Who Remembers Lillian Board?
Having had several days of light-hearted debate by email and on Twitter with Mark Machado of Hayes FM radio about whether Ealing Central Library should be named after Peter Crouch (!), I looked up famous Ealing residents on Wikipedia. Dusty Springfield, Sid James, Nevil Shute, Spencer Perceval, Fred Perry. But one name leapt off the screen.
It’s hard now to express to anyone under 50 just how big a name Lillian was back in the late 1960s. The Nation’s Sweetheart. The Golden Girl. Tabloid clichés, yes, but Lillian was that. The hot favourite for 400m gold at the Mexico Olympiad of 1968 she was pipped at the tape (please watch this!) and only came away with silver, but I’d suggest she was embraced and beloved in the public imagination more than Kelly Holmes, Mary Peters, Sally Gunnell, Tessa Sanderson and Paula Radcliffe.
Lillian Board was born in South Africa, but when she was eight or nine, her family moved to Ealing. By her late teens she was excelling as an athlete at 200m, 400m and 800m. By 1968, aged just 20, she was the best in the world. In addition to her olympics silver, she won two golds at the European championships. She appeared on Question of Sport in its early days. She was awarded an MBE in the 1970 New Year’s honours. In the summer of that year, she was training hard at 800m with an eye to Munich 1972.
But six months later, she was dead, at the tragically young age of 22.
Diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer, Lillian declined rapidly, while the entire nation followed events in dumbfounded horror. Despite a last ditch desperate resort to a quack clinic in Germany, she died on Boxing Day.
As an athlete, she was still improving. She probably would have followed a golden path through several more olympics, potentially as far as Moscow 1980. Today she may well have been involved at the heart of affairs for London 2012.
Adored by the whole country, Lillian Board was smart, bubbly, talented, gorgeous and very, very fast. She has streets named after her in Ealing and Greenford. She is remembered too at Munich’s olympic stadium. I wonder if our London 2012 Committee has any plans to commemorate her? I think they should.
The name of Lillian Board remains to me, a child in the 60s with little interest in sport, by far the most familiar name in British athletics, after Roger Bannister’s. So I was quite astounded to find that her name would not even be mentioned at the London Olympics. And I wrote to the committee to say so. This is the committee’s response, a model of bureaucratic inadequacy. Beyond feeling a sense of grievance and dismay at such a failure in honouring a great precursor, I wonder what, for a historian, might account for this sort of forgetting?
Charles Lock
Customer Service CaseID#172958#
info@enquiries.london2012.com [info@enquiries.london2012.com]
Sent: 10 February 2012 19:01
Thank you for contacting London 2012 about Lillian Board.
Whilst we appreciate that she was no doubt a great athlete, unfortunately, at this stage we cannot consider unsolicited project ideas which fall outside our planned activity. Please note, project ideas received outside of such planned activity are only communicated to certain members of staff who have no contact with our creative department, and the ideas are not sent any further. This procedure is put in place to ensure that no submitted ideas are unintentionally used in any of our campaigns.
As we do not retain a copy of these ideas, please do keep checking the website to see where your project might be able to fit into plans.
Thanks once again for contacting us.
Kind regards,
Joe
Always remember her for various reasons very talented and should have achieved more my mother has recently passed away so i am thinking of these things more
i remember Lillian very well i also remember when she run in the Mexico Olympics and was pit to the post and won silver the day she die was a sad day i think she should be remembered at this years 2012 games after all she was one of the greats
I remember Lillian Board’s death very well. I was 21 myself, getting ready to go out on Boxing Night 1970 when I heard the sad news item on the radio. I remember how it reduced me to tears,as it was so sudden and being almost the same age myself. Suddenly I didn’t want to celebrate the evening, but couldn’t let our neighbours down, so I went. She was such a wonderful athlete and would no doubt have gone on to bigger and better things. I agree that she should certainly be remembered in the 2012 Olympics as one of our greats. Britain doesn’t often have this opportunity…..Lillian should be remembered.
I was beginning to think there was some kind of conspiracy to delete Lillian’s name and achievements from our national archive, until I came across this website. With all the current mention of athletes, both pre and post Lillian, whose achievements do not approach hers and whose reputations at the height of their fame do/did not match hers, it is hard not to wonder WHY her name seems to have been erased. She was so talented, so beautiful and such an inspiration in her short time, she should still be in the canon of national heroes. Why is she not? Shameful. What can we do to restore her reputation as one of our greatest ever athletes?
