By Paul Miller
When war broke out, Lieutenant Gerald Deakin left his role at Lloyd’s as a marine underwriting assistant and joined the Rifle Brigade.
Soon after arriving in North Africa he was captured by the advancing Africa Korps, taken prisoner and interned firstly in Italy then later at Oflag 79 in Saxony, a German prisoner-of-war camp for Allied officers. Whilst at Oflag 79 and with the assistance of another underwriter, Leo Annett, he made an application to become a member of Lloyd’s.
The procedure for admission as a name included a personal interview, called a Rota interview. The general purpose of it was to ensure that the candidate understood what they were undertaking. Many names refer to the formality and solemnity of the interviews, some described them as intimidating. There were sufficient numbers of people in Oflag 79 with a Lloyd’s connection that Lieutenant Deakin’s Rota interview was held at the camp. Sent via the POW postal services, there was surprise at Lloyd’s when a document was opened that began:
“To whom these presents shall come, I Gerald Revell Norman Deakin, prisoner of war, of Oflag 79, Saxony, send greetings to the Committee of Lloyd’s…”
Lieutenant Deakin was accepted as an underwriting member in 1945 and joined Harris and Dixon Underwriting Agency upon his return. For years afterwards, the chairman of HDUA would show visitors to his office a copy of Mr. Deakin’s wartime application to become a member. Deakin and his friend from Oflag 79, Leo Annett, remained friends after the war. Mr. Annett also became a Name, and the pair would spend their lunchtimes away from the Room together or enjoy the odd cup of coffee in the Captain’s Room.
Many staff of Lloyd’s had moved to Pinewood Studios to carry out their work during the war, a location chosen because it was less likely to be targeted by the Luftwaffe. They included Joy Aavang who started working at Lloyd’s in 1943. In 1940, her grandmother told her that she was to board a ship to Canada with other evacuees, but Joy protested so much, that the plans were put on hold. Soon after, news came through that the ship she would have travelled on, the S.S. City of Benares, was sunk by a torpedo fired from a German U-boat.
The young boy in the photograph below is Edward Colin Ryder Richardson, one of only 13 children to survive the attack. He was described by King George VI as a hero for his actions aboard the Benares that day. The ship’s carpenter described how: “His spirit never went down. His cheery little voice could always be heard above the moaning of passengers.”
When a nurse in a lifeboat cried that she was dying, Edward held her head in his lap and told her that rescue ships were coming: “Gently the boy stroked the poor woman’s face and gradually his faith in rescue was transmitted to her and she became calm.”
Mr. Ryder Richardson also went on to be a very successful underwriter at Lloyd’s.
