A prolific scriptwriter who's penned episodes of Midsummer Murders, The Bill and Lovejoy has appealed to Luton News readers for help.

Terry Hodgkinson, 65, of north London is trying to trace relatives of former butcher and Vauxhall factory worker Joe Gough who was killed in December 1936 at the Battle of Boadilla during the Spanish Civil War.

Terry became fascinated by the conflict during the 1960s when he worked in Barcelona as production manager for a film company.

He has written a screenplay based on a book by Winston Churchill's renegade teenage nephew, Esmond Romilly, about the epic encounter.
Joe and Esmond were best friends and Joe died in Esmond's arms during the fighting.

Terry said: "I'd love to know more about Joe Gough. Who was he?
"I'm trying to find a picture of him from the 1930s and also – the real long shot – to contact any members of his family who are still alive just to tell them he is an integral part of the Romilly story."

The only address Terry has is Walter Street, which no longer exists. He said he had spoken to two Battle of Boadilla survivors, Jock Gillan and Babs Ovenden – both sadly now dead – who said Joe wasn't a Communist.

They described him as "a big red-faced man who'd been a butcher and had also worked at the Vauxhall factory."

Terry added: "He was the comedian of the group and apparently his humour kept them all from going mad. "According to Babs Ovenden, he could have made a good living on the stage."

Joe was interviewed by the Daily Express in Madrid before he died.
He said: "You can tell 'em in Luton that when I come back, I'm goin' to march down the High Street with my medals on and put that geezer in the dole office right in his place."

Terry has always been intrigued by the passion that drew so many young men to fight for a cause that was not their own.

He bought the rights for the book many years ago and said: "Not many people knew Romilly was Churchill's nephew. He married Jessica Mitford and was killed during the Second World War.

"He joined the Canadian Air Force as a navigator and his plane was shot down in the North Sea returning from a bombing raid in Germany.

"It's the honest story of a boy who went to fight in a pitiless foreign war and returned home a man."

> If you know anything about Joe Gough, use the contact details at the top of the story to get in touch with Bev Creagh