My mum found some of her dads documents relating to his service with the army during the war including his diary. It is really interesting, its got his application form, his discharge papers and a letter confirming a service medal.
It got me interested in what other forum members' relatives did during the war.

My mums dad was in the army before the war started. He joined up in 1936 and was stationed in India when war broke out. He served in the Burma campaign and in Singapore though thankfully he wasn't captured when Singapore fell. He was demobbed in 1948 after helping to rebuild Germany and serving in Berlin during the Berlin airlift. He died when I was only 3, my only memory of him is of him bouncing me on his knee. I really wish he'd have lived longer so that I could have asked him more.

He had two half brothers who were also in the army. One of them was killed on D-Day and the other missed D-Day because he was in hospital suffering from pneumonia.

My dads dad was too old to serve during the war though he did join the ARP. He went out during every night of the Sheffield blitz in the Darnall and Attercliffe areas. These were 2 of the most bombed areas of the city so it was a very dangerous job. He worked as a taxi driver during the day and went out at night as an ARP, something I can't imagine doing. He did serve during WWI though and was wounded in the battle of the somme. He died when my dad was just 13, so obviously I never knew him. I really wish I did though.

It makes me feel really humble to think that my grandads were involved in such a thing as the two world wars and I really wish that I knew them. But I make up for it every year on rememberance day.

My mothers father was a veteran of the first world war, the one that was supposed to end all wars...

He had his knee shot away by a sniper, during his time in the amed forces.

he was also under-aged, when he enlisted; he lied about his age to fight for the "Noble Cause".

He was in the home guard during the 2nd World War.

This was partly because he was not "able" enough to enlist that time round, and also that he was in a "Reserved Occupation" (he was a steelworker) and that he was quite "old" , comparatively to most of the ones enlisting . He'd have been about forty when the war broke out.

My father's father was also unable to enlist. he, too was in a reserved occupation, he worked for Dormer Twist Drills, doing something for the war-effort. He was disabled, too.

He was deaf and, also, he had contracted tuberculosis as a small child, and it had affected his joints (TB doesn't just affect the lungs, it can affect the bones and skin, too)in his ankle, preventing him from moving it properly. It was locked, into a fixed position, like a false leg, so he would not have been able to withstand the rigours of marching etc.

my great-uncle Joe was in the north-Africa campaign. I don't know what other relatives did/ or even where and if they fought, it was not spoken about.

PT

My grand dad was in the Navy and (apparently) my Gran was a servent in Buckingham Palace. Neither of them will talk about WWII so i can only go on the photo's and medals.

I lost an uncle in WW1 and a cousin in WW2.
My father was in the R.E.M.E during WW 2 He served in Iceland and Holland.He walked with a slight limp which he got in the war.
My mother said "He fell off the back of a truck when he was Bl**dy drunk

Three of them deserted and one uncle spent 6 years hiding under a bed in Tinsley. We were never a military family

my dad was in ww2 -lancashire fusiliers.
front line and all.
towards the end he had shell shock.
not suprising, - he was very young when he went in .
constant shells going off and walking over dead bodies etc.

my grandfather was in ww1 came back with a few medals.

My great Uncle (who dies a few years ago) was some kind of PA to a Colonel in Bhurma. The Colonel had died years ago but my Uncle still received letters , cards etc. from the Colonels secretary.
All communication was still sent in the proper etiquette too, which I found amazing.

I remember being very little and being told stories about Bhurma and my little brother believeing he was there too with our Uncle.

One story was a bout a little Bhurmese boy around the age of 3 being passed over a military fence by a woman. She couldn't look after him and wanted the soldiers to look after him (feed and care for him). They didn't have much choice as she fled. So the little boy was looked after by them, given a little uniform that they made for him too. When they left Bhurma he was obviously older and could look after himself. My Uncle was always very sad about the little boy. I also know he did exist as have photos of him with my Uncle and all the soldiers.

Wonder where he is now?