Totally agree with you. I thought that she was very poorly remembered, so five years I started an online thread to keep her memory alive. It’s now had 340 posts and nearly 30,000 views. Link here:
http://athleticsdaily.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=history&action=display&thread=1738
There’s also a Facebook group and a detailed biography on Wikipedia. Things are improving but more still needs to be done.
Will follow your links, but meanwhile – any chance of approaching a television company? Some of the news items about ‘our Lil’ are still so vivid in my memory, they’d make compelling telly if they still exist. (I’ll never,ever, forget the film of her being carried to the aircraft on her last journey to Germany. She was so brave and so confident of the outcome.) Come to think of it, I have a friend whose son is an ideas man for Channel 4. Will test the water.
Thanks for all these comments. It’s nice to know it’s not just me. There is a small temporary exhibition at the moment at Gunnersbury Park Museum commemorating the achievements of Ealing sports persons and I’m glad to see Lillian included in that.
Chrissy, your idea of a documentary is a good one. Don’t know much about making telly, but I should imagine that this would be fairly straightforward and potentially low budget. The problem is that it would need to be made immediately, once the 2012 circus has left town it would have less impact.
But just maybe it might have more impact AFTER the circus has left town – at the time when all the reviews of the year are being broadcast, for example. Interesting to see if anyone can approach her achievements. Pity it’s not 2010 or 2020, then a documentary to mark the anniversary of her death would be more appealing to the ratings makers. I’ll put out some feelers anyway.
Lilian Board was my icon in the 60’s. I loved the world of athletics and she was an inspiration way back then. Her death so early in her athletic career was tragic and I remember feeling numbed by the news. Whenever any athletic event is shown on TV my thoughts are of Lilian Board and her contribution to the sport and her great achievements which, I agree appear to have been forgotten. It would be wonderful if she could be commemorated in the imminent London 2012 Olympics. Good luck to all who are trying to keep her memory alive.
what was or is the quack clinic referred to in the above article I have been watching great olympic athletes prior to the London Games and Lillian Board was amongst those named and unknown to me the awful illness that Lillian suffered.
Dr Josef Issels. I have just discovered that Bob Marley was another of his victims. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Issels
I don’t remember Lillian but I was bought up in Ealing and went to the same school as her .My parents often spoke of her and I recently read her biography (an excellent book) I think it is so disrespectful to her family to see her so blatantly ignored in this Olympic year .She was a remarkable athlete and and was dealt such a cruel fate she deserves to be remembered in some way.
Hello, I was 6 when I heard the news on TV that Lillian Board had passed away from cancer. I only saw her achievements through archive footage and I think she was one of the first famous people for me who died. It made a big impression on me particularly reading more about her now and realising what a major loss she was to athletics and sport in general. I know she would have given her all in 1972 but given that this was the start of the massive cheating era of the East Germans, would the results have been different? Lillian probably paved the way for a lot of girls who went through the 1970s, such as Donna Murray, Verona Elder, Sonia Lannaman and Andrea Lynch. It’s such a shame that Lillian is being somehow swept under the carpet in such a fashion. But given the amount of people who are posting here – her legacy has certainly not been forgotten.
Diane Burke
formerly Aberdeen, Scotland
At the age of 68 I remember Lillian very well and still have the book entitled “Lillian” written by her fiance David Emery. I echo the sentiments that it is so disrespectful to her family to see her not given any mention in this Olympic year especially as we are the hosts. I am sure that along with Dame Mary Peters, Lillian would have made a valuable contribution to this year’s Olympics.
I was 9 years old at the time of her death in 1970; at that age I hadn’t got into athletics. However, her illness and death was poignant as my mother had also been diagnosed with cancer by that time. When I eventually got into the sport at the age of 12/13, inspired by the AAA school/sponsered-scheme of medals and the one to five-star rating system, the memory of Lillian Board never left me.
I agree that she should have honoured in the London Games, at least by the BBC. It might have been too difficult to do this when the broadcaster had David Hemery in the studio recollecting his great achievements in the 1968 Games.
As part of the whole ‘legacy debate’, and following on from the Government’s plans to make competitive sport compulsory/part of the education curriculum, the history of British athletics should be included.
