to see family and friends, especially his great grandchildren, and continued to enjoy reading, drawing and listening to music. He died very peacefully at his Care Home in January 2015, with his two daughters at his side.
Alison Craddock
