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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2012 :: RMTnews 29 The winner of prize crossword no. 75 is Peter Stubbington, Bournemouth. Send entries to Prize Crossword, RMT, Unity House, 39 Chalton Street, London NWI IJD by March 9 with your name and address. Winner and solution in next issue. ACROSS 1 Floating marker (4) 3 Perfect, at least in theory! (5) 6 Double-reeded woodwind instrument (4) 11 Airline desk, usually with queue attached (5-2) 12 System of raised dots read by touch (7) 13 Stop (5) 14 Space traveller (9) 15 Mysterious (9) 18 Britain’s only venomous snake (5) 20 ‘Ink’ used by photocopier (5) 21 Cocktail of whisky and Drambuie - oxidised spike (5,4) 23 RMT members usually work to one (9) 26 Flat cap, French style (5) 27, 31 Infrastructure owner that McNulty wants to fragment (7,4) 28 Not under a roof (7) 29 Oily freshwater fish - with a complaint! (4) 30 ‘Tooled up’ (5) 31 See 27 DOWN 1 Two-wheeled conveyance (7) 2 Surgical procedure (9) 4 Site of RMT’s National Education Centre (9) 5 Chief monk? (5) 7 Lightweight timber, used for modelling (5) 8 Voter (7) 9 Largest Inner Hebridean island (4) 10 Dark hardwood (8) 16 Long race (8) 17 Slow, oven-cooked dish - or the dish it comes in (9) 19 AKA ‘the runs’ (9) 20 Large ship that came to grief a century ago this year (7) 22 To be taken as read (7) 24 Engine (5) 25 Maker of bread and cakes (5) 26 Unit of digital information (4) £50 PRIZE CROSSWORD No. 76. Set by Elk No. 75 solution... My paternal grandmother’s brother, John McLennon was a merchant seaman throughout the First World War. He came through the entire conflict unscathed, but was tragically killed two months after the armistice. On January 19, 1919 the SS Northumbria was homeward bound from Baltimore. Off the coast of Middlesbrough she hit a mine and sank. Some of the crew including John made it into a lifeboat. However, the weather was so bad the lifeboat was swamped by heavy seas. Five bodies were recovered some days later much further up the coast. Although it was believed that John’s body was one of those recovered, his family lived in the Outer Hebrides and in 1919 it was just not possible to travel to the north east of England. As a consequence, the family had no idea of the exact location of John’s grave. After doing some research I discovered that five bodies had been buried in the cemetery at Embleton in Northumberland. However, when I enquired if John was one of those buried there, I was told that he did not appear on the computer records. As not all names had been transferred to computer, it was possible that he was buried there. I decided to take a chance and make the trip. Accompanied by my two great friends Geoff Revell and Bob Potts, I made the trip two days after the 93rd anniversary of John’s death. We quickly found a row of five war graves. John’s grave was the fifth one. It was a sad, yet satisfying feeling to know I was the first member of the family to visit John’s grave, so long after his death. The family now know the exact location of his grave, something we were never sure of. The five graves are also a sad testimony to the fact that even months after the conflict was officially finished, lives continued to be lost. LOST WAR GRAVE FOUND Regional organiser John MacDonald finds grave of merchant seaman ancestor killed shortly after the end of World War One