Anthony McCann
London
I’m the same age as she would have been & her death was so painful. It all seems very, very sad that few people are willing to acknowledge our original ‘golden girl’ of athletics. I think of her often, a young star cut down far too soon & the Olympics always bring her memory back. Of course she should be commemorated, remembered & honoured – she was so dearly loved, by the whole country.
I’ve lived in Greenford for over twenty years and was aware that there was a street called Lillian Board Way but had no idea who she was as I was about five years old when she died. I took the opportunity to mention her this week as I’m working on a photo blog about the area throughout 2012 (http://wp.me/p267Ik-qx). I haven’t come across the other street in the borough named after her but I found the one in Greenford a bit unloved. They couldn’t even get the spelling of her name right on the street sign.
What an utter disgrace to get Lillian’s name wrong. Those responsible should put it right and explain to us how they got it wrong in the first place. So careless and lacking in respect.
I was 11 years old when Lillian died and she was my Hero asI Loved the track event at school, she spured me on but I never had the encouragement from home or as today after The olympics on advertisementss where you could find the encouragement to continue I drifted away but every timeI watch the Olympics I think of Lillian and wonder could that have been me. What does sadden me is no one ever mentions Lillians achievements it is about time they on T.V celebrated her athletic prowess and rememebr THE GREAT LILLIAN BOARD
I remember lillian board as a fantastic athlete, went to see her run in a palmer park sports event in Reading, I even got her autograph. also at a post olympic celebration with Lillian , Mary Rand and her husband , cant remember his name , was it adrian something?
I very much remember Lillian as I used to run against her in 100 yards before she moved to 400 and 800. We represented Middlesex in the England Schools and ran in the relay together. Such a lovely person.
Lillian is always remembered by me. I recall vivdly the night she died, and my Dad crying (he rarely cried but he did that night). I have a signed athletics programme framed with her picture on my wall at home. It is long overdue that a new biography, and or documentary be written and made on this fabulous athlete, and lovely person. I am 50 now, have always kept fit, still run, and when I run I think of Lillian always.
Thanks to subsequent posters since my last comment some months ago. We’ve had over 400 posts on this blog and none has had as many comments as this. It is clear that a lot of people out there remember Lillian a lot better than the London 2012 committee or the BBC.
I have a special interest as my wife is one of Lillian’s nieces. I contacted ealing council and found that they were unwilling to change the sign because it would mean surveying the residents and there would be expense. A crying shame!!
I was 12 when Lilian Board died and I remember Boxing Day 1970 very well because I was at my Grandma’s for our usual Christmas family get together when Lilian’s death was announced on the early evening BBC news bulletin. We were all so sad to hear the news and I was devestated. I had a crush on her and lived through the bitter disappontment of her getting pipped on the line in the Munich 400 metres final and remember the joy of her beating her Munich conquerer Colette Besson in the 400 metres relay final in Athens in the European Athletic Chamionships, Sept 1969 right on the line and in a new world record! I still have her bo
I remember being very shaken by her death.i was eight yr old at the timne and it was the first time in my life that i realised death could come at any age irrespective of lifestyle and fitness
I was only eight when Lillian died. I was at home in Cork in Ireland when her death was announced on the radio. My mother covered her face with her cardigan and cried that such a lovely girl had died so young. I will always remember it. I have lived in Ealing for nearly 20 years without knowing of her connection with the place. I am glad that she is remembered.
I was reminded of Lillian Board by her picture in today’s Daily Mail, as a contestant in the first ‘Question of Sport’. I was 14 when Lilian died so prematurely and recall being devastated at the time.
I am amazed to find this site. I went to school with Lillian and her twin sister Irene. She was such a lovely lovely girl. Outstanding at every sport at school too. I am just taking a creative writing course and mentioned her in my writing, which led me to the internet as I mentioned I am in a picture in the book that her fiancee wrote. Just watched the videos of her on Youtube and it is just like it was yesterday!! Brilliant to find this site and hope that something more can come of it. Also never realised she was the guest on the very first Question of Sport!
I too remember Lillian Board and my mother being so upset at her death . I remember in particular, a photo of her smiling bravely as she tried boots on in a shop Germany prior to her tratment. She was smiling so brightly and I remember the photo gave us all hope that she would recover . I think a documentary about her life and death is long overdue . There was always something very special about her , you felt as if you knew her, even though you didn’t and should you chance to meet her , that she would be as lovely as you thought she would be .
