Ajax Veterans Street Dedication: Lax Avenue

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Street Name: Lax Avenue
Name of Veteran: William (Bill) Lax 1911-Dec. 26, 1992
Rank: Chief Petty Officer
Ship Served: HMS Ajax
Date of Service on Ship: 1938 to 1940
Year of Visit/Dedication: June 1997
Veteran or Family Visit: Niece Pinky Hill and her husband Ron on behalf of widow Olive Lax
Veteran of the Battle of the River Plate: Yes
Died at Battle: No

William (Bill) Lax was born to John and Hannah Lax in 1911 in Horden, Durham, England. John Lax was a coal miner and he and Hannah had nine children in total (4 girls and 5 boys). Bill grew up in Horden and joined the Royal Navy from school at the age of fifteen.

Bill served on three ships during his naval career. His first was HMS Warspite, then HMS King George V, and finally HMS Ajax. He was remembered by fellow sailors as Second Captain of the Top and in charge of ‘B’ Turret.

Bill married Olive May Ventham from Gravesend, Kent and they had three children; William John (1942), Andrea Margaret (1944), and James Douglas (1950). Bill left the Royal Navy in 1947 and became an inspector for ‘Cruelty to Children’ in Richmond, London, England. He worked in that capacity until 1955, when he and his family moved to Tonbridge Kent, where they operated a pub for many years.

Bill Lax died in 1992 at the age of 81. He predeceased his wife Olive who died in 2008.

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