Originally posted by bonny


Wonder where he is now?

probably makeing fake burb caps or making a fortune as a lady boy:hihi:

My dad was a "boy seaman" aged 18 and on HMS Belfast at D Day, in WW2.
He doesnt speak about it very often.Hes now 78, until a few years ago ha attended the cenotaph service every rememdrance day.He gets very emotional about his expierances and often sheds a tear for the comrades he lost and the things he has seen. He stayed in the Navy for another 12 yrs after the war ended, saw the palestine war , korea,hong kong for 4yrs .Served with Loius Mountbatten ,and more .
His father (my grandfather who i never met) went to fight in France during WW1.He was 18 when he went .He goy mustard gassed at 19yrs and was shipped back to England.He stayed in the service for the rest of the war though,working in the military hospitals as a porter. Sadley he died at 30yrs old.The mustard gas had damaged his lungs he got TB , and died quite soon after that. My dad was 4yrs old when he died. I have got a lovley photo of me grandad in his hospital uniform ,and many photos and medals of my dads.

My grandad on my mother's side was 20 (I think) when WW2 broke out. He was in some science industry and was not sent to fight as he was in an essential industry.

He was in the home guard though :P

My great uncle (my grandad's brother in law) was in the Army in WW2 and fought in France and Germany (I think). He never spoke of it often though, this is according to my parents as he died before I was born.

I don't know what my grandad on my father's side did. He's dead now though...

I'll have to ask my dad when he gets home. I'll get back to you on that one- if any of you are interested.

My grandad lived in a neutral country during the 2WW having been freed from the yoke of colonial britain some 20 years earlier.

He does remember the odd German warship popping into port from time to time.

my grandad was in the scots guards he spent most of the war being parachuted into norway and making his way back....the germans thought there were thousands and thousands of troops gathering in norway when in fact it was the same few hundred going there and back.......my grandad says this played a big part in winning the war as thousands of german soldiers were sent to protect the border from all these british troops that wernt even there.............................summat like that anyway.

Originally posted by kirky
my grandad was in the scots guards he spent most of the war being parachuted into norway and making his way back....the germans thought there were thousands and thousands of troops gathering in norway when in fact it was the same few hundred going there and back.......my grandad says this played a big part in winning the war as thousands of german soldiers were sent to protect the border from all these british troops that wernt even there.............................summat like that anyway.

your grandad is quite right, good on him :thumbsup:

Originally posted by kirky
my grandad was in the scots guards he spent most of the war being parachuted into norway and making his way back....the germans thought there were thousands and thousands of troops gathering in norway when in fact it was the same few hundred going there and back.......my grandad says this played a big part in winning the war as thousands of german soldiers were sent to protect the border from all these british troops that wernt even there.............................summat like that anyway.

This helped in D-day. The Germans always thought that the allies would open up a 2nd front from Norway but obviously it never happened. The Germans even kept a battalion of about 3000 men in Norway right up to the end of the war.

My fathers farther was a fireman in the war.He couldnt join the fighting forces due to his health,and my great grandfather was based at hillsbourgh barracks he was in the mounted artillary (I have a smashing photo of him in full uniform on his horse) The other week we were at my dads and we were looking at the box of things that were left from this time (my eldests doing ww2 at school) there were ration books and my grandads badges and stuff from his uniform. my dad followed in his footsteps and joined the brigade when he was old enough.
My grandad on my mothers side was in active service in the war and I belive that he was shot at somepoint in WW2 Unfortunatly all my grandparents have passed away now so the details of it all are lost forever

Originally posted by ianmitchell
(snipped)
I'll have to ask my dad when he gets home. I'll get back to you on that one- if any of you are interested.

Ian,

of course we are interested!!!!

It's all part of our heritage, the people who sacrificed their youth...

http://www.hms.vengeance.btinternet.co.uk/remembrance.htm

we have a lot to be grateful for, toward those of our parents' and grandparents' generations, who made the sacrifices during conflicts and wars, including the 1st and 2nd WW's the conflicts in the middle east and korea etc, during the fifties and early sixties. As well as the Falklands, and the gulf-wars.. (and to a lesser extent, the spanish civil war)

I try to make a point of attending the Remembrance Day ceremonies by the City Hall, when I can make it (work, and health permitting) to pay my respects to the "fallen".

"For our tomorrows, they gave their today"

PT

Many Sheffielders who worked in the Steel industry were exempt from the armed forces due to their skills being wanted for the War effort, But after work they had other duties...My Dad was the local A.R.P Warden..and my Grandad was in the Home Guard..Selected houses were designated as emergency points e.g. if you had a large "S" painted on your house it meant there was a "styrup pump" .. or an "L" meant you had a ladder..outside our house was painted a "Red Cross" which meant it was a first Aid point...I believe thats what the signs were supposed to read, if you can think of any more I'd be interested.

my other grandad was a prisoner of war in germany he was captured on anzio beach (Italy).
We still have the photo he was allowed to send my grandma, with the stalag camp number etc stamped on the back.