She inspired our nation and for those of us who remember, she still does. An icon before we ever used the word.
I remember as a little lad aged 9 how upset everyone seemed to be when she died. Just watched her on youtube, Athens 4×400. Unsurpassed.
I often think about Lillian Board and remember her well as I am about the same age she would have been had she survived. Her name and achievements seem to have been lost in the past and it is high time her career was celebrated in some way. I would love to see a documentary about her life as it would seem other people would too.
I am not a sporty person but Lillian Board has stuck in my mind as she was such a brilliant athlete as well as a smiling pleasant girl. Died far too young!
I am french (61 years old) and very much remember of Lillian Board and the run of Mexico. She was the best and is dead too joung.,One year after she won again Collette Besson. But for the olympics games , the unown Colette Besson won .Colette (sport teacher in this time) has had chance of strikes in may 68 in France for training 3 months in altitude in the french Pyrennées Mountains in prévision of 2200 meters altitude of Mexico, and she was not tired at the olympic final run . .Colette Besson is dead in 2005
.thousand excuses for the faults . RIP for Lillian and Colette.
Merci, Gerard!
I remember an edition of the BBC’s Grandstand from either the 1980’s or 1990’s. The programme was celebrating an anniversary of some kind and throughout the broadcast a host of presenters past and present spoke of their most memorable moment over the years.
I will always recall the contribution of the late David Coleman, who more then anything else remembered how he had interviewed Lillian Board and her dad when she returned from the 1968 Olympics.Ms Board was apparently crying because she felt she had let everyone down by coming second in the 400 metres final. Her dad(who was also her coach) tried to comfort his daughter by saying she would win in Munich in 1972. David Coleman was still clearly moved all those years later by the interview and particularly the poignancy of George Board’s hopes for his daughter’s future.
Ms Board’s life and achievements should be more widely celebrated and serve as an example to us all to live our lives to the full, since we don’t know what is around the corner.
Lillian Board will never be forgotten by true athletics fans. I remember coming home from work and listening to the ladies 800metre final on the radio, it wasn’t live on TV, in the European championships in 1969. I punched my leg with excitement as she neared the line and gained victory. I felt cheated as she was destined for greater victories. I cannot imagine what her family must have been feeling. The European championships begin tomorrow forty five years after Lillian’s victory. I have read her book on a few occasions but I feel she would be a brilliant subject for a screen play. I shall have to get my book out again!
Thanks, John. Never a truer word said. While this has probably been the most commented item on this blog from people who knew or remembered Lillian, I have never seen anything from any athletics or media or sports organisation. It really is a bit weird.
Your entry came up on my email and I relived knowing Lillian. Looking at her photo brings it all back. She was a lovely school friend and it was a privilege to know her. I have just reordered the book about her.
Thanks, Sheila, I’m glad you found us, I really ought to get that book myself.
Lillian was brilliant,inspiring and lovely. I remember the silver medal in Mexico when she was pipped on the line by Collette Besson,I was 21 when she died,that was a sad day,she is sadly missed but in no way is she forgotten.
When I look at Botticelli’s Birth of Venus I am always reminded of Lillian Board by the female figure flying in from the left. I was saddened by her death at such an early age just after I had left school and was always a big fan of athletics.
I so vividly remember the evening that Lillian’s death was announced. My father had died in May 1970 (aged 35) of cancer, and we had been following Lillian’s progress hoping that she would beat this dreadful disease. When the shocking news came, I remember my mother running from the room.
Shame on the 2012 Olympic organisers for failing to include her memory. Shame on the council for spelling her name incorrectly on the roadsign.
I remember Lillian’s death ,such a sad day ,our beautiful golden girl gone , I was 10years old at the time ,I’m now 56 and still remember her .it would be very fitting to have a documentary or film or play about her life ,she was and still is a very special girl .
I remember Lillian Board from her success at the Olympic Games in 1968
for Team GB and her untimely death in 1970. As a sprint runner at my local
school in Melbourne Derbyshire in 1971 she was never far from my thoughts.
I recall after her Biography was written that there was talk of a film being made
with Hayley Mills and Trevor Howard playing the father….There is no reason
why today someone could not do a screenplay to honour her memory!!!!
