Norman Bogie, teacher and charity worker

Norman BogieNorman Bogie
Norman Bogie
Norman Bogie, who has died at 95, was a war veteran who was involved with Christian Aid in Scarborough for more than half a century.

Originally from what is now Greater Manchester, he moved to the resort at three and went on to attend Gladstone Road School, gaining a rare scholarship to the Boys’ High School.

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But the war interrupted his education and he became a Morse code signaller in the Royal Corps of Signals, working for two years in a bunker under the War Office in Whitehall, during the blitz.

On D-Day plus four, amid intense secrecy, he and his unit landed in France and found themselves stationed in the village of Reviers, near Caen. There, he was photographed rigging signal equipment, and when the picture was published in a national newspaper, his parents were able to secure a copy.

Some 70 years later, he was awarded the Légion d’Honneur by the French government for his part in the liberation.

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After VE Day, he returned to England and volunteered for parachute training in India. But with the hostilities over, a jump in combat proved unnecessary and he was demobbed at the end of the following year.

He met his future wife, Jean, at a birthday party in January 1947. They were married at St Mary’s Church in November that year.

Deciding to train to be a teacher, he worked in Scarborough Town Hall by day and the Spa Box Office at night to fund his two-year course, which carried no grants. He taught for a year at Westwood and then moved to Gladstone Road where he remained until his retirement.

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In 1974, he and Jean became involved in St Laurence’s Church, Scalby and was variously deputy church warden, sidesman and a member of the men’s society and a housegroup.

His involvement with Christian Aid began in its earliest days in Scarborough as an ecumenical town committee, and continued until 2012, by which time he was in his late 80s. Caring deeply for those in poverty through no fault of their own, he gathered a committed team around him for each Christian Aid week.

He is survived by Jean, three children, three grandchildren and four great grandchildren.