Lawrence Turner

Lawrence Turner
Born	30 December 1908 poss. Goring-on-Thames
Died	17 December 1977(1977-12-17) (aged 68) Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
Education	Radley College, University of Reading and Exeter College
Occupation	Politician

Henry Frederic Lawrence Turner (30 December 1908 – 17 December 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician. As an officer in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War he survived three years as a prisoner of war of the Japanese; he passed his captivity by lecturing on politics. After the war ended he moved into politics and was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford. Although generally moderate in politics, his support for British intervention in Suez led him to resign the Conservative Party whip. He lived an extravagant lifestyle far beyond his means, which brought his career to a premature end and led to bankruptcy.

Turner's family were from Goring-on-Thames in Oxfordshire; he was the grandson of the author George Grossmith. He was sent to Radley College for his education, and then to the University of Reading and to Exeter College of the University of Oxford. He went to work in the family paint and varnish business, of which he later became Managing Director.

After the Second World War broke out, in 1940 Turner enlisted in the Royal Artillery as a Gunner, equivalent to a Private. He served in Thailand, and was commissioned as an officer, but was captured by Japanese forces in early 1942 and held as a prisoner of war. The Japanese forced him to work on the Burma Road; Turner gave lectures on politics to other prisoners of war during his captivity. He weighed only 7 stone (44.5 kg) on his return.

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