Agree that a film about her life would be a good idea. There was a musical, ‘Lillian: a Musical’, which premiered in Leeds in 2008. I heard the plan was to do a nationwide tour with it but, AFAIK, that never materialised.
I remember Lillian Board, she was just a little older than me a pretty and very talented young woman who would have beven a great influence on British Athle tics had she lived. I always felt so sad for her as her treatment by Dr. Issels actually made her suffer more , one of his more brutal treatments was to remove all teeth that had any dental work on them, which he wrongly supposed would help the immune system. Poor kid would have died anyway but she could have had a little more comfort at the end.
God rest Lillian, a fantastically talented athlete whose glowing personality transcended the sport. As an eleven year old athletics mad kid i remember watching her in Mexico where she was favourite & feeling sad when she lost the gold on the line. Of course the triumphs & disappointments of sport were put into perspective by the tragedy that engulfed her so soon after & i will never forget that boxing day of 1970 & the awful news of her death. She was a true star of the people & the sport in an era before drug cheats poisoned it all.. Yes she should have been honoured at London 2012, but in all sports today our past heroes seem to be forgotten & the more pampered modern names overlauded. No matter, to those of us who remember her Lillian will always be The Golden Girl.
I remember Lillian Board very well and was so saddened by her death. It seems very sad that she went to that quack “doctor” in Germany, but at least it gave her hope. However, her illness really was terminal and if the excellent doctors at St. Mark’s, London, could not help her, nobody could. I always thought it totally insensitive for David Emery, her “fiance”, to become involved with Irene Board (Lillian’s sister) BEFORE Lillian even died. That must have been so painful for Lillian.
I cannot remember the year but I recall Dickie Davies World Of Sport interviewing Lillian. I looked at the television thinking you are too young and beautiful to die. I was still at school.
I remember Lillian Board. She was the sweetest, kindest person. She used to live in Highview Road in Ealing a couple of roads away from me. I was only 9 when she died and I cried buckets. A year earlier she had taken my hand, in her lounge and explained to this 8-year old would be runner (who was embarrassed about trying to practise outside in the road) that she always carried an envelope and pretended she was running to the postbox. Truly GBs Golden Girl.
Thanks, Caroline, great memories. It’s at Olympics time that we slightly older ones remember Lilian! If you look at other comments here from around London 2012, we expressed disappointment that she was not properly remembered or commemorated, if at all. Except chiefly by us.
Yes remember lillian board very well
Lillian Board was a fantastic person and a great athlete. We all, not just athletics and sports fans, were greatly saddened by her passing. There should at least have been a video of one of her great races shown in the 2012 opening ceremony. It would have been gratefully accepted and greatly appreciated by everyone. I seem to remember that there was some controversy over Lillian’s track attire. The AAA, the GB ruling body for athletics at the time, took the ridiculous view that her shorts or running knickers were too brief. Hierarchy gone mad. I think there was even some talk of her being banned .If you have not already done so watch her races on YouTube. Compare her running attire with the performance clothing of today. RIP Lillian. Always remembered by sports fans of your era.
i trained with lillian from age 11 george was my coach we trained at alperton before moving to scrubs have very good memories julia prescott also julie evans
Thanks, Julia. Great memories.
With such a short time from diagnosis to Lillian’s premature death, I feel she showed her usual bravery and determination to try to succeed, to try to win the race of life’, by choosing a way of potential healing when nothing else was available to her.
It may have been too late for Lillian, but today, there is enormous concrete and highly detailed evidence of the value of really healthy diet, Complementary Medicine, fresh air, exercise, relaxation, meditation and ‘Mindfulness’ (just to name a few) as aids to both prevention of, and re occurrence of, many a serious illness including cancers of all kinds.
For this reason many Cancer Charities and major hospitals in the UK hold classes, lectures and workshops to teach and inform. Cancer Specialists support their patients in this regard. Science can now prove much of what has in the past been considered to be ‘quackery’.
We all have ‘choice’ and Lillian choose to ‘try’ knowing she was making an unusual, possibly controversial choice, and sadly a choice made too late.
But that was what we all loved about her – she never gave up trying to succeed, and was a wonderfully brave example to us all.