Originally posted by Plain Talker
Ian,

of course we are interested!!!!



I have actually found out lol.

My grandad on my father's side was in the Navy for a while until he had a heart problem and was sent home.

Also two of my great grandfathers were in WW1 as standard infantrymen (as many were).

One injured his leg badly by a gun carriage that fell on his leg.

The other lost his leg, I'm not sure how- perhaps he injured it so badly it had to be amputated?

My dad says that both his grandfathers were legless!

Originally posted by nez75
This helped in D-day. The Germans always thought that the allies would open up a 2nd front from Norway but obviously it never happened. The Germans even kept a battalion of about 3000 men in Norway right up to the end of the war.

Also in diversionary tactics, we fooled the Germans into thinking that we were going to land in Calais as it was the nearest port to Britain.

The french resistance really did help the most by giving many of the German reinforcements problems on the day. :clap:

I always say this to people that claim that France did nothing in the war.

My mum was a Fire Watcher in Sheffield - she came from Nottinghamshire but was posted to Sheffield.

Her job was to spot where bombs fell and where incendiery bombs started burning. The German airforce (like us later in the war) would drop high explosive bombs to break open buildings and then drop incendiaries on timers to set fire to the resultant rubble. Mum would watch for the fires starting and then let the fire service know.

When she was on leave at home in Nottinghamshire she could actually see the glow in the sky when Sheffield was getting bombed.

My Father was too young to fight, My grandfather too old. Grandfather had done his bit in WW1 and was a lucky fellow in that he was captured on July 16th, 1916 - the infamous first day of the Somme. He was rendered unconcious by an artillery shell blast and woke up to find himself a prisoner of War. He spent the next couple of years Sugar Beet farming near Leipzig.

My Uncle Glyn was a sailor on the Russian Convoy run. Before the war he was an amateur musician who almost made it on to the London stage, but that career wasn't to be followed after war broke out.

Uncle Fred was involved in the retreat from Dunkirk, where he disobeyed orders to destroy his artillery pieces and brought them back to the beach (where they had to be destroyed anyway). He got a medal for that.

Uncle Doug fought with the 8th Army in North Africa and Italy, and was lost in the desert for three weeks, an experience which cost him half a lung.

As an interesting aside to my mum's story, and one that always upset her, her family took in evacuees from London in the Blitz who stayed with them until 1944. They then went back home to London, only to be caught and killed in the V1 raids.

Joe

My dad served in Palastine, he never told us much about it but he lost lots of friends.

My mum was a fire watcher in Bolton market hall as well as working in a factory that made weapons for the soldiers.

My grandad was in ww1 on his horse, I have a photo of him in uniform with his spurs on. Not sure what regiment he was in I will ask my mum.

My uncle joined the RAF when he was 18, he was a rear gunner or "tail end charlie" as they were nicknamed, I still have letters from him today,their job was to fly over Germany dropping leaflets, over ,and over again which used to make him angry. They were only expected to survive eight sorties before they were hit, and he reasoned it would be better dropping bombs and getting killed than leaflets, He knew the chance were he'd be killed, and he was, over Oslo, but his body was never recovered.Another uncle was a Bevin Boy and had to go down the Pit, and another one saved a little girls life in France when both her parents had been killed and she was wondering along a road on her own, so he took her to a Church for safety, they called her Denise, and he asked my mum to name me after her, and she did, but I never got to meet him he was shot and died of his wounds. I often wonder what they'd make of the world today.

My dad joined the Merchant Navy, aged 16, in 1943. On Atlantic convoys I think. Joined army just as war finished aged 18.

My mums father was a merchant navy surgeon on the Indian convoy route whilst on the other side of the family my gran was in the WAF, manning a search light.. apparently up at York Barracks which was run by a real cast iron nightmare of a commander (so I'm told). ... and of course my dad's dad was a Navy commander as an engineer in destroyers.

Like a lot of people, they don't really talk about what they did and I get the impression they really don't want to talk about it now...

