Max served in the National Fire Service during the latter part of the war and can be seen here in his uniform. Click photo to enlarge.

I remember back in the early 1950's Max lived at home with his mother at 45 Mortimer Lane, Basingstoke. The house was owned by the next-door-neighbours Mr & Mrs Tuddenham. On the opposite side of the Tuddenham's house there was a large, walled allotment which Max used to tend. His speciality was growing dahlias and he used to win many prizes for them in the local shows.

Max was also extremely lucky with raffle tickets. My mother believed that if ever he bought a raffle ticket he would always win a prize.

He was a skilled cabinetmaker by trade and after the 1939-45 war, he worked at Thorneycrofts in Basingstoke fitting out the cabs of the lorries they made. In those pre-plastic days, the cabs were fitted out with timber.

Timber was in short supply after the war but Max decided to make a needlework cabinet for his sister Pearl (my mother). I believe it was for a wedding present. As the story was told to me by my father, each day, when Max left work, he would smuggle a few off-cuts of timber out of the factory, tucked down his trousers, and with the off-cuts he made the needlework cabinet. It was a really smart cabinet with a hinged lid for access to the main unit which was used for storage of materials and wool. There was a partitioned draw in the front which housed all of my mother's knitting needles. Whilst it is clearly made out of odds and ends of timber, and has no monetary value whatsoever, the embroidery box was one of the items of furniture I kept when my mother and father died.

From the Basingstoke Gazette, 5th March, 2003:
MAXWELL ROYSTON WYNDHAM NASH Sadly passed away on 28.2.03, aged 75. Beloved husband of Muriel and a much loved Father, Grandfather and Great Grandfather. Will be sadly missed. Funeral service to be held at St Michaels Church on Thursday 6th March at 1.45pm. Flowers to Alexander & Dry.

I remember hearing through the family that Alvin was tragically killed in a house fire in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. He was just 25 years of age.