WW2 Veteran Lionel Lake
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http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/ww2-veterans-life-savings-stolen-9135182
Heartless burglars broke into a Second World War veteran’s home and stole his life savings as he slept.
Lionel Lake had left a small window open at his sheltered housing flat, in St Catherine’s Farm Court, Howletts Lane, Ruislip, when he went to bed at around 9pm on Thursday (April 23).
The 91-year-old awoke at around 1am to find thieves had snatched £5,000 in cash from his cabinet, along with £30 from his wallet.
Great grandfather Mr Lake said: “I’d saved this for years and years as a little nest egg for my two boys and two girls to make sure I leave them something. Now it’s all gone.”
He added: “I’m shocked at how the blinking hell they could have done it.
“I’m a bit deaf and when I’m in bed and I’ve got my hearing aid out I can’t hear anything. I think they got in quietly somehow or other.
“It was such a shock to see my front room light on when I came out here and the bureau open.
“My trousers were lying beside the bureau, when I generally leave them right beside my bed on a chair. I had a key on a chain and they used that to open the bureau and pinch my money.
“People have asked me if I told anyone I had it in there. I never even told my family.”
'Hero'
Mr Lake was born in Watford and joined the Home Guard aged 15, before entering the British Army’s Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own) at 17, based in Winchester.
As a lance corporal he took part in the D-Day Landings in Normandy in 1944.
He was knocked out by a mortar explosion in Falaise, before being shipped home, where he received four medals for his service.
The retired printer, who worked for Sun Printers, in Watford, spent seven years in Australia in the 1960s with his wife Doris and children Penny, Wesley, Julie and Gary.
The couple returned to Eastcote and then lived together at Mr Lake’s current home in Ruislip until Mrs Lake died in 2010, aged 88.
Granddaughter Sally Fitzgerald, a 37-year-old medical centre receptionist from Ruislip, said: “He’s my hero and he’s the nicest man you could ever meet. I just feel so devastated.
“He was so shaken up, he could have had a heart attack. He couldn’t eat for two days.
"He’s a bit better now but he still doesn’t want to go out.”
She added: “I just think it’s so awful. I don’t know how they could do it. They know it’s elderly people who live there. They must have seen him lying there in bed. It just makes me sick to my stomach.
“He’s been saving up this money for so long, so he’s absolutely devastated. He’s always said he wanted something to leave everybody. He said, ‘I’ve got to start from scratch now.’ It’s his whole life savings.”
Heartless burglars broke into a Second World War veteran’s home and stole his life savings as he slept.
Lionel Lake had left a small window open at his sheltered housing flat, in St Catherine’s Farm Court, Howletts Lane, Ruislip, when he went to bed at around 9pm on Thursday (April 23).
The 91-year-old awoke at around 1am to find thieves had snatched £5,000 in cash from his cabinet, along with £30 from his wallet.
Great grandfather Mr Lake said: “I’d saved this for years and years as a little nest egg for my two boys and two girls to make sure I leave them something. Now it’s all gone.”
He added: “I’m shocked at how the blinking hell they could have done it.
“I’m a bit deaf and when I’m in bed and I’ve got my hearing aid out I can’t hear anything. I think they got in quietly somehow or other.
“It was such a shock to see my front room light on when I came out here and the bureau open.
“My trousers were lying beside the bureau, when I generally leave them right beside my bed on a chair. I had a key on a chain and they used that to open the bureau and pinch my money.
“People have asked me if I told anyone I had it in there. I never even told my family.”
'Hero'
Mr Lake was born in Watford and joined the Home Guard aged 15, before entering the British Army’s Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own) at 17, based in Winchester.
As a lance corporal he took part in the D-Day Landings in Normandy in 1944.
He was knocked out by a mortar explosion in Falaise, before being shipped home, where he received four medals for his service.
The retired printer, who worked for Sun Printers, in Watford, spent seven years in Australia in the 1960s with his wife Doris and children Penny, Wesley, Julie and Gary.
The couple returned to Eastcote and then lived together at Mr Lake’s current home in Ruislip until Mrs Lake died in 2010, aged 88.
Granddaughter Sally Fitzgerald, a 37-year-old medical centre receptionist from Ruislip, said: “He’s my hero and he’s the nicest man you could ever meet. I just feel so devastated.
“He was so shaken up, he could have had a heart attack. He couldn’t eat for two days.
"He’s a bit better now but he still doesn’t want to go out.”
She added: “I just think it’s so awful. I don’t know how they could do it. They know it’s elderly people who live there. They must have seen him lying there in bed. It just makes me sick to my stomach.
“He’s been saving up this money for so long, so he’s absolutely devastated. He’s always said he wanted something to leave everybody. He said, ‘I’ve got to start from scratch now.’ It’s his whole life savings.”
Organizer
Sam Taylor
Organizer
