The lifelong passion that led to a County Durham historian being honoured ahead of the launch of the 2026 Poppy Appeal. * PETER BARRON**reports*
IT started with a pocket watch that survived the horrors of the First World War and became the proud possession of a five-year-old boy growing up in County Durham.
From the gift of that historic timepiece, Geoff Hill grew a huge collection of wartime memorabilia that became a lifetime’s passion.
And last week – more than 70 years after he was given his Great-Uncle Walter’s Royal Flying Corps watch – Geoff was presented with the British Empire Medal in a ceremony at Durham Castle, recognising his dedication in keeping the spirit of remembrance alive.
Geoff Hill with Lord Lieutenant of County Durham Mike Butterworth (Image: Family handout)
As well as building his unique collection of wartime aviation memorabilia, the Sedgefield historian has also been a driving force behind annual commemoration events at the site of RAF Middleton St George, now the home of Teesside International Airport.
A week before the launch of this year’s Poppy Appeal, it is fitting that Geoff has dedicated his BEM to the aircrews – British and Canadian – who served at the World War Two bomber base.
“I never set out to gain recognition or win awards,” said Geoff, who is joint chair of the Middleton St George Memorial Association.
“It was always a case of remembering, and honouring, those who served and, in many cases, gave their lives.
“Being presented with the British Empire Medal was obviously a very proud moment for me and my family, but it is dedicated to those aircrews from this part of the world.”
For as long as he can remember, Geoff has been surrounded by stories of wartime heroism, starting with Great-Uncle, Walter Hill, who was shot down at Arkhangelsk, in Russia, during the First World War.
Walter survived to escape to the friendly side of the front, and his Omega pocket watch was passed down the line to young Geoff, who gave it pride of place at the family home in Sedgefield.
The World War One pocket watch that started Geoff's collection (Image: Geoff Hill)
The back of the WW1 pocket watch (Image: Geoff Hill)
Geoff’s grandfather, Henry Gustav Hill, a Sergeant Major in the Lancaster Fusiliers, was another source of inspiration from the First World War.
Henry served as an Army cook in the trenches of The Somme, and his desperate duties included cooking rats.
He would also lead forays into enemy territory to steal farm eggs, and the story goes that, one night, he caught a gang of German soldiers off guard as they cooked in a farmhouse kitchen.
He captured them at gunpoint and marched them back to the British lines, where an officer took over and claimed the credit for himself.
Geoff’s father, John Derek Hill, carried on the inspiration in the Second World War. In the spring of 1945, he was a member of the Royal Army Service Corps that first began to liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where around 60,000 sick and starving prisoners were discovered, along with thousands of unburied bodies.
“He never talked to me about it until I was 16, but when he thought I was old enough, the horrific stories of what he saw began to emerge – the piles of bodies and survivors left in a pitiful state,” said Geoff.
“At first, they thought the prisoners were people in pyjamas, not realising they were in prison uniforms.”
The allies, including Geoff’s dad, stayed for a month to make sure they weren’t infectious after being vaccinated against typhus and cholera.
Shortly after the Second World War ended, an uncle – Raymond Hill – served in the RAF Regiment, at RAF Catterick, and would often visit Geoff’s family home in Sedgefield.
As small children, Geoff and his late sister, Joyce, would enjoy dressing up in Uncle Raymond’s uniform and boots.
“Those family connections all had a massive impact on me for the rest of my life, but it was the pocket watch that got me going,” added Geoff, whose collection of memorabilia has never stopped growing since those childhood days.
He became involved with the Middleton St George Memorial Association in the 1980s after meeting its founder, Robbie Robson, who had served with 428 Squadron.
At the time, Geoff was displaying some of his memorabilia at a Royal Air Force Association event in Stockton, and Robbie asked him to join the efforts to preserve the memories of RAF Middleton St George.
Up to 2018, much of Geoff's collection was on display at the St George Hotel, which had been the officers' mess during the war.
However, when the hotel closed, the collection was broken up. Some of it is now on display in the Yorkshire Air Museum, at Elvington, York, while more artefacts are housed at RAF Leeming.
Inevitably, the Sedgefield home Geoff shares with his wife, Heather, is covered in memorabilia.
"Two of the three bedrooms are full to the gunnels with stuff – I think it's Heather who deserves a medal for putting up with it all," he admitted.
With the St George Hotel having now been bought by Ramside Estates owner, John Adamson, Geoff hopes space will be found for his treasured collection to return to the site of the old officers' mess.
In the meantime, historic donations continue to come his way. The latest is a Dutch museum case, containing records and artefacts from a Halifax bomber that took off from RAF Leeming on June 24, 1943, and was shot down by a Messerschmitt at Rozenburg, in the Netherlands.
Recommended reading
Saluting the Teesside pilot who became 'a symbol of Malta's wartime resistance'
How a teenage cadet rose to become Army leader and Lord Lieutenant of Durham
Raising a glass to the Teesside pub named in honour of a heroic wartime airman
The artefacts include a flash eliminator from a machine gun, part of a parachute, a gunsight lens, and a RAF brevet badge.
"I don't think I'll ever stop, because every piece of memorabilia has a story to tell, and those stories need to be remembered," said Geoff Hill BEM.
With the Poppy Appeal starting next Thursday, the time for a special focus on Remembrance has ticked round again.