“Gale From the Sea” Laid to Rest

More than 6ft tall, handsome and with the build of a rugby lock forward (which he was), John Platts-Mills blew into the English House of Commons as Labour MP in 1945 “like a gale from the sea.” It had been a long voyage from the Karori district of Wellington, New Zealand, where he was born. Platt-Mills became a lifelong socialist and campaigner for  trade union and human rights, and played a crucial role in opening up Russia to the west during WWII.

John Platts-Mills: October 4 1906 – October 26 2001