Memorials & Monuments
on the Isle of Wight
- Biography -
- Ernest George Stickley -

ISLE OF WIGHT MERCURY

Friday, April 2, 1943

Heavy Raid on South Coast Town
A few hours before we went to press, a South Coast town which suffered a number of previous raids, was again visited by sneak raiders. Three fighter-bombers came in from the Channel, dropped bombs at a low altitude, and machine gunned the district a little to the west of the centre of the town. Extensive damage was done to residential and business properties. Public buildings damaged included a cinema. This, happily, was not showing at the time, and with one exception, the commissionaire, Mr. E.G. Stickley, who was severely injured and removed to hospital, the staff had not arrived for the evening performance. Five minutes later the whole of the staff would have reported for duty. A post office, a police station, a church, parish hall, and many shops in a main street, lost their windows or sustained other damage in varying degree. Several hotels were involved in damage - including one partially wrecked on a former occasion - and at one a fire was promptly dealt with. In a residential road on a lower level two private dwellings were demolished and a third partially so, and whilst these lines were being written, rescue party squads were digging for inmates known to have been trapped.

TWO PERSONS KILLED :
FIFTEEN INJURED.
(Last night's figures).
Late last night two fatal casualties were reported : -
Mr. William Newbery, an octogenarian, and Mrs. D. Capocchi, a visitor from a distant town.

ISLE OF WIGHT MERCURY

Friday, April 9, 1943 Page 2

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
STICKLEY. - Mrs. Stickley wishes to thank all doctors, nurses, Civil Defence workers, W.V.S. and all kind friends who sent beautiful floral tokens, and messages of sympathy. Please accept this, the only acknowledgment.

Page 2

Mr. E. G. Stickley, who died under tragic circumstances last week, will be remembered for his happy and courteous nature. He had been associated with official duties at Southampton for several years, and came out of his retirement at Ventnor to render war-time service. He died as he would have wished - at work.

Page 3

Raid Victims' Funerals
MR. E.G. STICKLEY.
Mr. Ernest George Stickley, commissionaire of a cinema which sustained damage during a sneak raid on a South Coast town, died in hospital on the day following the attack. He was alone in the cinema at the time and sustained a fractured skull and other injuries. With his wife he had lived in the town for a number of years, and had made quite a number of friends by his genial disposition. His circle of friends had considerably widened since he became commissionaire, and an appreciation of his character, written by Mr. L. C. Fakes, the manager, admirably sums up the esteem with which he was held. He was 68 years of age and before his retirement was employed as a railway policeman in London, and elsewhere. Much sympathy has been expressed with the widow in her very sad loss. The funeral took place on Wednesday morning, the service being held at the Spiritualist Church, of which deceased was a member. Mrs. W. J. Moore officiated in the unavoidable absence of Mrs. Gifford, who was involved in air raid in another town a few hours earlier. Her friends were relieved to hear that despite her alarming experience, Mrs. Gifford had escaped serious injury. The principal mourners were Mrs. Stickley (widow), Mr. S. Lamb (brother-in-law), and Mr. and Mrs. Spink (Ashleigh). Others present included Mr. W. J. Knight, J.P. (Council Chairman), Mr. W. G. Jermy, Mr. J. Stephens, Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Long, Mrs. C. G. Hayward, Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Raymond, Mrs. A. Saunders, Mrs. Lush, Mrs. Harber, Mrs. Reed, Mrs. E. Russell, Mr. G. Ellis (manager, Lloyds Bank), Mr. H. H. Snow, Miss Vince, Mr. J. Saunders, Capt. Coulthurst, Mrs. Wootton, Mr. L. C. Fakes (cinema manager, also representing I.W. Theatres Ltd.), Mrs. Fakes, and the following members of the staff at the cinema : Messrs. B. S. Drake, C. D. Drake, J. Castlo, A. Arnold, Mrs. Jefferies, Mrs. Pickering, Mrs. Digweed, Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Fry and Mrs. Groves. Mrs. S. L. Allisstone presided at the organ and played appropriate music. Two hymns, "Still, still with Thee" and "O Love that will not let me go," were sung, and the service throughout was most impressive. The interment followed at the Cemetery.
Exquisite floral tributes were sent by the following : -
Mrs. Stickley and "Sonny," Ashleigh; The Directors of I.W. Theatres, Ltd.; Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Milsom (General Manager, I.W. Theatres, Ltd.), the Management and Staff of the cinema; members of the Spiritualist Church; Mr. and Mrs. G. Ellis; Mr. and Mrs. Hatcher and Phyllis; Mrs. Holmes and Miss Laurie; Mr. and Mrs. Long and Reg; Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Newberry; Mrs. C. J. Wootton; Leon and John Digweed; Sheila Cooper and Alan Jefferies; Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Cooper; Mr. and Mrs. F. Cooper. Mr. A. F. Blake made the arrangements.

ERNEST GEORGE STICKLEY :
AN APPRECIATION
I did not know him intimately before he became Commissionaire at the Cinema, but after close association (which our respective positions made possible) I was not long to discover in him a man of the highest honour and integrity - in fact, one of nature's gentlemen. His cheerful disposition, kindness and innate kindness to everyone with whom he came into contact, not only endeared him to the patrons of the Cinema, but to all the staff as well, and he is going to be sadly missed by us all. Had he been but a few minutes late for his work he would probably have been with us to-day, but devotion to duty was his first thought. "Be thou faithful until death, and I will give thee a Crown of Life."
He now has that Crown.
LEONARD C. FAKES.

The body of a fourth victim, Miss Gabriella Testa, was interred in London.