Florence Barcham (nėe Iles) Boulton (1918-2024)

Florence (Cissie) Barcham Iles was born on 13 October 1918, just four weeks before the end of World War I, the second daughter of Annie Winifred (née Barcham) and Albert Victor Iles of Thorpe Bay. She was educated at Southend High School for Girls where she excelled at science subjects, particularly botany, and then, unlike most girls in the 1930s, went to university to study for a degree in horticulture at Swanley College, Kent. She graduated in 1940.

In 1941 Cissie was called up for service and chose the Women’s Royal Naval Service. She was assigned to the Fleet Air Arm with the rank of Petty Officer. Her training encompassed all forms of radar, which she found interesting and enjoyable. Her first posting was to a land-based operational squadron in Northern Ireland at HMS Gannet. There were only three WRNS maintaining the equipment; their work was secret and had to be very accurate as men’s lives depended on it. One day she was servicing a set on the 2000 volt line when everything was electrified: she was thrown across the room along with the monitors and cables. She was sent home for a week to rest before being drafted to Malvern to work on highly secret radar research. This was fascinating work on experimental sets, but the hours were long and the resistors often caught fire, so she was happy to be posted to Arbroath to train pilots on radar.

Cissie later joined a small unit of 15 personnel at a vital station situated on the sand dunes at Formby, Lancashire, from which they monitored the whole of the Irish Sea. The new radar set was very powerful, utilizing very short wavelengths, and the two mechanics often had to work with the protection off. She was at Formby on VE day on 5 May 1945, and shortly afterwards she was ‘demobbed’ on both medical and compassionate grounds.

As she was a qualified horticulturist, Cissie then joined the staff of Ormskirk Training College and later was appointed an advisor for the Ministry of Agriculture in Bedford. However, her health deteriorated over the next 18 months, with migraines and epileptic seizures, thought to be because of the electric shock and exposure to short-wave radiation. She was dismissed from her post when her epilepsy became known, and after a number of medicals was awarded two Navy pensions. She was well cared for by the Navy physicians and in 1958 married Frank Boulton. They lived in Woolton, Liverpool. He died in 1963.

The Christian faith was fundamental to Cissie’s way of life. Her family were members of the New Church in Southend-on-Sea. The New Church follows the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. The Iles family were among the founding members of the New Church in Southend. This was an important influence while she was growing up. After the war Cissie became a member of the Plymouth Brethren, where she met her husband, Frank Boulton. They were married in 1958 at the Brethren meeting house in Southend-on-Sea. Cissie was Frank’s second wife. When the sect became the Exclusive Brethren they resigned as they did not wish to follow their strict rules which would have prevented her from seeing her family. She then joined the Anglican communion and worshipped regularly at her local parish church wherever she was living.

Cissie moved to East Sussex in the 1970s to be near friends in Hassocks, then later to Eastbourne where she lived in sheltered accommodation for several years. In her nineties, her eyesight was deteriorating so she decided to move to a care home in Eastbourne. For her last six years she was well cared for in Woodside Nursing Home, Hailsham, where she was known as Ronnie. The family would like to express their sincere gratitude to all the staff who cared for her so well until the day she passed away aged 105.

Cissie was strong-willed and independent - characteristics that enabled her to cope with the enormous changes of the 20^th and 21^st centuries and the challenges she faced during World War II, followed by several years of poor health. She had many interests. As well as her life-long love of gardening and horticulture she was a keen amateur photographer. She was also skilled at crafts such as quilting, embroidery and tapestry, and sugar craft, making elaborate iced cakes for friends and family. Everything she created was done to perfection.

Teddy bears were special to Cissie: she collected them over the years, gave them names and made clothes for them. She would never go anywhere without ‘One-eye’, a poor thing with only one eye. He would write a journal about Cissie’s travels from his own point of view, often asking ‘are we nearly there yet’. Cissie supported the charity Good Bears of the World which spreads love and caring to children and the elderly who are in need of comfort with teddy bears.

During her long widowhood, Cissie travelled all over the world to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Israel, Japan, South-east Asia, South Africa, South America and other destinations in Europe and elsewhere. She was adventurous and did not mind staying in basic accommodation, sometimes with local families. She also enjoyed cruising, usually on small ships. Some of these trips were to visit family and friends, others were botanical expeditions and some were religious pilgrimages. She had an excellent memory and would relate stories of her adventures to anyone who was interested well into her nineties.

Although Cissie had no children she played an important part in the lives of her nieces and nephews both as children and as young adults. She made lovely soft toys for her niece Judith during the war years when such items were unavailable. The huge teddy bear she made from an old fur coat was a real favourite with both Judith and her younger brother Bruce. And so was a beautiful doll’s house she made with every detail carved in miniature.

In the 1960s Cissie visited her sister Jean in Australia and again later in New Zealand when she got to know her three nephews, Bradley, Russell and Brendon, and her niece Jenny. Brendon said that she had a huge impact on him as a young lad. She seemed like an exotic, eccentric auntie who arrived on a great ocean liner, laden with gifts and a teddy bear (with one eye) as a companion adorned with badges and bits and bobs garnered from far-flung places. She taught Russell how to grow plants from seed which led to his life-long interest in cultivating flowers and vegetables, while Jenny was inspired to make soft toys and collect teddy bears.

Cissie died peacefully on 20 May 2024. She will be fondly remembered by all those who knew her for her quirky sense of humour and her love of children. She leaves five nieces and nephews, many cousins and second cousins.

Cissie’s ashes will eventually be interred in the grave of her husband, Frank Boulton, at St Peter’s Church, Woolton, Liverpool.

Judith Constantine (niece)

June 2024