My grandfather was in the Navy and was in the middle east on a mine sweeper. I have an amazing photograph album that documents his campaign, including photographs of sea battles from very close up, and a picture of Rommel visiting the troops that was taken from a dead German solider.

my grandfather was a tank commander in the panzer ss caught outside el amein north africa. my other grandfather was a soldier with the 8th army desert rats in north africa. both men became good friends r as they used to say desert brotherhood. they used to go to each other reunions. but they never talked about the war only to each other. both have died now i still have my grandfathers iron cross with oak leave clusters they would cry to see wat a **** hole britain as turned into

My Dad ran away to sea at the start of WW2 and my Granny had a fit, he was an only child. He served in the Far East Australia Singapore etc. He always said he had an easy war. His Dad (my Grandad) lost his leg in the first world war at Ypres. He was im the Gordon Highlanders and he was found on the battlefield with his kilt embedded in his leg.
You don't realise until they are gone, that they didn't talk much about it.
My Grandpa (mums dad) was in a reserved occupation, he worked for the water board in Dundee. He used to tell people he was in the "Submarine Lancers"

My Dad was a furnacenman in the steelworks which was a key job meaning it was important that he stayed in his job.

My Mom said he ran away to join up twice and each time they sent him back as they needed the steel more than they needed volunteers.

I had 2 uncles in the navy, both petty officers, one a chief petty officer.
one in the RAF who got shot down as he was a rear gunner.. 2 in the army one the youngest of Dad's brothers was a desert rat, went in at age 17 and his Mother never saw him for 8 years or so the story goes.

I was lucky as they all came home but the RAF one was badly hurt and was never the same man again.


hazel

Father was a tank driver in 16/5th. Royal Lancers.
Maternal grandfather was in the ARP.
Uncle a Despatch Rider.
Uncle in RAF.
Uncle in Coldstream Guards killed in Italy 29th.September 1943
Mother was in a munitions factory.

My grandfather was in the Navy and was shot in the shoulder. My grandmother worked in a Children's Nursery.

In a strong Peckham accent, "during the war". :hihi:

My father was called up at the beginning of WWII as he was in the reserves. He ws 35 when war started, so was older than most new recruits. He was in the RAOC, and became a Regimental Sergeant major, then a sub-conductor. He said if he'd been a younger man, he'd have made it his career and taken his officer's exams. He developed pneumonia when he was in France and his health was pretty poor afterwards. He died in 1963 when he was 59.

My mother, (who didn't work after she got married) took over my father's job as a clerk in a Dundee jute mill until he was demobbed. She was also an Air Raid Warden in the city. They had no children til I came along in 1946. My auntie was in the ATS, and her husband in the RAF.

My parents might have known Mandem's grandpa! Dundee was like that in the old days. ;)

My maternal grandfather was in the Royal Flying corps in WWI as an aerial photographer, and his brother-in-law, my great uncle was in the Black Watch.

My grandad and his four sons were coal miners and were in the Home Guard. Grandad was the Sergeant and my father,so I am told, was like Pikey

My father-in-law always claimed he won a medal for being first in the NAFFI queue ?
He also said Monty shook his hand in North Africa and said "Thank you Tom, we couldn't have done it with out you"....

My mum spent some time as a land army girl up around the Driffield area.
Her older sister was a plane spotter on Parkwood Springs Anti Aircraft site.
Her older brother was in Monty's 8th army and served in North Africa and fought in Sicily and Italy
And her youngest brother was still at school. He was taught in small groups in private houses, so less likelyhood of bombing casuaties if schools were hit.

My father joined the army on the first day of the war at age 18. At 19, he was shipped out to North Africa to become a desert rat with the Eighth Army. He spent a couple of years in the desert with the tanks. He was on the last plane out of Tobruk just before the Germans captured it, as he had acute appendicus. After surgery and a bit of recuperation in Cairo, he was back in action to recapture Tobruk. He was also at El Alamein of course.

He then went to Sicily for a while, before going back to England to take part in the D-day landings. His jeep was underwater when it rolled off the landing craft, but he held his breathe and kept going onto the beach. He had many adventures as they fought their way through France and Holland and finally into Germany.

He was stationed in Germany for a couple of years after the war and finally came home when I was about two years old (he had married my Mother in 1944 shortly before D-day and I came along in 1945).

