William Jowitt - After the War ended
So Bill found himself posted
to Bunde in September 1945 to be reunited
with B Squadron, along with his friends
Don Baird, Tiny Leach and Ticker Tone.
On 21/12/45 Bill was appointed Local Lance Corporal; he was still in Bunde and sent this Regimental Christmas Card back to his family.
By now Phantom was known as 3 GHQ Regiment BAOR.
Whilst in Bunde, Bill met his future wife Edith Isobel Stewart Barry a girl from Aberdeen who was working out in Bunde for the Control Commission. (picture to the right outside her billet.)
The Commission supported the Military Government, which ran the country after the defeat of the Nazis This Military government was gradually phased out and the Control Commission took over the role of “Local Government”. It was responsible for Public Safety and Health, Transport, Intelligence (which included rooting out Nazis), housing etc.
It seems like a golden period in their lives - if Edith's Officer's mess bar bills were anything to go by!
As wartime activities came to a halt it was a period of great enjoyment the Regiment published its own magazine "Phantasia" and even organised a Christmas" Phantomine" starring Ian Balfour Paul.
On February 2/2/46 Bill gained a further promotion to Acting Corporal.
After an appeal to be allowed to return home to help with the family business, he was finally demobbed in September 1946.
By then Phantom had dispersed into different units;
Bill ended his military career as Wireless signalman Corporal Jowitt in 3rd Independent Phantom Signals Regiment.
He married Edith in Aberdeen on January 2nd 1947 . On his return to Hull, he rejoined the family firm for a short while. He set up his own business, as a taxi driver.
However - he didn't settle and a year later began working in local government. Meanwhile, Edith was working in the Civil Service too, as a secretary.
In 1950, they borrowed £1300 and purchased the family home from his father who had built a new house on Anlaby Common.
In 1961, he trained as a maths and science teacher and spent the rest of his working life as a Secondary School Science Teacher, teaching firstly in Litchfield before returning to Hull where he taught at 5th Avenue High School.
Despite not having children of their own, Bill and Edith played a big part in the lives of their nephews and nieces.
Bill and Edith enjoyed travelling, especially in their caravan and spent time visiting places in England, Scotland, and the continent.
Bill kept in touch with the Van de Linden family whom he had stayed with during his time on leave in Holland in 1945.
In the 1970’s Bill took up gliding, pursuing his lifelong interest in flying. He was a member of the Pocklington Glider Club.
Bill and Edith at home and at their 50th wedding anniversary party.
Bill became interested in computing in his late seventies and used his Acorn BBC Computer and Daisy wheel printer to trace his old Phantom colleagues. Frustrated that only Officers had re-unions he met up with the veterans he traced.
He successfully traced and met up with fellow Phantoms Sydney Tabor, Stan Walters, Cyril Hargreaves and Eddie Sambrook in Wakefield. He corresponded with scores more Phantom Vets, compiled lists of last known addresses and sadly later collected obituaries.
Ironically he never knew Billy Wells, ex Phantom, lived just 2 miles away in Willerby, we discovered that much later.
Bill died in 1999, age 78, a much loved brother, Uncle and Great Uncle but not before inspiring us, the next generation.
After his death, we found his diaries and souvenirs of his wartime years and after much research, we pieced together his story and that of GHQ Liaison Regiment 'Phantom'.
