THE sudden death of King George VI brought young Roy Walton an unexpected cash bonus.

He was working as an errand boy for the Oxford Mail, which produced a special 10-page edition on Wednesday, February 6, 1952, the day the King died in his sleep at Sandringham, aged 56.

Roy, then 15, was given a bundle of papers to sell and was besieged by readers as soon as he left the paper’s offices in New Inn Hall Street.

He recalls: “The Mail’s circulation manager, Harry Rowden, asked me to take copies of the paper to King Edward Street, but I got only as far as the Freeman, Hardy & Willis shoe shop at the corner of New Inn Hall Street and Queen Street.

“I had 10 dozen papers under my arm and they were gone in minutes. I never did get to King Edward Street.”

He was paid £3 for working six days a week as an errand boy, taking papers to the shops in Oxford city centre on his bike.

But he earned an extra shilling for every dozen papers he sold himself.

On the day the King died, he was able to pocket an extra 10 shillings. “It was money for old rope, but very welcome.”

Mr Walton, of Colwell Road, Berinsfield, was reminded of his windfall after reading how the Mail recorded the King’s death (Memory Lane, April 12).

The paper reported: “News of the King’s death quickly spread through the Oxford district, and in the city, flags were soon flying at half-mast at the Town Hall, County Hall, colleges and other buildings.

“People seemed stunned by the announcement and crowds converged on Newspaper House waiting for publication of the Oxford Mail.”

Working for the Mail and its sister papers ran in the Walton family.

Roy’s dad, Bill, sold papers at stands in Gloucester Green and George Street, while Roy went on to become a delivery driver for many years.