| Notes: | CMP. VP London District. Enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment, transferred to CMP. 3/8/42 Died. He was born and resided in Dorset. Inscription on gravestone: His memory will live for ever. He is also named on the Hants and Dorset Motor Services Ltd. Memorial, in honoured memory of employees of this company who gave their lives in the World War 1939-1945. Turner R F, Corps of military Police, Poole, They died that we might live. 3/8/1942 casualty lists 911 Home, died as a result of an accident.
Robert Frank Turner.
Extract from the Chelsea News & General Advertiser, 14/8/42.
DISPATCH RIDER KILLED. Millbank fatality. An inquest was held by Mr Bentley Purchase at Westminster Coroner's Court on Wednesday, August 5, on Pte Robert Frank Turner (23) a member of the Corps of Military Police, who collided with a bus and was fatally injured, whilst riding a motor bicycle in Millbank on Bank Holiday. His brother Herbert William Turner, 141 Wendover Road, stoke Mandeville, Bucks said the deceased had good health, but suffered fro a disease of the eyes which could not be corrected with glasses. He last saw him a fortnight ago. He was used to riding a motor bicycle. His sight had handicapped him at school and accounted for him being in the Military Police. RQMS James Hayter of the Military Police, said the deceased had been at HQ for about 4 months. He did ordinary duty until a fortnight ago, when he offered himself as a dispatch rider and was sent to the motoring school for training. In the witness's view he had perfectly good sight. On Bank Holiday he was sent to Chelsea Barracks for minor repairs to his motor bicycle. Bus Passengers Felt a Bump. Charles Henry Placey of Edric House, Page Street, Westminster a passenger in the bus, said he was sitting in the rear seat on top, just as the bus was coming found into Millbank he felt a bump and looked through the window. He was the deceased lying at the side of the bus. Robert Wilson, 3 Olyn Street, Vauxhall said that at 11.50 am he was walking along Millbank almost opposite to where the accident occurred. The bus was halfway into Millbank and the deceased approached fro Atterbury Street. There was room for him to go past the bus, but he seemed to sheer out into the middle of the road and ran into it. He skidded 30 or 40 yards. Fulham Bus Drivers Evidence. Francis Percival Harris of 62 Stepliendale Road, Fulham was the bus driver said that he saw nothing, he started to turn into Millbank and after the front wheels of the bus had crossed the white line he heard a screech and saw the deceased passing a lamp post. He had nearly turned the bus, when the deceased swerved from the nearside to the offside. The front wheels of the but were 4' to 4'6" over the white line. PC Alfred Spiller, No. 436A said he was cycling along Bullinga Street off duty. He saw the deceased lying near the bus and the motor bicycle was jammed against the side of it. There clearly would have been room for the deceased to pass behind the bus. in a statement the driver of the bus said " I was coming round the corner very slowly. He was coming very fast. i heard brakes screeching and he came right into me". The skid mark was 30 yards long starting near the kerb and finish at the point of impact with the bus. Sir Bernard Spilsbury, pathologist, said death was due to a fractured skull, injury to the brain, and haemorrhage around the brain. The deceased had nothing in the nature of cataracts. Accident Possibly Due to Deceased's Sight. The coroner said the deceased was a young man who suffered fro a disease of the eyes. He joined the Military Police, and his sight might have been the reason he was graded for the Corps. No one in the Corps of Military Police seemed to know his eyesight had not been good. He (the coroner) did not know whether the accident was due to his sight, but the possibility must be kept in mind. At the time of the accident he seemed to have lost his head and to have gone out into the middle of the road and collided with the bus when it was almost stationary. The accident could have been prevented by the deceased, the bus driver came out in the ordinary way. There was clearly room for the motor bicycle to pass behind the bus, but he did not do so. The coroner recorded a verdict of "Accidental Death". |
UNITED KINGDOM
