TUG TRANSOM

ALFRED SINDALL

Alfred William Sindall was born in Camberwell, London, on March 21, 1900, son of William Cadman Sindall, a banker's clerk, and his wife Emily. He married Elsie M. Harvey in Greenwich in 1922.

From at least 1935 he illustrated books, including some in the Biggles series by W. E. Johns. He drew the daily strips Paul Temple 1951-54 in the London Evening News. This detective series was a comics adaptation from Francis Durbridge's radio series and novels. From 1954, the series was continued by Bill Bailey and John McNamara. He then drew Tug Transom 1954-69, written by Peter O'Donnell, in the Daily Sketch. He also drew for Girl in the 1950s, including 'Royal Margaret' 1952.

He died in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, in the first quarter of 1973. His son Bernard Sindall (1925-1998) was a sculptor.

Tug Transom was a British daily comic strip written by PeterO'Donnell and drawn by Alfred Sindall. It ran in the Daily Sketch from 1954 to 1968.

The strip relates the adventures of the captain of a merchant ship in ports all over the world. The strips are identified by a letter followed by a number, each series running for approximately one year. The final strip is Q52.

Peter O'Donnell recalls: 'Julian Phipps, a Strip Cartoon Editor at the Daily Mirror subsequently left the Mirror to become Strip Cartoon Editor at the Daily Sketch, another UK national daily newspaper, a rival to the Mirror. He asked me to do a strip for him and we collaborated to create Tug Transom. The stories were adventures about Tug Transom, the captain and owner of a freelance cargo ship, and his crew. Julian came up with the idea of the freelance cargo ship, which was great for me as the writer. It meant I could locate the stories anywhere and set the scene in the first frame with the opening 'The Dulcie May sails into…' I created Tug Transom and the rest of the crew. I wrote the Tug Transom stories for eleven years and handed over to my cousin who worked on it to its end when the Sketch closed down.