I’m sorry, but I have to disagree. Vehemently. All this was quackery then and it’s quackery now. Poor Lillian, she could have died at home with her family, instead she spent her last Christmas in a foreign hospital miles away thanks to a QUACK. Alas, they are still among us. Evil, evil charlatans.
I first learned of Lillian when I was researching a project in my local library in 1983. I was an athletic young person who took an avid interest in the Olympics, and I couldn’t believe I had never heard of her. It was such a story in every way; her athletic prowess, her beauty, her personality and of course her tragic premature demise. Then there was the personal angle of the bereaved fiance and twin sister linking up. I thought at the time that this would be a ripe subject for a biopic, but in the more than thirty years since then, even with me living in another country now, it seems that Lillian’s legacy has indeed been sadly ignored. Everything I have learned about her has been from the internet; I check google once in a while and that is how I came upon this message board. I have really enjoyed everyone’s input. Screenwriters out there, are you listening? Oscar would love this! RIP Lillian.
From a comment I made earlier a film of Lillian’s story was planned with Hayley Mills and Trevor Howard as her father. I don’t know if it got as far as a film script in it’s planning back then or even offered as a TV Production. The BBC could find a young actress to play the role and bring Lillian Board back into the public’s consciousness .
Gosh, interesting. Actually, if you consider not just BBC, but NetFlix, Amazon, BT, et al, any number of 21C broadcasters could do this.
Thanks for that. I think this will make it to the screen one day, just a matter of when.
Wow…just finished reading all these comments on Lillian..I thought I was alone in remembering her!!!
It’s left me stunned through the years that she just never gets mentioned,and she was utterly superb.
I was 14 when she died and had followed news of her illness in the papers and on the television.I remember vividly the night the news of her death was announced, I was distraught..and the only thing I could think of doing was putting on my running shoes and running round and round our local playing field crying all the time.
I too, have her book.
Thanks Lynda. All the comments on this post have been most encouraging and poignant. It seems that everyone remembers Lillian except the media!
I remember her so well as I was at school with her and her twin Irene. I have her book and looking at her picture brings back such vivid memories of such a loving bubbly school friend.
A great athlete, Lillian would almost certainly got even better,yes she was a looker and had lots of male fans(and female) but she also had charisma and a lovely personality..
I wish that the powers that be would name a race or an event after her because IMO she epitomised all that is good about competitive sport.
RIP Lillian
Just watching World Athletics Championships in London and, as usual, my thoughts turned to Lillian Board. I was privileged to compete against her in the Middlesex county Long Jump Championships at the start of her career and I well remember her father standing at the pit telling her she could do better. My father had been a county champion but unfortunately was in the middle of fighting for his life against cancer. How I had wished to have had his help and support in the same way George was there for Lillian. I have followed athletics religiously since watching Lillian in Mexico to this day but never fail to wonder exactly what she would have achieved had she lived. I also feel aggrieved she was drawn in lane one in Mecico, something that would never happen in today’s sport and definitely a big disadvantage to her with her seven foot stride! Whenever I see the times of our girls today Always relate it to Lillisn who ran on cinder tracks and none of the privileges and support from lottery funding given to all our athletes today. The partnership with her father was unique and I know he was a broken man when she died and I often wondered what happened up him after. My father sadly died in the April in the same year as Lillian so it hit me really hard when the news was announced on boxing day, 1970. I often still read her book to remind me of just how great an athlete she was and what an inspiration she was to so many people in so many ways. Lillian you will always be remembered for all that is good and noble in this world
Thanks, Rhoda. Great memories.
Thankyou for sharing that with us…it s lovely to read of your knowledge of Lillian.
I think the whole nation mourned the passing of Lillian. Forever in the hearts of those who were around back in the day. She was the glamour girl of athletics. So ironic that the AAA hierarchy frowned on the cut of her running briefs compared with the attire of today’s women athletes. Thanks to all contributors who keep the memory alive. Would it be possible for London Historians to have their own Lillian Board Day ?
That’s not a bad idea. Maybe 13 December next year on her 70th birthday?
So provisionally let’s say that 13th December is Lillian Board day. If it is circulated via Facebook, Twitter etc, it will raise awareness worldwide. I don’t know what it takes to get a memorial/celebration date officially recognised in the UK. Perhaps you could look into that Mike. In the USA every single day is a ‘ something day ‘ ranging from Independence Day down to Dunkin Donuts Day.
