WBernard Olabinjo "Bobby" Benson was an entertainer and musician who had considerable influence on the Nigerian music scene, introducing big band and Caribbean idioms to the Highlife style of popular West African music.
WLord Blears was a British-American professional wrestler, ring announcer, promoter, actor, mariner, and surfing personality.
WApprentice Donald Owen Clarke of the Merchant Navy was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his heroism on 8 August 1942. Sailing alone, his motor tanker, the San Emiliano, was torpedoed and sunk by U.155 in the central Atlantic, south east of Trinidad. The ship was engulfed in flames but despite being so badly burned that he died the next day of his wounds, he helped save other severely burned victims by rowing a lifeboat clear of the stricken tanker. He rowed the lifeboat, the only one to survive the sinking, for two hours despite his hands being so badly burned they had to be cut away from the oars as his flesh had stuck to them. Lying at the bottom of the boat, as they waited for rescue, he sang to keep up the spirits of the other men.
WKenneth Colyer was an English jazz trumpeter and cornetist, devoted to New Orleans jazz. His band was also known for skiffle interludes.
WRobert Andrew "Bob" Doyle was a communist activist and soldier from Ireland. He was active in two armed conflicts; the Spanish Civil War as a member of the International Brigades and the Second World War as a member of the British Empire's Merchant Navy.
WReginald Hamilton Earnshaw, known as Reggie Earnshaw, is believed to have been the youngest person in the British services to die in World War II. He was just 14 years, 151 days old when he died under enemy fire on the SS North Devon off the coast of Norfolk on 6 July 1941.
WCaptain William Edward Rawlins Eyton-Jones, OBE, often shortened to 'Pop' Jones, was a Merchant Navy Captain and Master Mariner who served in various theatres during World War I and World War II, most notably in the Battle of the Atlantic.
WGerard Fitt, Baron Fitt was a politician in Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a social democratic and Irish nationalist party.
WFrederick Fleet was a British sailor, crewman and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic after it struck an iceberg on 14 April 1912. Along with fellow lookout Reginald Lee, on duty aboard the Titanic when the ship struck the iceberg, it was Fleet who first sighted the iceberg, ringing the bridge to proclaim: "Iceberg, right ahead!"
WLefty 'Satan' Flynn born Selvin Campbell in British Honduras was a professional boxer. Flynn also known as His Satanic Majesty fought out of Jamaica becoming Jamaican featherweight and later welterweight champion. After taking the Jamaican titles he moved to Britain in late 1936. Flynn was a successful opponent in British boxing circles and fought many of the up-and-coming fighters of his age. In 1954 he made an unsuccessful attempt at the British Honduras welterweight title in Belize City.
WLucian Michael Freud, OM CH was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewish architect Ernst L. Freud and the grandson of Sigmund Freud. Freud got his first name "Lucian" from his mother in memory of the ancient writer Lucian of Samosata. His family moved to England in 1933 to escape the rise of Nazism. From 1942–43 he attended Goldsmiths College, London. He served at sea with the British Merchant Navy during the Second World War.
WJohn Sedgwick Gregson GC was an apprentice in the British Merchant Navy who was awarded the Albert Medal during World War II. This was later replaced with the George Cross.
WNii-lante Augustus Kwamlah Quaye, known professionally as Cab Kaye, was an English jazz singer and pianist of Ghanaian descent. He combined blues, stride piano, and scat with his Ghanaian heritage.
WFrank Laskier was a British seaman who came to public attention during World War II.
WAlfred Lennon, also known as Freddie Lennon, was an Englishman best known as the father of musician John Lennon. Alfred spent many years in an orphanage with his sister, Edith, after his father died. He was considered very witty and musical throughout his life—he sang and played the banjo—but not considered very reliable or dependable. Although informally called Alf by his family, he released a record as Freddie Lennon, and was referred to in the media by that name.
WPoon Lim was a Chinese sailor who survived 133 days alone in the South Atlantic.
WVictor Jack Maddern was an English actor, described by The Telegraph as having "one of the most distinctive and eloquent faces in post-war British cinema."
WJohn Louis Mansi was a British television and film actor whose career spanned the years from the early 1950s to the early 1990s.
WDudley William Mason GC was master of the tanker SS Ohio during the Second World War. He commanded the tanker during Operation Pedestal, a convoy to relieve Malta. He was awarded the George Cross for this operation.
WKevin O'Donovan McClory was an Irish screenwriter, film producer, and film director. McClory was best known for producing the James Bond film Thunderball and for his legal battles with the character's creator, Ian Fleming.
WCaptain Bernard Peter de Neumann GM was a British Merchant Navy officer and convicted pirate.
WDavid Scase was a British theatre director and actor.
WDuncan Alexander Croall Scott-Ford was a British merchant seaman who was hanged for treachery after giving information to an enemy agent during the Second World War.
WRaymond Victor Steed was the second youngest British services recruit to die during the Second World War. He was just 14 years and 207 days old when the ship on which he was a galley boy, SS Empire Morn, was blown up after it hit a U-boat mine on 26 April 1943. He was previously described by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as "the youngest known British services death," but this was revised in February 2010, when it was confirmed Reginald Earnshaw was actually younger, at 14 years and 151 days.
WFrederick William Treves BEM was an English character actor with an extensive repertoire, specialising in avuncular, military and titled types.
WErnest Wiseman,, known by his stage name Ernie Wise, was an English comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, who became a national institution on British television, especially for their Christmas specials.