Hi

Am not sure if the "poor elderly and decrepit wife (and me)" is a true reflection of your age and state or not.... if it is then I DEFINITELY wouldn't attempt a 1 hour connection... The advice on here is not to, even if you can sprint like your life depends on it... If you can't, then you are going to have little hope (especially in a terminal that you are not familiar with).

Your bags will/can be checked through. I don't know if BA will assist you from one flight to the next: I have never had cause to ask for that type of help. They may make an effort, but I wouldn't rely on it... Since your flights WILL be on different bookings, if you miss your connection you will probably be screwed. The ground staff MAY take mercy on you (especially if you are very nice to them), but they are under no obligation to. So you may end up on the next flight in CW (best scenario), you may end up on a flight the next day in WT or you could end up buying yourselves whole new tickets. Someone recently posted about missing a flight (can't remember if it was award or cash flight) and they were basically left to their own devices...

It really isn't a risk that you would want to take: could go from a dream trip (with your LHR-LAX-LHR segments booked in CW), to a stressed, nightmare trip where you could end up out of pocket (depending on the extent of your travel insurance).

Unless there is some very important reason that you are in such a rush to LA, do yourselves a favour: flying into LHR the day before your LAX flight. If you can get a good deal, then book yourself into the T5 Sofitel. If not, there are plenty of other hotels in the area and you can normally get a good deal through Priceline. Enjoy a much more relaxed trip and make the most of your T5 lounge access etc the next day

Boo