大象传媒

14 years old at Grammar School when war broke out. A busy first few months/Carry your identity card and gas mask at all times/Stick brown paper strips on all windows. Make blackout frames for windows and doors. Do air raid shelter drill. Move schools temporarily whilst ceilings in class rooms were reinforced with scaffolding. School camps in holidays, picking potatoes on the farm. Left school at 16 in July 1941 and went into engineering toolroom. They made bomb sights, periscopes, aerial photograph camera lenses. Joined No.51 Squadron of the A.T.C. (Air Training Corps). Sunday morning drill parades. One evening a week learning aircraft recognition, Morse Code signalling, navigation, etc. Three evening studying at Leicester Technical College for National Certificates in Engineering. Air raid spotting duty in sandbagged shelter on roof of factory. Sheltering under the stairs counting a stick of bombs exploding - missed us.. Volunteered for R.A.F. aircrew. Picked for P.N.B. course (Pilot, Navigator or Bomb Aimer) but had to wait till 18 for call up papers. Recreation was Friday/Saturday evenings to the cinema or dancing at the church youth club. Tennis when possible. Few holidays. Borrowed a tandem with a friend and rode to N.Wales. 120 miles in a day to a YHA hostel (Youth Hostel Association). No barb wire on their beaches! Went to A.T.C. camp at R.A.F. Waddington for a week. Cadged flights in Lancasters during morning testing. Helped load up anti radar "chaff" (metallic strips thrown out to confuse German radar defences). Call up papers at last.

'This story was submitted to the People's War site by Terry Greenwood of the CSV Action Desk on behalf of Robert Bristow (Bob) and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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