Giles Vernon Hart (20 November 1949 – 7 July 2005) was a

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and British Telecom engineer working for BT Operate.

Early life

Hart was born in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

, when his father was head of English at Gordon College. He moved to England with his family when he was five years old, and attended Woodhouse Grammar School, now

Woodhouse College Woodhouse College is a single site selective state sixth form centre situated between North Finchley and Friern Barnet on the eastern side of the London Borough of Barnet in North London, England. It is one of the most successful sixth form col ...

, and read mathematics at

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a member institution of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departmen ...

Political campaigning

While working as an executive officer at Trinity House lighthouse authority, he set up a union branch. In the 1980s, he was chairman, secretary and treasurer of the ''

Polish Solidarity Campaign Britain's Polish Solidarity Campaign (PSC) was a UK-based campaign in solidarity with Solidarity (the Solidarność trade union) and other democratic forces in Poland. It was founded in August 1980 by Robin Blick, Karen Blick, and Adam Westoby ...

'', the main British pro-

Solidarność Solidarity (, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" ( , abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”''), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Gdańsk Shipyard, Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Polish People's Rep ...

organisation, and edited a history ''For Our Freedom and Yours (1995)''. He was a prominent member of the

British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent non-religious people in the UK through a mixture of charitable servic ...

and chair of Havering

Humanists Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" has ...

, also chair of the H.G. Wells Society at the time of his untimely death.

Death

He died in the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamist terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on Transport in London, London's public transport during the ...

, when he was killed instantly when travelling to work on the number 30 bus, which was blown up in

Tavistock Square Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden near Euston Station. History Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Fr ...

Honours

In July 2005, he was posthumously awarded with the Polish Golden Krzyż Zasługi (Cross of Valor), and the Knight's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland () is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident abroad. As such, it is sometimes referred to as ...

. He has also been honoured with a memorial in

Ravenscourt Park Ravenscourt Park or RCP is an public park and garden located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England. It is one of the Borough's flagship parks, having won a Green Flag Award. Stamford Brook and Ravenscourt Park tube stations a ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, which was unveiled on 5 July 2008.

References

1949 births 2005 deaths Deaths by improvised explosive device in England British trade unionists British terrorism victims Terrorism deaths in England Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Knights of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland People from Khartoum BT Group people {{UK-activist-stub