Howard Kelsey, Norwich

[Howard Kelsey, who was English, knew Desmond Greaves from the late 1930 when Greaves lived in Wimbledon, South London, while working at Epsom Oils and Kelsey was at school there.  He used donate to the “Irish Democrat” in later years. He sent the notes below in response to a request for any memories he had of Desmond Greaves.]  

Desmond was living in digs in Wimbledon during the late-1930s. At my school there were strong anti-fascist anti-war sentiments among the seniors. We were very impressed by Desmond’s erudition at public meetings and soon came to know him. It seems he was working as an industrial chemist at the time and he advised us to continue studying the borderline subjects like bio-chemistry and geo-physics. Many of us had aspirations to continue to Cambridge.

Other student leaders included John Cornford and David Guest. Later, when both of these were killed fighting the fascists in Spain and some of us suggested to Desmond that it seemed a waste of such potential that they should be killed off so young, he replied to the effect that: Sometimes when the fire is burning low you may lose valuable material keeping it going! 

Public meetings on Wimbledon Common were often successful. Here Desmond, often conspicuous in shorts, worked hard to persuade the crowd to resist the pro-Franco policies of the Government. “Next time,” he would say, “I’ll give them the Horrors of War” – a special speech that he reserved for special occasions.  He seemed to be planning to devote all his time and energy for political work. 

Life in bed-sitters seemed to be the prospect for us. He explained the art of warming a teapot prior to making tea without the help of a sink. A jet of steam from a boiling kettle was the key. For relaxation music  – he was a Beethoven fan – and chess featured. If girlfriends ever seemed to be the reason why appointments were not kept punctually he would say, “Oh.  Why don’t they go off and marry them – then we can get on with the important work.”

One evening when visiting him we had left our bicycles leaning against his garden wall, suggesting it was probably safe because we had seen a policeman nearby. “Better bring in your lamp and pump,” he said, “You know you can’t trust them.”

 He always seemed tireless, interested, cheerful, convincing and encouraging. Later we discovered that he was spending more and more time with the “Irish Democrat”. He was convinced that a socialist breakthrough in the UK would begin in Ireland. Much later when on a demonstration assembling at Charing Cross we saw Jane Tate selling the “Irish Democrat”. It seems she too was at school in Wimbledon, as was my wife, also on that demo.

Perhaps impressions taken on board at that age are pretty indelible.

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(Howard Kelsey, Springwood, Haddiscoe, Norwich)