Chapter 63, including 1939 Directory
On 6 Jan 1966, my Grandad, John Squire, died suddenly. It was my Gran’s birthday. And Epiphany – a wise man was missing at my cradle 6 months later. Here is his obituary from the British Medical Journal – the photo is from the Journal of Pathology. (See also posts #029, #042 and #052)
The Lancet also covered John’s illustrious medical career at some length but, on a more personal note, contributions to the obituary noted that he “had a magnificent brain, dynamic energy, and unflagging enthusiasm. He could absorb and retain knowledge with a celerity and ease that was the envy of all who knew him, and he had an unerring capacity to see things clearly, to focus on what was important in any problem and yet never to overlook anyone or any detail.” He recognised new and important developments early, and was excited by developments in computing and automation. “…few are as loved as John Squire was loved… he was a sensitive and indeed emotional man.” He would “tell of his delight in his family… or of going out on a snowy night to feed his daughters’ ponies.” Both commentators described him as nearly irreplaceable as any man might be.
The John Squire Library still exists at Northwick Park.
It was quite a coincidence that he was posted to British India in WWII. He met my Gran (who liked us to call her by her first name, Marguerite) at Cambridge. She would have been caught up in the war out East herself had she not sailed to Britain in 1935 to continue her studies. It’s another matter of regret that I never had the chance to talk economics with Marguerite, given that she managed a 1st Class Degree at Rangoon, despite having completed the first two years in one. She ‘blazed a path’ to England in 1935, where she was permitted to shorten her Degree at Newnham College, Cambridge, too.
John and Marguerite married in 1940, and John joined the army in 1942. These were strange times – another relative recounted to me how he and his mother escaped India to Australia. There he joined the Australian Air Force, only to be posted back to his mother’s home town, and then to Swindon!
John’s obituary recounts that he had command of the Allied Land Forces biological research section in South-East Asia, and that he was mentioned in despatches but I don’t know why, nor have I heard that he ever talked about it.