My father, Charles Turnock, who has died aged 93, was a railwayman, trade unionist and Labour activist who led the party’s inquiry into the Militant tendency in the 1980s.
One of three sons of Joseph and Ethel (nee Holdcroft), Charlie was born into a railway family in Burton, East Staffordshire, and so it was perhaps inevitable that, when he left school at 14, it was that industry he joined. His first job was working as a tea boy in a signal box. Despite the lack of a formal education he was later an assiduous student whose loft was turned into a small library of books and pamphlets.
He had an extremely varied life. At the beginning of the second world war he was showing promise as a footballer and played a number of times as a full-back for Crewe Alexandra. The second world war, and the subsequent need for steady employment, ended this fledgling career.
In 1941 he enlisted in the Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire regiment and then volunteered to join the Commandos. He saw active service with 3 Commando, which included taking part in the D-day landings and liberating a concentration camp. In between raids, the Commandos were billeted in Worthing, and it was during those years that he met Joan Fulker, a nurse at Worthing hospital, whom he married in 1945.
At the end of the war he returned to the railways, where he became a passenger guard. He was a Crewe town councillor in the early 1950s and narrowly missed being selected to fight a parliamentary seat for the Labour party, thereafter devoting himself to the National Union of Railwaymen. He worked tirelessly as an unpaid branch officer before being elected to the post of regional organiser for the north-west. He was subsequently elected to the post of deputy general secretary, working closely with Sid Weighell, the general secretary.
In 1983 he was elected to the national executive committee of the Labour party. He was then only four years from retirement, but was as energetic as ever and became chairman of the organisation committee. In that capacity he led Labour’s inquiry, in the 1980s, into the activities of the Militant tendency on Merseyside. He rose to that challenge with customary courage and vigour.
Charles and Joan returned to Crewe to be near family. His interests included gardening and supporting Crewe Alexandra, for whom he had a season ticket into his 90s. He had a long and happy retirement, remaining active until a few years ago, when he was diagnosed with dementia.
His daughter, Elaine, died in 2005.He is survived by Joan and their sons, Stuart and me, and by six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
