A VILLAGE is in mourning for the loss of grandmother Eileen Swannack and her partner John Welch who were gunned down while they lay on a beach in Tunisia.

Bouquets of flowers and messages of condolence have been arriving at the 73-year-old’s doorstep on Yatton Road, Biddestone, since the harrowing news broke that she and Mr Welch, 74, from Corsham, were among the missing British tourists.

Neighbours and friends described her as a lovely lady who was a huge part of the village she had lived in for more than 40 years, devoting much of her time to supporting the cricket and football club.

She married her late husband Edwin, also known as Eddie, in 1963 and they lived in Bath before moving to Biddestone a year later. In 2005, Mr Swannack, who for 16 years was president of Biddestone Football Club, died after being diagnosed with cancer.

After his death the mother-of-two struck up a companionship with Mr Welch, of Pickwick Road in Corsham, whose partner had also died from cancer at around the same time. They bonded over their shared grief and became a couple eight years ago.

Last week, they were staying at the RIU Imperial Marhaba, one of the hotels targeted by the gunman in Port El Kantaoui, near Sousse – a place they “adored” and had stayed at on many occasions.

After Friday’s massacre, the pair’s families became increasingly worried when they didn’t hear from the couple and began preparing themselves for the worst.

On Sunday, their fears were confirmed when the Foreign Office gave one of Mrs Swannack’s sons, Desmond, the devastating news that the couple had been killed.

In a heartfelt message, Mrs Swannack’s grandaughter Lucie Marie described the past few days as the “hardest of her life” and paid tribute to her “loving” and “wonderful” grandmother.

She also thanked to everyone for their support on behalf of her and her family.

Posting on Facebook she said: “Thank you to everyone who has had my nan in their thoughts over the last few days, & for messages of concern & help.

“The last few days have been the hardest of my life, the not knowing, the dread, the amount of emotions & questions running through all our heads have been exhausting & as more details unravel I’m sure it will continue to be very difficult & upsetting for our family for some time.

“We ask for patience & some privacy while we try to come to terms with this & grieve. I cannot understand how anyone could hurt my nan, she was such a loving wonderful woman & I’m heartbroken she’s been taken from us in such a cruel way. Thoughts with everyone involved in & affected by this tragedy.”

Holding back tears, Mrs Swannack’s close friend Diane Webb spoke of her distress at hearing the news.

“She was a lovely lady,” she said. “She was a country lady which makes it so hard to understand that she should be shot like that.

“I still think everyone’s in a state of shock.”

In tribute, flags at the football club have been flying at half-mast.

Andy Short, a parish councillor and club groundsman was best friends with Ms Swannack’s late husband.

He said: “There’s a great sense of shock in the village, you look in horror but you don’t expect it to be someone you know. We knew on Friday because we had seen things on Facebook from her niece saying they were trying to track her down and then again on the Saturday saying they hadn’t heard anything, so we knew they were probably only waiting for confirmation.

“Like I’ve heard lots of people say, if you are in that situation you pick the phone up and ring home, so you can only assume the worst.”

Mr Short added: “I knew them more as couple and was very close with Eddie right to the end. In fact, I did the tribute at his funeral.

“I think she was really hit by the death of Eddie. They were very, very close.”

Timeline: How the Tunisia horror unfolded as tourists basked in the midday sun

 

  • 11.55am Student Seifeddine Rezgui, 23, is seen by witnesses arriving at Port El Kantaoui beach getting out of a boat or off a jet-ski.
  • Noon He strolls calmly along the beach past innocent tourists lying on sun loungers and stops to speak to some of them. Unbeknown to them, he had an assault rifle hidden inside the folds of his parasol. 
  • 12.05pm Rezgui, right, opens fire on dozens of holidaymakers and begins his rampage. 
  • 12.10pm Tourists flee to the nearby Imperial Marhaba Hotel. Harrowing footage filmed by onlookers shows the gunman chasing them inside and more gunshots are heard.
  • 12.20pm Rezgui leaves the Imperial Marhaba Hotel and fires shots at neighbouring hotel RIU Bellevue; loud explosions, believed to be the sound of grenades exploding, are heard.
  • 12.25pm The gunman runs out into a side street and there is a crossfire between him and armed police.
  • 2.30pm Razgui is shot dead. 
  • Saturday – the grandson of John Welch, of Corsham, contacts media outlets to say his grandfather and partner Eileen Swannack, of Biddestone, had been staying at the resort and haven’t been in touch since the attack. Formal identification of the dead is made identification more difficult as most were not carrying ID, the Foreign Secretary confirmed. 
  • Sunday – It is believed the relatives of the couple are told by the Foreign Office they are among the dead. Later that day the Queen offers her condolences through a statement.
  • Monday – Prime Minister David Cameron speaks to the Commons and says terrorism needs to be tackled. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, lays flowers on the beach in Sousse.
  • Tuesday – Some of the surviving victims are flown own with their injuries. Tunisian authorities release photographs of two men being sought in connection with the shootings. Seven suspected associates of the gunman have also been detained and are being questioned by Tunisian authorities. 
  • Wednesday - repatriation of the dead begins