He always told us stories about the good times, funny incidents and nice people he met -
never the grim things he saw and experienced, which were many - including concentration camps.

hi my grandfather fought in both wars in the first he was is in russis and france. my father served in the second war and was one of the first to go as he already was a territorial, he sailed from liverpool to canada then to north africa, spent time fighting rommel, not on his own he had help, then he went to france italy, and burma he survived the war ,, mt naan also was part of the war effort by working on the railways which most of my family did

hi my grandfather fought in both wars in the first he was is in russis and france. my father served in the second war and was one of the first to go as he already was a territorial, he sailed from liverpool to canada then to north africa, spent time fighting rommel, not on his own he had help, then he went to france italy, and burma he survived the war ,, mt naan also was part of the war effort by working on the railways which most of my family did

whats a russis

my mum's grandfather was shot and died :(

whats a russis

A fairly obvious typo. I read it as 'russia'.

My mum was in the Land Army when it started up as a lumber jack chopping trees down which was some achievement as she was only five foot tall and then she joined the Wrens where she met my dad who was in the navy and she came out to have me while dad did not finish in the navy until my 1st birthday after doing 9 years having joined up before the war.

My father was at Dunkirk when the first shot was fired,he was in Dover when the second was fired!

My mam's dad was in the navy, and seemed to spend much of the war in a boat off Malta - he wrote to my nan, who was about 16 at the time and who he met just before going over, that he never saw much action - although I have since heard that fighting did happen here over the years... My dad's dad was a miner in derbyshire, so reserved and didn't go to war... My mam's mam worked in various munitions factories up and down the country, as well as a few stints welding in tyneside and clippying on the buse, and my dad's mam did precious little but work in a shop part time and get a fair bit of reading in, as she lived in a derbyshire village so wasn't troubled by air raids too often...

My Uncle was a runner for the 13th Mounted Foot Stanley Knives in France in 1941 and at the very first German barrage he started running and didnt stop till 1945!

My great uncle was Rex Warneford who was in WWI not 2 but was the 1st person in fleet air arm to be awarded VC. He also got French Legion of Honour same day for being first person to shoot down an airship with an aeroplane. He was killed a few days later in a freak accident while flying an American reporter to Belgium, the plane was made of wood and just fell apart (no parachutes in those days). He was 23 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery in London. He had state funeral such the likes of Churchill etc would have had

My Uncle was a runner for the 13th Mounted Foot Stanley Knives in France in 1941 and at the very first German barrage he started running and didnt stop till 1945!

:hihi::hihi::hihi::hihi::hihi:

My father was in the RASC (Royal Army Service Corp) and was posted as the the driver to an officer on the south coast near Arundel ..The officer was in charge of a group of 7 0r 8 locals and their job was to go underground (literally) in the event of an invasion an ait for the Germans to pass over and then come out and sabotage ...he was trained in this sort of thing and would have had to join them

mi dad wer in the LDV. he LOOKED.he DUCKED. he VANISHED.

:hihi::hihi::hihi::hihi:mi dad wer in the LDV. he LOOKED.he DUCKED. he VANISHED.

My Dad was in a reserved occupation as a hammer driver in the Sanderson Brothers & Newbould steel works. He was famous in the family for his little big toe. He walked into a gas lamp going home in the blackout and compressed his big toe and it never recovered!

My brother, 5 years older than I, forged my father's signature and volunteered for the Navy at 16. As he left for basic training my parents were in tears, knowing he was about to go into action. He was trained as an aircraft armourer, and spent his entire war at the Naval Air Station at Padstow, Cornwall. He got scared one time, he was ordered to Plymouth to assist in loading stores into an Aircraft Carrier headed for the Pacific, and thought he miight be ordered to stay aboard. He was demobbed in 1946. Three years later I joined the Navy. No tears for me, cos we had won the war, and I was going to be in every port in the world that had a red light district. So what was I doing in Korea two years later? I finally did 18 years, five of them as a CPO, a rank my brother had hated in his illustrious career as a tiddly jack.

My dad was in Egypt in the early 50s . Hes only just got his medal after people were fighting to get them one .And while doing my family tree I came across my Grandmas eldest brother who nobody talked about according to my mum ! He was 17 and died in WW1! I have never in my life felt so overwhelmed with grief and cryed for ages. Im wondering if he was shot at dawn and thats the reason why the family never talked about him. Anyway hes MY HERO and I dont care if thats what happened ! HES MY BRAVE SOLDIER

Both my Grandfathers were Engine drivers which were reserved occupations, my own father was in a reserved occupation but was a partime fireman at night especialy during the blitz on sheffield.
My late Father in law was in the REME and served in the UK, Greece, North Africa and Italy.

