This Is Your Life: Bertie Tibble

Bertie Wallace TIBBLE OBE (1884-?)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Bertie Tibble, pioneering blood donor, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the BBC Television Theatre, having arrived to watch This Is Your Life, but not expecting to be the subject!.

Bertie, who was born in London, began his working life as a guillotine operator in a cardboard box factory in north London. After recovering from enteric fever, a form of typhoid, with the help of staff at the Royal Northern Hospital, Bertie answered the call to donate blood in 1919 as a way of repaying the hospital staff's kindness. In the days before blood banks, when finding volunteer blood donors was challenging, Bertie became a pioneer of blood donation through a process involving arm-to-arm transfusions.

He placed himself at the disposal of the London Hospital, Temperance Hospital, and St. Bart's, and would cycle over to the hospital on request, then return to work, always refusing to accept the £5 offered per transfusion. With 75 visits over 8 years and over 70 pints of blood donated, his last donation was in 1927. Bertie was still working aged 78 as a jack-of-all-trades at a north London engineering firm.

programme details...

Edition No: 219
Subject No: 220
Broadcast date: Tue 19 Mar 1963
Broadcast time: 7.55-8.25pm
Recorded: Mon 25 Feb 1963 8.00pm
Venue: BBC Television Theatre
Series: 8
Edition: 24

on the guest list...

Rosa Kaplan
Ted Brown
Sister Phyllis Hoare
George Littlejohn
Gordon Barlow
Danny Driscoll
Reg Nuttall
Edward Nuttall
Louisa Doncaster
Edward Rook
Leonard Boot
Enoch Powell

production team...

Researcher: unknown
Writer: unknown
Director: Vere Lorrimer
Producer: T Leslie Jackson

related page...

Jack of all Trades

from domestic cleaner to teacher

Photographs of Bertie Tibble This Is Your Life

Magazine article: Bertie Tibble This Is Your Life

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine December 2015

'My ancestor was a pioneer of the blood transfusion service'

Bertie Tibble was awarded an OBE and made the subject of an episode of This Is Your Life after a lifetime of giving blood.

On 25 February 1963, broadcaster Eamonn Andrews greeted Sharon Newson's grandfather with the words "Bertie Tibble OBE, this is your life". He had just entered the auditorium of BBC Television Theatre, Shepherd's Bush.

Bertie was expecting to be part of the audience, but within minutes of his arrival he had become the subject of one of the most iconic programmes ever broadcast.

What was it about this mild-mannered and unassuming 78-year-old that merited the tribute? "Bertie's story began just before the turn of the 20th century," Sharon explains. "He was born in Islington in 1884, the ninth child of carpenter Alfred Tibble and his wife Elizabeth."

"Bertie attended St Matthew's School, but as part of a large family it wasn't long before he had to go out to work. He became a guillotine operator at Lewis, Henry and Tibble, a North London cardboard box factory, part-owned by his brother, Alfred."

In 1906, an event took place that changed his life forever. After taking a dip in Regent's Canal, Bertie contracted enteric fever, which was a form of typhoid. "Lying seriously ill in hospital there seemed little chance of recovery, but staff at the Royal Northern Hospital saved his life."

Bertie returned to work and in due course married Florence Coshell, with whom he had four children, including Sharon's father Cecil. Life went on as normal until 1919. In January that year, a little boy was knocked down by a taxi cab in London. Seriously hurt, he was taken to the London Hospital and an appeal was issued for people to donate blood. Bertie always remembered the dedication of the medical team who nursed him back to health and saw a chance to repay their kindness. Unfortunately, on reaching the hospital he discovered that the child had passed away.

Undaunted, Bertie responded to a new appeal for blood to help an injured man. This time his blood was tested and found to be Group 4 (today's type O), the blood that will mix with all other types. "We pay £5 for a transfusion," the doctor commented. Although £5 was a substantial sum, Bertie replied: "I can't take anything for it."

At the bedside of the patient, Bertie rolled up his sleeve and a tourniquet was placed on his upper arm. An incision was made in the artery and blood filled a container via a hollow needle and rubber tube. A needle was inserted into the arm of the recipient and the transfusion was completed. Happily, on this occasion, the patient survived.

Bertie placed himself at the disposal of the London Hospital, Temperance Hospital and St Bart's. He could be summoned at any time of the day or night to give blood. In 1921, he joined the St John's Ambulance Brigade. By 1925, he had become an Honorary Serving Brother of the Order of St John in recognition of his achievements. In the same year, the London Hospital made him a Life Governor. "The greatest honour came in 1925 when The Times announced that Bertie was to be awarded the British Empire Medal 'for public services in saving life'. In July 1925, he was presented with the medal by the then Minister of Health, Neville Chamberlain."

From 1919 to 1927, Bertie was called upon more than 75 times, donating 70 pints of blood. He refused to accept a penny for his services and saved many lives. Grateful patients write letters of thanks and gave gifts. One terribly injured man whose life was saved asked Bertie to be best man at his wedding.

In 1925, Bertie was presented to King George V's brother, the Duke of Connaught at an inspection of the St John's Ambulance Brigade in Hyde Park. The Duke remarked: "Mr Tibble, you have gained something, for now you must have a great many blood relations!"

Sharon lived in the same house as Bertie until she was 11 years old. "He was a lovely, kind man with a great sense of humour. I remember seeing scars on his arm caused by doctors using a scalpel to access the vein."

"This Is Your Life enable Bertie to be reunited with some of those 'blood relations' who were linked by no more than circumstance."

"I attended the programme as a five-year-old and sat in the audience. For those of us 'blood relations' linked by birth, the programme offered the opportunity to witness a fitting tribute to a selfless individual – my family hero." Gail Dixon

Series 8 subjects