It’s a great idea, but not one for us to take the lead on though, but would fully support such a thing, of course. It’s a shame Ealing doesn’t have a borough-wide history society. Maybe someone like this crowd?
http://ealingcivicsociety.org/
Her father & mothers emigrated from Manchester to South Africa then returned to Manchester then later moved to live in ealing
Whenever there are major athletics on the TV I always think of Lillian.
Lillian, to me was the original golden girl of British sport and still is , she had everything, she was a superb athlete, incredibly beautiful, had a lovely personality and sense of humour and then there was that smile.
She had the world at her feet, and then so cruelly taken ,an absolute tragedy I remember clearly that boxing night when her death was announced , I am not ashamed to say that I cried my eyes out.
God bless you Lillian you touched my heart all those years ago and you still go on doing so, you will never be forgotten, rest in peace.
It may be of interest to readers of this thread that a four-year programme has been set up:
The University College London Cancer Institute Lillian Board Travel Scholarships.
The intention behind this programme has been to utilise a donation of £8048 to both further cancer research and to memorialise Lillian Board. The £8048 donation represents one pound for every day of Lillian’s short but ever-remembered life. It was agreed that an amount of that size could best advance cancer research through a travel scholarship programme, since travel opportunities are essential to engender the collaborations that can lead to advances in cancer understanding.
There will be two scholarships per year, of £1006 each, for the four years of the programme. The first two award winners, both Ph.D. students in the field of cancer research, have already been chosen, together with their proposed conference objectives. They will report back to the programme detailing their experiences and research benefits.
Excellent. Thanks, Brian. Best wishes to all recipients and the ongoing programme.
I have no major interest in sport but for some reason Lillian Board has always stuck in my mind.
I was only thinking about her this morning and decided to look her up on the internet and found this site.
She was one year younger than me and at the time of her death, I was living and working in Southern Germany. Although the Olympics were still 2 years away her name stood out as the UK’s great hope.
I have never read her fiancée’s book (perhaps I should). Perhaps because of our similar ages, perhaps because of my location and the association with her final days, perhaps because I remember the British press giving her a very hard time, which I thought was unfair on such a young woman.
Something has always drawn me to her memory and it was good to see so many others also remember this plucky young woman.
Thanks, Janet. I don’t remember the press giving her a hard time but then, I was only about 10 and living in Africa at that time.Presume over not winning gold at Mexico?
I always remember Lillian and often think of her . I was really shocked by her death . I was young at the time and could not understand how somebody could suddenly become so ill when only recently I had seen her running and looking so beautiful as she always did . She had such a bright friendly smile and looked so healthy and fit . When I heard she was ill I did not understand the gravity then and I thought she must surely soon be well as she was young and strong . I was devastated by her death . Now all these years later as with all people who sadly die young and way too soon it just gets worse when I think of her and all the things she never got to do . She was so loved and popular it is surprising to me that she is not mentioned and remembered in the media . I never hear her name . She was an outstanding person and one of the countrys most gifted ever athletes . My eyes always fill with tears when I think of her in my memory as they are now writing this . Lillian was extra special – just a breathtaking girl who was lovely and kind and tremendously talented .
Beautifully written and I’ve always shared similar feelings.
Beautifully written and I have always shared similar feelings.
What a beautifully worded tribute
The tears were welling up reading it. Lillian will never be forgotten
I remember hearing about her dying – I was 8 and I was terrified. She was so young and I didn’t understand about death at the time and I thought that, since my parents were older than she was, that they would die soon too. I didn’t say anything but went to bed surprisingly early so that I could cry my eyes out and pray and promise that I’d be good, if only…
Years later, when I was clearing out my parents’ house, I found a scrap of paper I’d written when the bulletin was on the news – I’d pushed down behind the book shelves nailed to the wall – it said “poor Lillian Board she died today – I wish she hadn’t”
I will always remember her even though I don’t recall ever seeing her run
I do. I was at school with Lillian. A beautiful girl. Never forgotten, Lil.
I remember Lillian Board and have just been scanning a picture of my Father then Mayor of Ealing in 1969 presenting her with a silver salver for her achivments at the Mexico Olympiad of 1968 on behalf of Ealing it would be good if something permanant could be done in Ealing to commemerate a brillent athlete who died far to young.