My father (R.A.) was wounded at Tobruk, an uncle (Gordon Highlanders) was wounded at Dunkirk and another uncle (R.A.O.C.) killed in Holland.
My aunt was in the R.A.O.C. , her husband was killed 18 days before the birth of their daughter.
A cousin was in the Merchant Navy on SS British Chivalry. They were torpedoed by a Japanese submarine which surfaced and machine gunned the survivors. Those that survived spent 37 days in an open boat in the Pacific Ocean before being rescued.
My grandfather who had served in the R.A.M.C. and West Yorkshire Regt. in WW1 was in the Home Guard.

My dad was in Egypt in the early 50s . Hes only just got his medal after people were fighting to get them one .And while doing my family tree I came across my Grandmas eldest brother who nobody talked about according to my mum ! He was 17 and died in WW1! I have never in my life felt so overwhelmed with grief and cryed for ages. Im wondering if he was shot at dawn and thats the reason why the family never talked about him. Anyway hes MY HERO and I dont care if thats what happened ! HES MY BRAVE SOLDIER

It was disgusting how some were treat through no fault of their own these records should be put straight.
Just like pilots who succumbed to battle fatigue were labled with LMF (lack of Moral Fibre) on their records which was disgusting and obscene in my opinion.
We all have differing thresholds.

I was 14 when WW2 broke out but I joined the Home Guard cadets and we trained near Fox House, I went past the place a few years ago and it was a Banks' sports ground. We threw blank hand grenades and such like but the best part was the dinner in a mess tin. Later on I became a firewatcher sitting on rooftops with other lads, bloody cold in winter.

My mothers dad was a policeman in Sheffield during WW2. He was one of a number of policemen who had the horrendous job of pulling bodies from the wreckage of the Marples pub after it was hit with a German bomb.

My other grandad worked in the toolroom at Tempered Spring co. Ltd. He had lost some of his fingers in a work accident prior to start of the war. He was therefore, not allowed to fight for his country.

My grandad now 89 was in the Irish army at the start of the war. He deserted and joined the RAF trained as a gunner and started the war in wellingtons. He then got a promotion and was one of the few RAF to land on sword beach on D day. His job then was to secure suitable ground for ground attack aircraft to be rearmed and refuelled. After the war he met my nan and they have been married 60 years. He was recalled to serve during the Berlin airlift and for the following year. He retrained as a painter and decorator, was a special constable and after that a labour councillor.

Cancer has him now, and he has weeks left. ....

Both of my granddads were in the forces during the war. My maternal grandfather, who was a technical boffin who made and maintained the precision machines at Lucas Automotive in Birmingham for most of his adult life, was first a PT instructor and then involved with making and calibrating machinery that made planes. My paternal grandfather was a bomber who sat in the bottom of a plane, until the plane was hit by something anyway.

My paternal grandmother worked in a munitions factory during the day and in the family pub during the evenings, but my maternal grandmother had a reserved occupation. She was the cigarette girl in Lewis's (department store) in Birmingham and that was considered an essential role for public morale at the time.

My Uncle - Peter Bailey was a rear gunner in a Sunderland Flying Boat. Flew mainly over the Atlantic I think, helping to protect ships laden with supplies from the states. He never spoke about his experiences. He died in 1981 aged 73.

Reading this thread I was surprised by how many men in Sheffield were in protected jobs in the steel industry. The way history is presented to us is that women took all the factory jobs to free up men for the armed forces.

It seems the story of protected jobs is untold.

my father fought in burma whilst mother drove a overhead crane in a factory in templeborough..my uncle stanley was blown up and killed in normandy landings and is buried in france r.i.p to him and all who lost there lives fighting for us.

My maternal grandfather fought in the Zulu Wars and in the Boer War at the turn of the last century. During WWII, my mother worked as a pianist, occasionally broadcasting from Manchester. My father joined the RAF at the outbreak of war, when I was 3 months old and served for a couple of years in Iceland and then latterly, with Bomber Command in North Yorkshire. After the war he returned to his old job as a manager with the B & C Co-op.

This must have made an impression on me because I went on to serve 22 years with the RAF, in many locations.

Mike

My grandad was a Bevan boy ,no choice he was in a line of recruits and given a tag his number was drawn out and that was it he had to work in the pit not a soft option though and all he wanted to do was fight with his mates.