South Yorkshire Times, June 10th, 1944
Mr. G. C. Payne
Mr. Payne, who has been Manager at Barnburgh for six and a half years, was previously at Manvers Main for a short time as Assistant Agent. Before that he spent just over six years at Houghton Main Colliery as Assistant Manager and Under Manager.
Earlier he had served at pits in Leicestershire and West Yorkshire coalfields and the theoretical part of his mining training was done at Birmingham University. He is Honorary Secretary of the Management Committee of the Wath Rescue Station.
Captain John was Chief Safety Inspector of Manvers Main Collieries Ltd. at the beginning of the war but soon left to join the Royal Engineers with whom he has seen four years’ war service. For two and a half years he served at Gibraltar, where he was entrusted with important tunnelling operations. He served throughout the last war in Egypt and Palestine