WAR MEMORIAL

A memorial plaque to those who died while serving in the Second World War is sited in the clubhouse of the Mellish Rugby Club. Those named are shown on the websites of the Imperial War Museum and the Nottinghamshire Roll of Honour. There are 58 names on the plaque which is also inscribed with:

THIS PAVILION AND GROUND IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE OLD BOYS AND STAFF OF THE HENRY MELLISH SCHOOL WHO GAVE THIER LIVES DURING THE WAR 1939-1945

ROLL OF HONOUR

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

The school and old boys raised the funds for the club in the years after the war.

It is hoped that details of all 58 will be added to this page.

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NAYLOR, Arthur 1920-1941 [School 1931-1939; Temporary Member of Staff 1940]

Arthur Naylor was the son of Arthur (1890-1964), a ‘colliery winding engineman’, and May Lilian (née Gillott) Naylor (1891-1985) and the brother of Frank and Lilian May Naylor of 50 Newthorpe Common, Eastwood. At Henry Mellish he was a noted cricketer and Captain of Red House. The Centaur records he was awarded a scholarship to University College Nottingham in 1939 and in the 1939 Register he is shown as a ‘student’. He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and it seems likely he was a temporary member of the teaching staff at the Mellish while waiting to be called for training as a pilot. In April 1941 has was a Leading Aircraftman (Pilot Under Training) at No. 5 Service Flying School, R.A.F. Tern Hill in Shropshire. By this stage he was on the advanced course of training to become a fighter pilot.

Arthur Naylor and his instructor, Flying Officer Cyril George William Moore, were killed when their aircraft (Miles Master I, serial number T8757) stalled and crashed very shortly after take of from R.A.F. Cosford, thirty-odd miles from Tern Hill, on 26 April 1941: Naylor was 20 and Moore 22. There are reports of engine failure.

Arthur Naylor was buried at Eastwood Cemetery (Commonwealth War Graves Commission).

Photograph and Documents from Lady Clare Howes DL, Arthur’s cousin.