Helga Bonner

INA HELGA BONNER (nee Engeroff) 1924 – 2009  written and compiled by David Garner

Helga was born 17th January, 1924 in what is now West Berlin in the former American sector near the district of Zehlendorf. She grew up in Berlin with her parents, along with twin brother and sister, Peter and Sonja and youngest brother Klaus, and had a happy childhood. She attended the Zinnowwald-school in Berlin and later the University of Potsdam. Helga was a very private person and it was not easy to ask her about her past. Some years ago, our President, Phil Boothroyd, asked her frequently about the time during World War II and coaxed from her the fact that she had been conscripted to load ammunition in one of the many Flak towers around Berlin. She would not have wanted that to be known as she was concerned that it would still be a sensitive subject even 50 years after the war ended.

Helga was still studying medicine at the University of Potsdam, and was 18 years old when the Russians overran Berlin. A recently published history of wartime Berlin; Antony Beevor’s “Berlin: the Downfall, 1945”, paints a shocking picture of life in the closing days of the war. Helga’s Father, (who was in civilian clothing), was shot dead by Russian forces just down the street from their home on the last day of the war. That was the fate of many men in Berlin and all Women suffered horribly in Russian hands. As Russian forces seized the city, Helga became separated from her parents and siblings, living in cellars in the ruined city. Eventually, a family of a school friend smuggled her over the border to the Western zone.

60 years ago in 1949, England recruited a large number of nurses in Germany. Helga was one of these prospective student nurses. They were collected in a group camp, transferred to England and given a choice of hospitals in which to work. Helga, along with three other student nurses, Ann, Elizabeth and Judy, for no particular reason, chose to work Black Notley Hospital, near Braintree in Essex. This foursome, plus two later arrivals, were the pioneers of the newly established Nurses Training School, under the kindly guidance of Sister Tutor, Mr. (Spud) Murphy, who was always remembered with great affection. He made them pay a nickel every time he caught them speaking German. Helga spoke little English when she arrived, but learned very quickly, acquiring an Irish accent, as there were many Irish nurses present. She excelled in operating room assistance, was greatly respected by the hospital staff and well liked by her co-workers and friends.

It was while training that she met Neville, a patient suffering from Ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis. After becoming a State Registered Nurse, they married in January, 1953 and moved to nearby, Kelvedon. Neville’s condition deteriorated gradually so that he ended up paralysed from head to foot with only limited arm and foot movement. Not surprisingly he was difficult to live with as the condition got worse but Helga did all she could, and nursed him to the end. Neville had worked for the Electricity Board and had been able to dance in his younger days. They greatly enjoyed telling of an incident when several police cars arrived outside their house after someone had reported seeing a dead body being transported in Helga’s Wartburg estate car. The penny dropped only when Neville appeared propped up on his crutches causing the police officer much embarrassment. After that, Neville made a point of waving to everyone who saw him in the car to let them know he was very much alive. During their 40 years of devoted married life, her determination and tenacity was such that, they travelled to many places together, including parts of Europe, at a time when special needs and wheelchairs were not considered, and certainly not catered for.

Between 1954 and the late 1970’s she worked for the Spastics Society at Prested Hall, then Drummonds Spastics Centre, and later went on to do computer programming at Fords, Dagenham. Neville’s disability entitled him to a specially modified Villiers powered AC invalid carriage and he would be seen at Club events in convoy with Helga’s pale blue KR200 (‘811 TMG’ we believe). She joined the MOC (London & South Eastern) soon after it was formed and quickly became part of Les Tilbury’s team. He recognised her talents for precise bookkeeping and she served for a number of years as MOC (L&SE) Treasurer. Helga was among the first to bring back spares from Germany for Club members and wrote to dealers in Germany who were in the vicinity of Aschaffenburg where she and Neville were going on their holiday. A number of clutch bearings were smuggled back on the train in a shoe box as the U.K had very tight expenditure and import restrictions for tourists during that time. Les eventually persuaded her to take on the Partsmart job when he could no longer manage it. Although she initially accepted the job with some misgivings due to her lack of technical knowledge, she quickly learnt what everything was for and was able to guide members in their parts purchases. She treated Partsmart as a full time occupation maintaining an enviable reputation for service that far exceeded what is encountered in most other car clubs. Those of us who supported the Partsmart service with parts sourcing and technical issues found her to be uncompromising in maintaining the parts supply and hence the standard of service. She would badger us regularly to keep up supplies as Partsmart developed into a worldwide source for Messerschmitt parts. While running the Partsmart service, she also managed the Club accounts, maintaining a strict control of cash flow – refusing to buy parts until funds were in place to cover them. Under her control, MOC built a sound financial system that remains to this day. The Partsmart service enabled Helga and Neville to make friends all over the world – they were both thrilled when a member came all the way from Mexico to visit their house for spares. Soon the network extended throughout the world and she thoroughly enjoyed a visit to California where the local Club members gave her a memorable time.

Her failing health was always a concern to her after Neville’s death and she suffered a minor stroke that caused her to worry about continuing with Partsmart. Neville had cautioned her about this, reminding her how things had slipped somewhat when Les Tilbury’s health was failing. Her good friend, Carolyn Knights stepped into the breach and supported her with preparing parts orders. Reluctantly, she gave up the Partsmart job on 1st August 2005 when she felt she could no longer maintain the level of service that she had set. We tried to persuade her to stay on as we felt the social contact would be better for her. All the residents of Kelvedon benefited from the MOC basing its Partsmart operation in this small Essex village as it kept both the local Post Office and Barclays Bank going. Both Helga and Neville, enjoyed bird watching and Helga kept a well stocked bird table outside her room at Coggeshall. She took a great interest in the Arts, and History. Helga has touched, and enriched many people’s lives and will be sadly missed.

Although many members wanted to attend a funeral to pay their respects to Helga, she had left specific instructions with her Executor Carolyn Knights regarding the funeral arrangements. Those of us who knew Helga well will understand that her specific requests are not negotiable and we respected her final wishes. A simple cremation took place at a crematorium in Essex at 09:45 on Thursday 29th October. It was specifically requested that there should be no ceremony, flowers, cards, service, or anything marking the occasion. It was enough for her to know that we all thought of her at the cremation time. Her ashes are to be distributed on Shingle Street, Suffolk in the same location where the ashes of her Husband, Neville were scattered. A permanent memorial to Helga’s achievements is to be developed. Although some ideas were presented at the recent Club meeting, it was felt that a Rally award was not suitable taking account of the loss of memorable items such as the Kabinews award.

We gratefully acknowledge the help of Carolyn Knights and Mark Smith in compiling these notes.