Cyril Norman

Bank: Westminster Bank

Place of work: Head Office, London

Died: 23 March 1943

Cyril Harrison Norman was born on 22 November 1908, the son of Henry Albert and Florence May Norman. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Barnet.

In February 1926 he joined the staff of Westminster Bank. Outside work he was an active member of his school’s old boys’ association. He was interested in music and most sports, and played cricket for Chipping Barnet. After the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the Home Guard, serving as a Corporal.

In September 1941 Norman left his job in the bank’s head office Coupon Department to join the Royal Navy. Able Seaman Norman died in Sierra Leone on 23 March 1943 of wounds sustained in an explosion in which the ship on which he was serving was sunk. He was 34 years old. His obituary in the bank’s staff magazine later recalled, ‘Norman was extremely popular with everybody and was a most capable, helpful colleague. He had a placid and pleasant temperament and was never ruffled. His death is a loss to us all.’