Twins

These are my twin uncles - H (on the left I think) and T and they would have been 100 years old today.  

Their mother gave birth to T but unknown to her she was carrying twins.  She only found this out a few minutes before H was born.  The twins never knew their father as sadly he had died 3 months before their birth.  My grandma had two older sons aged five (my dad) and three and a half.  As you can imagine life was hard for them.  

T & H were joined at the hip.  They were like a double act - one and the same person.  They spent 87 years together and in that time they never had an argument.  They finished each others sentences and had the same sense of humour.  They even worked together.  

When war broke out T joined the army and spent time in India (where he saw Mahatma Gandhi) and Burma.  He never talked about his time in the war and didn't collect his medals although his daughter did get them for him just before he died.  H tried to join up but he'd had a problem from birth with one of his legs so he was not accepted which upset him greatly.  His mother was very grateful to have him at home as her other boys were all away fighting.  H missed T desperately during this time and apparently their reunion at the end of the war was very emotional.

After the war the twins were earning good money and enjoyed life.  They both loved clothes and handmade shoes and loved going to see the wrestling and supporting their football team.

Eventually T married and had a daughter.  T's wife was a saint and accepted their very special relationship.  

T died in 2011 and everyone was worried about H but he was really brave and although he desperately missed T he carried on with life.  H died in 2017.

They lived about thirty miles from us and when I was small we didn't see them very much - maybe a couple of times of year.  I was a bit scared of them as I was very confused why there were two of them who looked the same.  They were always kind and used give my sister and me half a crown every time we saw them.  That was quite a bit of money then.

They were such characters and they are still greatly missed in our family.  We still talk and laugh about them and the things they got up to.