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Anthony Tobias Mendelle

Anthony Tobias Mendelle lived a long life and enjoyed a varied career. Born within the sound of Bow Bells in 1918, he was a quick, clever child who loved to tinker with all things mechanical.

He was conscripted into the army at 21 and served for six years throughout the Second World War, initially as a pilot posted to North Africa, and then by 1943 to Naples, Northern Italy, with the Army Education Corps. It was here that he got his first taste of broadcasting on the camp radio to the 1,000 troops stationed there. He also delivered lectures on subjects of his choosing three or four times a day, to 200–300 troops at a time. Anthony was then posted to the HQ of the AEC in Perugia, Southern Italy, where he ran the university until 1946, long after the war had ended.

He had married in 1942, and by the time he returned home was the father of Janet. After demobilisation he pursued an industrial career. He moved the family, now with the addition of son Paul, to run a factory in Wales where they stayed for several very happy years. In 1956, he returned to London to run an asbestos factory. With the gradual realisation that this was an extremely unhealthy mineral, Anthony was instrumental in the decision to close down the whole operation.

After retiring from industry, he continued to work, initially as a court reporter and then as practice manager for two firms of solicitors.

For most of his adult life, Anthony was a writer of plays, stories and books, based on his life and experiences. One of his stories was broadcast on BBC Radio Wales. In 2011, his novel The Chechen Assassination Plot, published under the name Anthony Tobias, was based on a true murder case he was involved in while running a criminal lawyer’s practice.

When his wife of nearly 60 years, Nan, passed away he continued writing, cycling, and playing Scrabble and snooker, almost until his death in 2015, aged 97.

Anthony left a son and daughter, six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

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