From The Winsford Chronicle of 22 September 1945: "DAVENHAM - COMING HOME! - [PHOTOGRAPH] A telegram, bearing the brief, but momentous message, 'Safe: writing soon,' this week told Mrs. Deakin (formerly Miss Clara Chrimes), of 'Woodlea', Fountain-lane, that her husband, L/Bombardier Donald Deakin, R.A., has survived 3 1/2 years of captivity by the Japanese, and will be home soon. L/Bombdr. Deakin joined the Forces with the Blackpool Territorials. After fighting in Malaya, he was captured with the Singapore garrison. He is 25, a keen sportsman, and in civil life was much interested in the Scout movement. He has been married six years." Donald's birth year is based on his 1948 Ship Passenger List entry. Another researcher records that Donald married a second time in 1972 in Toronto, Canada and that he died 1984 in Comox, British Columbia (unsourced). |