A Sept. 2 story in the UK’s Daily Mail captured attention across the pond, including in tiny Key West. The story by Martin Gould details a World War II friendship, a pretty English girl with an English boyfriend — captured at Dunkirk and locked up in a German Stalag — and the woman’s friendship with a handsome American soldier from Key West, Florida — named Philip Toppino.
But the recent story by Gould in the Daily Mail wasn’t certain of the American’s name. For the story, Gould interviewed Eric Musgrave, 67, whose mother, Louisa Fitzpatrick, was the pretty English gal who had kept several photos of her American friend, including some that he’d given her of his family’s Key West home and of his brothers.
Those brothers were, and still are, known in Key West for their family’s successful and enduring concrete and construction company that’s been building the Florida Keys since the 1930s. Louisa Fitzpatrick’s American friend, Philip, and his brothers are the “& Sons” of Charley Toppino & Sons, an iconic Key West company since the mid-1930s.
The Keys Weekly spoke on Sunday, Sept. 4 with Willie Toppino, 74, son of the story’s mystery US military man.
“My sister and I are sitting here, amazed that there’s so much interest in my dad’s love life in his 20s when he was stationed in England,” Willie Toppino said. “I have those same photos of him. I believe he was an infantryman, though, not an airman. But he was a charmer, so I have no doubt he enthralled a few women before he met and married my mother in Corsica, where he was stationed after England toward the end of the war,” Willie Toppino said. “He brought my mom home to Key West and my sister was born there in 1945. I was born there two years later in 1947.”
Willie Toppino now lives in Fort Myers, Florida. His father, Philip, died in 1981 at the young age of 59.
“Charley Toppino’s sons — the ‘And Sons’ part of the business — were my Uncle Frank, my dad Philip, Uncle Edward and Uncle Paul,” Willie Toppino said. “And those sons made a bunch of babies. There’s a LOT of Toppinos. You can’t fit us all inside the Key West Yacht Club; I know that. But my father and mother were together ever since my dad was transferred to Corsica, then came home to Key West. My mom’s real name was Marie, but all the kids in the family knew her as Aunt Lela.”
Gould writes that, “Louisa Fitzpatrick spoke of [Philip Toppino] for the rest of her life,” according to her son. Fitzpatrick’s life ended eight years ago when she was 92. Her son now wants to find that mystery American’s family and perhaps return the photos.
Musgrave told writer Gould that he hopes perhaps one of Philip’s brothers is still alive — and he’s in luck.
Frank Toppino, the eldest brother, is 99, and “still sharp as a tack,” his nephew, Willie Toppino said. In fact, “Mr. Frank” still chairs the Key West Housing Authority board.
Willie Toppino and his sister are still trying to discern the timelines of the story and the photos his father apparently gave to Ms. Fitzpatrick, who lost touch with her American friend after the war.
Gould’s story is quick to emphasize that Louisa Fitzpatrick and Philip Toppino were just friends, as Fitzpatrick remained faithful to and later married the boyfriend, Harry Davies, who’d been captured by Germans at Dunkirk.
Gould writes for the Daily Mail, “In the dark days of World War II a dashing young US airman serving in Britain met a pretty English girl.
“It wasn’t exactly a love story, she already had a boyfriend who was being held prisoner of war by the Germans.
“But Louisa Fitzpatrick did strike up a close friendship with the dark-haired airman with the rakish Errol Flynn mustache and talked about him often throughout the rest of her life.
“He gave her pictures, not just of himself, but of his three brothers, his parents, even their house in Key West, Florida.
“’It was a big white house,’ Musgrave told Gould for the Daily Mail story. “’I often joked with her ‘Why didn’t you marry him? Then instead of being brought up on a council estate in Leeds, we could have lived by the ocean in Florida.’”
“’My mother was a remarkable woman who had a remarkable life,’ said Musgrave. ‘She had a real zest for life and always had lots of friends.
“’During the war she had many American pals. I want to honor her memory and the memory of the thousands of young airmen who did not make it home by returning these lovely photographs to her friend’s family.
“’I hope that someone recognizes the people in the photographs or even the house. It is a very long shot, but it might be that one of the brothers is still alive. I’d love to send these photos home.’”
The Daily Mail story includes an email address for readers who can shed some light on this story. The Keys Weekly has sent this story to the UK newspaper at newsus@mailonline.co.uk.
