John Gillespie, London Bus Manager During Wartime

John Gillespie was a World War I veteran, present at the Battle of the Somme, and had been a pacifist. On his mother's side, he came from a family of Eastern European Jewish refugees from Russian pogroms. He had seven children, one son of which was wounded on the HMS Hood.

He lived in Shepherds Bush in London. He was disabled due to the shrapnel in his left arm. He worked as a bus manager in Southall, London, during the Second World War. He was in charge of Southall and Hemel bus stations. As a bus worker, he witnessed the Blitz in London.

Ethel Gillespie kept all the postcards from World War 1 and World War 2 and throughout her life.