FROM THE ARCHIVES
the opportunity to find out more about what
happened that fateful night.
Doug Aylward is named after Douglas Lindsay as his
father, another Old Pocklingtonian and Douglas’ best
friend at school, Kenneth Hawkridge (29-30), met
Douglas’ cousin at his memorial service in Edinburgh
– and married her shortly afterwards. Doug Aylward
is a retired fast jet pilot who flew Hunter, Lightning
and Phantom aircraft and commanded 11 Squadron
(Lightnings) at RAF Binbrook. Kenneth was in the
RNR and served on minesweepers throughout the
war, having left school to join the fishing fleet, playing
a key role in the landings at Sicily and Italy.
Douglas Lindsay was a keen rugby player who gained
his 1st XV colours and had a trial for Durham school
boys despite being described as ‘a slow back-row
forward who is a good tackler, falls well and backs up,
but suffers through lack of speed.’ He also acted in
school plays as did Kenneth Hawkridge who played
Miss Dora, alongside Richard Annand (25-32)
playing Miss Grace in Galsworthy’s Escape – minor
parts for them both but the whole went down well.
Kenneth’s brother, Alec (29-32), also attended the
school and spent his war in the Royal Navy.
LORD MORAN AND
CHURCHILL’S SECRET
One of Pocklington School’s most eminent OPs,
who went on to be Sir Winston Churchill’s personal
doctor, was one of the main characters in an ITV
film about the cover-up of a serious stroke Churchill
suffered while Prime Minister.
Lord Moran, who attended Pocklington School as
Charles McMoran Wilson between 1894 and 1899,
was also Churchill’s devoted friend and confidant
throughout his times as Prime Minister during the
War and the post-War period.
Lord Moran was played by Bill Paterson in the ITV
film drama screened in March 2016, which also
starred Michael Gambon (as Churchill), Lindsay
Duncan, Romola Garai and Matthew Macfadyen.
The feature-length film is based on Jonathon Smith’s
book, The Churchill Secret. It draws on Lord Moran’s
book, Churchill: The Struggle for Survival 1945-60,
which caused a storm when it was published shortly
after Churchill’s death because of its medical detail.
He administered the secret treatment of Churchill
after he suffered a serious stroke in 1953, aged
78 – an event which, had it become public, would
have almost certainly forced him to resign as Prime
Minister.
Lord Moran did not expect Churchill to survive the
stroke, which was kept secret from his Cabinet and
– thanks to an agreement from the Press barons
which would be unheard of today – the public.
Lord Moran (1882-1977) was born in Skipton,
North Yorkshire. Following his time at Pocklington
School he studied at St Mary’s Medical School
where he indulged his passion for rugby captaining
the 1st XV from wing forward.
Whilst at school he founded the OP Association
in 1897 with his friend Sir Percy Simner and later
retained close links with his alma mater, speaking at
many dinners and commemorative events.
Lord Moran served as a medical officer in France
during the First World War, when he won the
Military Cross in 1916 for services during the Battle
of the Somme, and wrote about the horrors of
trench warfare in a lauded book, The Anatomy of
Courage (1945).
As Baron Moran in the House of Lords, he was
involved in many of the debates leading up to the
creation of the National Health Service in 1948. His
skilled negotiations between the suspicious medical
profession and Aneurin Bevin’s Labour Government
played a vital role in getting the NHS off the
ground. It also led to the British Medical Association
nicknaming him ‘Corkscrew Charlie’.
He ordered bed rest for Churchill, which was largely
ignored, and when his patient hauled himself back
onto the public stage, prescribed various drugs,
some containing stimulants like amphetamine, to
keep him on top form.
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