It is with sadness that we report the passing of Leslie (Les) Alwin Wilkinson (27/4/1924-21/8/2016) aged 92.

Les was the father of Terry Wilkinson, a regular contributor to this site and whom many of you will have met at the Remembrance event in May.

Les was a grandson of William Arthur Wilkinson (the founder of Wilkinson’s) and was the last Wilkinson to work in the business, both at North Shields and in the Joseph Wilkinson works in Gateshead. At the outbreak of World War 2, Les jumped at the opportunity to serve his country. Posted initially to the RAF, he ended up in the Parachute Regiment where he became a Sergeant Instructor training many of the men who took part in the ill-fated Operation Market Garden. After the war, Les spent 12 years working in the Diplomatic Service – he was posted to both Moscow and East Berlin before the Iron Curtain came down.

I was fortunate to be introduced to Les by Terry, some years ago, before his final illness. Les, perhaps a tad bemused by the interest in the old “family firm”, kindly endured my questioning with patience and humour. He later attended a Wilkinson family re-union at North Shields Central Library, pouring over old photos and recounting family stories. He happily spent time with Dr Jim Rickard, an expert on Wilkinson bottles, explaining the bottling processes at the factory. Subsequently, Les maintained an interest in the northshields173 project and would give snippets of information to Terry to pass on. Sadly, Les was too ill to attend the Remembrance Service in May.

Les was one of those blokes from that “different generation” who had lived a life the majority of us nowadays could only imagine. He was quite a character. I liked him enormously. He will be sadly missed by his family and friends.