My father joined the Royal Navy. I do not know the exact date. He reached 18 in September 1941. I still have his Admiralty issue hairbrush, stamped 1942. I know that he was at home for his brother’s burial in June 1942. However, that might have been on compassionate leave. Following on the train of…
All posts tagged WW2
A father’s dilemma (3)
Patrick’s eldest son, William, enlisted in July 1940, a month before his 20th birthday. This was just after the evacuation of the Army from Dunkirk, and in the early stages of the Battle of Britain. He joined the Royal Air Force. Furthermore, he volunteered for aircrew duties. (All aircrew were volunteers.) The Military Training Act…
A father’s dilemma (2)
In the Great War, Patrick spent long enough at the front line (just over two years in three separate spells, from August 1914 to May 1918) to have formed definite opinions about which branch of the army should be avoided to maximise chances of survival. When he was conscripted back in to the Army in…
1938: A father’s dilemma
The Great War was sometimes called “the war that will end wars”. The phrase was first used by HG Wells in an article that appeared in the Times (of London) in August 1914. Variations of the original version have been used by many writers and commentators over the years. By 1938, it was clear that…
Where it happened
Whilst writing ‘Tangible reminders’, I realised that I have not covered the story of the final flight of Wellington Z1410 in any detail. (See ‘VE Day – Patrick’s perspective’ for a brief summary.) On 29th May 1942, as a demonstration of its growing strength, RAF Bomber Command launched the first of the ‘Thousand Bomber Raids’.…
Waltham or Grimsby
I covered the journeys of Patrick’s son-in-law Les Dunn in “More heartbreak for Patrick”. The journeys of Patrick’s son William, known as Bill, have some similarities and almost as many differences. Bill enlisted on 19th July 1940. His entire time in the RAF was spent in England, apart from one month spent at a Gunnery…
Tangible reminders
The human memory is both wonderful and fragile. We can recall distant events in remarkable detail. We can also forget where we put the house keys the day before. A tangible reminder of an event or a person can be a powerful aid to memory. When family history research reveals a connection to RAF service…
National Memorial Arboretum
The National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) at Alrewas in Staffordshire covers 150 acres of land. It is well worth a visit. There are over 400 memorials as well as 25,000 trees. It was officially opened in 2001, but planting had started in 1996. I visited, once more, in November 2025. The main purpose of the visit…
What to believe (3)
Whilst proof reading the final draft for “What to believe (2)”, I had a flash of insight. “Any account of events written more than 40 years later is likely to contain errors. Dates can become mixed up. Events can be forgotten. Others can be, albeit unwittingly, exaggerated. Details become blurred.” Almost all accounts of historic…
What to believe (2)
In the first article titled “What to believe” I looked at the difficulty in verifying some of the facts of history. The claims made during the Battle of Britain were a useful vehicle for making the point. The theme began development somewhat earlier when I picked up a second-hand book. “Dambusters Away” written by Jack…