Maurice Benjamin Dallenger

Maurice Dallenger was an electrician who had gone to work at Hawker’s Kingston-upon-Thames plant building Hurricanes. He suffered severe headaches from the doping chemicals and once the demand for fighters slowed, he was released to stay with an Aunt and Uncle on a farm in Langton Matravers to recover. He seems to have fitted in very well, being chosen after only a year or so in the area to be a member of the Patrol. Fred White and Maurice shared an interest in radios, which is perhaps how a newcomer to the village came to join the patrol, most probably in May 1943.

In 1944, following the death of Ernest Bower, the village store and post office owner, Maurice in partnership with sisters Doris and Gladys Ryall, ran the shop under its new name of “Ryall and Dallenger” which continued in business until 1972 when Maurice retired. He courted Gladys Ryall, the village postmistress, whom he married in 1944.