Gunars Radze (3 Nov 1929 - 27 Feb 2019)

In loving memory of Gunars Radze who sadly passed away on 27th February 2019.

Gunars was born at a brand new military hospital in Riga, the capital of Latvia in 1929. His father had fought in World War 1 and for Latvian Independence. At the time of Gunars's birth he was a Captain in the Latvian Border Guards. Gunars mainly divided his time between life on the family farm in North Eastern Latvia, and in Riga. He enjoyed both a full country life and the sophisticated cultural pursuits available in a large capital city, regularly visiting the Opera and Ballet. Academically bright, the path lay ahead for a University education in Engineering. In 1940 Latvia was annexed by Soviet Russia, and as his father was a member of the elite, he was arrested and deported to Siberia. As immediate family members, Gunars and his mother narrowly missed arrest. Following the German Invasion of Latvia in 1941, Gunars and his mother were again in imminent danger of arrest when Soviet Russia re-advanced towards Latvia. In August 1944, aged 14 Gunars escaped with his mother to Germany on a German ship that was later re-named the Empire Windrush.

In the closing period of the war Gunars witnessed the bombing of Dresden in February 1945. He narrowly escaped with his life during other major bombing raids, being questioned by the Gestapo, and he was strafed by an Allied Mustang fighter plane whilst searching for food. He eventually made his way to the Displaced Persons camps of Geestacht and Lubeck. He attended the Baltic University in Exile in the immediate post-war period. He studied Engineering. Gunars was selected under the Operation Westward Ho! Scheme to come to the UK as a European Volunteer Worker. He arrived in Hull, aged 17 in May 1947. His mother followed a year later, but it was some time before they could live together again. Out of the limited work options available to Displaced Persons, he chose to work in agriculture.

His mother re-married, and he gained a Polish step-father, and a little brother soon arrived. The new family lived and worked in Rutland. Gunars worked at Blackstone's an engineering firm in Stamford. The family eventually moved to Nottingham, where Gunars lived till the end of his life. He worked at Truman the Jaguar car distributor in Nottingham. Between 1949 and 1959 Gunars worked as a part-time Formula 1 mechanic at Silverstone, including the BRM team. In 1956, Mike Hawthorn drove for BRM. He was the future Formula 1 world championship winner. They looked very similar, except Mike Hawthorn wore a bow-tie and Gunars wore a straight tie. They would swap them to fool the crowd, and were frequently mistaken for one another! In the 1980s and the days of Nigel Mansell, Gunars still managed to get free tickets to Silverstone, including pit passes, due to his connections there.

In 1959 Gunars met his wife, Ingeborg and they married in 1962. Gunars had 3 daughters. He continued to work in the world of motor engineering and mechanics. In the 1990s Gunars worked for Ristes, a vintage car (mainly Rolls Royce and Bentley) renovation firm, specialising in designing over-drives. In 1991, Gunars managed to miraculously find and contact the last remaining members of his Latvian family whom he last saw in 1939. Since 1944 they did not know whether Gunars was still alive, and vice-versa. With Latvian Independence in 1991, Gunars was able to safely return to Latvia for the first time, making his visit in 1992, 48 years after being forced to leave in 1944. Several other visits followed.

Gunars is survived by his wife, his 3 daughters, and 6 grandchildren (4 grandson's and 2 grand-daughters). He left an artistic, academic and cultural legacy which his wife, children and grandchildren will always appreciate.