WKezie Uchechukwu Duru Akabusi, MBE, known as Kriss Akabusi, is a British former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete.
WBrian Wilson Aldiss was an English writer and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for occasional pseudonyms during the mid-1960s.
WSir Kingsley William Amis was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social and literary criticism. He is best known for satirical comedies such as One Fat Englishman (1963), Ending Up (1974), Jake's Thing (1978) and The Old Devils (1986). His biographer, Zachary Leader, called Amis "the finest English comic novelist of the second half of the twentieth century." He was the father of the novelist Martin Amis. In 2008, The Times ranked him ninth on a list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.
WMichael Joseph Anderson was an English film director, best known for directing the World War II film The Dam Busters (1955), the epic Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and the dystopian sci-fi film Logan's Run (1976).
WIvor William Gilmour Beddoes was a British matte painter, sketch and storyboard artist, costume and set designer, painter, dancer, composer and poet. He is best known for his film work, spanning more than thirty years, from Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes to Star Wars and Superman.
WGeorges Pierre André Bégué, code named Bombproof, was a French engineer and agent of the United Kingdom's clandestine organization, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The purpose of SOE in France, occupied by Nazi Germany in World War II, was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance. SOE agents allied themselves with French Resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England.
WDonald William Trevor Bruce, Baron Bruce of Donington was a British soldier, businessman and Labour politician.
WMoira Cameron is a Yeoman Warder of the Tower of London, England. She is the first woman to ever hold the position. In 2007, after a 22-year career in the British Army, Cameron became one of the 35 resident Warders in the Tower of London, commonly known as the Beefeaters.
WFrancis Charles Chacksfield was an English pianist, organist, composer, arranger, and conductor of popular light orchestral easy listening music, who had great success in Britain and internationally in the 1950s and early 1960s.
WSam Youd, known professionally as Christopher Samuel Youd, was a British writer, best known for science fiction under the pseudonym John Christopher, including the novels The Death of Grass, The Possessors, and the young-adult novel series The Tripods. He won the Guardian Prize in 1971 and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1976.
WRuth Elizabeth Davidson is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament since 2020. She served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019. She has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 2011, first as an additional member for the Glasgow region and later for the Edinburgh Central constituency since 2016.
WGeorge Elder Davie (1912–2007) was a prominent Scottish philosopher whose well-received book, The Democratic Intellect (1961), concerns the treatment of philosophy in 19th century Scottish universities.
WJohn Michael Terence Wellesley Denison was an English actor. He often appeared in films with his wife, Dulcie Gray. He is best known for roles in films such as The Glass Mountain, Angels One Five and the 1952 adaptation of the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest.
WJack Edwards, OBE was a British World War II army sergeant and a POW, most well known for his dedicated efforts of tracking down Japanese war criminals and his determination displayed in defending the rights of Hong Kong war veterans.
WRaymond Geoffrey Hassall, known as Ray, was a British politician
WTrevor Wallace Howard-Smith, known as Trevor Howard, was an English actor. After varied stage work, he achieved star status with his role in the film Brief Encounter (1945), followed by The Third Man (1949). This led to many popular appearances on film and TV.
WBritish Army corporals Derek Wood and David Howes were killed by the Provisional IRA on 19 March 1988 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in what became known as the corporals killings. The undercover soldiers—wearing civilian clothes, both armed with Browning Hi power pistols and in a civilian car—drove into the funeral procession of an IRA member. Three days before, loyalist Michael Stone had attacked an IRA funeral and killed three people. Believing the soldiers were loyalists intent on repeating Stone's attack, dozens of people surrounded and attacked their car. During this, Corporal Wood drew his service pistol and fired a shot in the air. The soldiers were then dragged from the car and taken to a nearby sports ground where they were beaten, stripped and searched. They were then driven to a nearby waste ground where they were shot dead.
WEngelbert Humperdinck is an English pop singer. Humperdinck has been described as "one of the finest middle-of-the-road balladeers around". His singles "Release Me" and "The Last Waltz" both topped the UK music charts in 1967, and sold more than a million copies each. In North America, he also had chart successes with "After the Lovin'" (1976) and "This Moment in Time" (1979). He has sold more than 140 million records worldwide.
WJohn Aked Taylor, Baron Ingrow was a British soldier, brewer and Conservative politician.
WWilliam Alfred Ismay or Bill Ismay was a librarian, writer and collector in Wakefield, West Yorkshire known for his significant collection of post-war studio pottery. The collection called the W.A. Ismay Collection was bequeathed to the Yorkshire Museum and is one of the world's largest collections of 20th-century studio pottery. It includes work by Bernard Leach, Hans Coper, Shoji Hamada, Takeshi Yasuda, David Leach Dan Arbeid and Lucie Rie.
WPaula Jackson is a British retired bobsledder who competed from 2007 to 2014. She originally started as a brakewoman for Jackie Gunn before taking up piloting.
WSorley MacLean was a Scottish Gaelic poet, described by the Scottish Poetry Library as "one of the major Scottish poets of the modern era" because of his "mastery of his chosen medium and his engagement with the European poetic tradition and European politics". Nobel Prize Laureate Seamus Heaney credited MacLean with saving Scottish Gaelic poetry.
WSangharakshita was a British Buddhist teacher and writer. He was the founder of the Triratna Buddhist Community, which was known until 2010 as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, or FWBO.
WPhilip Saville was a British director, screenwriter and former actor whose career lasted half a century. The British Film Institute's Screenonline website described Saville as "one of Britain's most prolific and pioneering television and film directors". His work included 45 contributions to Armchair Theatre (1956-1972) and he won two Best Drama Series BAFTAs for Boys from the Blackstuff (1982) and The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1986).
WThomas Walker OBE was a Scottish footballer, who played for Heart of Midlothian, Chelsea and the Scotland national team. He later managed Hearts and Raith Rovers before becoming a director of Hearts in his later years. Lauded for his Corinthian spirit and gentlemanly conduct, he is remembered as one of Hearts all-time greats. Walker has been described as the most influential man ever to be associated with Heart of Midlothian.
WDavid Francis Williamson, Baron Williamson of Horton was a senior British and European civil servant, as well as a member of the House of Lords.
WSir Norman Joseph Wisdom, was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character that was often called Norman Pitkin. He was awarded the 1953 BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles following the release of Trouble in Store, his first film in a lead role.
WBritish Army corporals Derek Wood and David Howes were killed by the Provisional IRA on 19 March 1988 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in what became known as the corporals killings. The undercover soldiers—wearing civilian clothes, both armed with Browning Hi power pistols and in a civilian car—drove into the funeral procession of an IRA member. Three days before, loyalist Michael Stone had attacked an IRA funeral and killed three people. Believing the soldiers were loyalists intent on repeating Stone's attack, dozens of people surrounded and attacked their car. During this, Corporal Wood drew his service pistol and fired a shot in the air. The soldiers were then dragged from the car and taken to a nearby sports ground where they were beaten, stripped and searched. They were then driven to a nearby waste ground where they were shot dead.
WJohn Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Some of his works were set in post-apocalyptic landscapes. His best known works include The Day of the Triffids (1951) and The Midwich Cuckoos (1957), the latter filmed twice as Village of the Damned.