Talfryn Thomas (actor and Lancaster crewman)

[Larry]

And regarding Britain at War Magazine - Andy Saunders is one of the Editors so I am told - so send him a PM

[Nick Hector]

Guys,

Some excellent suggestions for research here. Well and truly up to the high standards of the forum.

...I just need to find one of Andy Saunders' posts to be able to send him a PM now...

[wwrsimon]

Andy Saunders details are here:

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/member.php?u=3427

[Dave Homewood]

I have heard back from Andi Jones who wrote the article for me on Talfryn's life ten years ago. He writes:

"Hi Dave,

It's lovely to hear from you after all this time.

I did finish the biography but it was only meant to be a short write-up for the sake of information to the DAAS so I'm afraid it wasn't massively in-depth.
I do remember Brython, his brother, telling me that he spent several months in a mental sanitorium after the crash due to the horrific nature of the crash. His brother told me that Talfryn actually witnessed the cockpit going through the navigator. I do have a photograph of Talfryn in his RAF uniform with the squadron he was in but it's in storage about 100 miles away. I will actually be visiting there in a few weeks if you are interested in getting a copy? It may actually say what the squadron was that he flew with.

You would probably need permission to include the photograph in a published work though I would think. I'm afraid I haven't been in touch with the family for many years so I'm not sure if Brython is still alive now. Maybe with my Talfryn stuff I will have a contact number for him.

I do remember that his brother did say that Tal flew many missions to Germany and was appauled by the devastation we inflicted on Germany. That's not to say he was a supporter of the Nazis in any way but was emotionally shocked at the amount of deaths of innocent people that he was partially responsible for.
I know also that the crash was on a training mission.

I didn't get his log book and I'm pretty sure Brython didn't have it as he was extremely generous with sharing photos, information, newspaper clippings and stories etc and that was never mentioned.

I know that only a few months before I had started my research, Talfryns auntie died. She had boxes of things on Tal all through his carrer. I was devastated to find out that when she died, they were all distroyed. Aaaargh!!!

It would be fairly easy to find out which squadron he was with. I believe Somerset House contains all records of a military nature, be it army, navy or RAF.

I hope this has been of some use to you? Please keep in touch and if you require further help, please do not hesitate to contact me.

It's great to hear from you again.

Kind regards,

Andi"

So if anyone here has questions for Tal's family for Andi to try to put to them, please let me know. i will see if he can dig out that photo too.

[Dave Homewood]

Originally Posted by Allan125

we tend to forget that some showbusiness types change their names, or alter them as in this case,

An aside from the aviation stuff, but...
This is often a necessity as British Equity does not allow two actors to have the same name so there's no mix-ups with pay, etc.

In Tal's case I believe he was always known to Family and friends as Talfryn or Tal anyway, and as there would surely aready have been a registered John Thomas on the Equity books it makes sense to go with Talfryn.

You might be interested in the real names of other Dad's Army cast:

Arthur Lowe - that was his real given name, same name as his father
John Le Mesurier - born John Elton Halliley, Le Mesurier was mother's maiden name
Clive Dunn - born Robert Dunn jr, Clive was mother Connie Clive's maiden name, had to change as his Dad was thre registered Robert Dunn on Equity books
James Beck - born Stanley James Carroll Beck but always known as Jimmy
John Laurie - really was John Paton Laurie
Arnold Ridley - was born William Arnold Ridley
Ian Lavender - real name

[Allan125]

Hi Dave

Thanks for the updates - it would seem that we are getting nearer to the answer for Nick.

Isn't this just typical "I know that only a few months before I had started my research, Talfryns auntie died. She had boxes of things on Tal all through his carrer. I was devastated to find out that when she died, they were all distroyed. Aaaargh!!!"

Fortunately, in my case, about 15 months after my Dad passed away last year photo's emerged of him at B.11 Longues in July '44 with others in the 125 Wing Telephone section, then a few more at Douai, Brussels and Copenhagen. Pictures that I had been told years ago no longer existed!!

However, having written that, other photos emerged of friends and, presumably, relatives and I have no idea of who they are and where they are as I don't have anybody to ask who might know them!!

cheers

Allan

[Andy Saunders]

Originally Posted by Larry

And regarding Britain at War Magazine - Andy Saunders is one of the Editors so I am told - so send him a PM

Not one of the editors, but a 'consultant' to "Britain at War" magazine and a regular contributor.

Send me a PM if you think I can help with anything.

[Nick Hector]

Some excellent responses from the forum here, but I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and manually go through my copies of Chorley's Bomber Command Losses and then post whatever I find onto the forum as this is a question that has obviously intrigued quite a few of you.

As a point of interest, I gather most of you have found the entries pertaining to when Donald Pleasance and Denholm Elliot were taken POW...?

[Bombphoon]

Originally Posted by Allan125

Nick - if you got the information from "Britain at War" magazine it might be worth dropping them a line to see if they have any additional (unprinted) information.

Allan

I wrote the article in Britain at War and I'm afraid that's all the information I had about Talfryn.

Suffice to say, Talfryn played the character of Pte Cheeseman wonderfully, doing his best to fill the gap left by the untimely death of Jimmy Beck (Pte Walker) but unfortunately he was treated very shabbily by some of the other cast members who thought he was getting too many laughs and he unceremoniously disappeared from the show.

[Dave Homewood]

It was never the intention of the writers to have Talfryn in the cast long term though. I know the writers personally and have talked especially with Jimmy Perry about it. They simply brought back the Cheeseman character to distract from the gap left by such an important part of the team, and then phased him out again. I have to say I prefer the radio versions where Walker continued in the role (played by larry Martyn) and Cheeseman never appeared as a platoon member. I have nothing against Talfryn but I'm not much of a fan of Cheeseman, the character. he was far too whacky and wierd for the gentle humour of Dad's Army.