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I was called up on August 1st 1939, just a month before the war started, under the Militia Act 1938. All the 20 year olds had to do 6 months compulsory training after which they returned to their civilian job. My ‘civi’ job was as a photographer, photographing people such as Vanessa Redgrave as a 3month old baby. As it happened my six-month training turned into six and a half years!! Before the war, any new recruit got a shilling a day but the Militia only got 6pence a day.

I was in the R.A.F. and I was sent down to Kelshot, Southampton Waters, which was a flying Boat Base. In the December I was posted to France, rear Headquarters, British Expedition Force in Arras Northern France. Soon after we were evacuated to Boulogne and got the last boat out. The next day the Germans were in Boulogne.

I was in the photographic section; we fitted cameras onto the aircraft and sorted out the prints etc. During the last 4 months of the war in Italy, 18 miles behind the line at the River Po, I was with the Advanced HQ of the 8th Army and Desert Air Force (they were both in the same location) photographing German positions.

We stayed for a while at Venice after it was liberated and were treated really well by the locals. After that I thought I’d be sent home as I had a low release number but I was sent to Greece to cover the Greek victory celebrations. I was taking photographs of their ‘Occi Day’. ‘Occi’ means ‘No’ in Greek and it was their celebration of saying No to the Germans.

We also went over to Algiers; it was a special services squad, dropping important saboteurs into the Balkans. The squad swapped then to medium bombing in Italy.

When I got to Italy I travelled in a cattle truck, just two days after arriving I was posted to Bengasi to join 454 Squad Royal Australian Air Force. I had to go to the Agetent and asked him how I was supposed to get over to the other side of the world! He sent me over to Operations to see if they could sort me out. I ended up hitching a lift on a Lancaster to Cairo, being dropped at Menina airport and having to be collected by 454 Squad.

My uncle was Louis de Faye and he lived in Worcester during the war. He had a leather and umbrella shop in the High Street. During the war he went onto munitions. Worcester only had one bomb dropped on her during the war and my uncle got killed in it.

My mother had four sons all scattered all over the world fighting during the war. We were one of the lucky families as we all came home at the end.

This story was submitted to the People’s war site by Jacci Phillips of the CSV Action Desk at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Hereford and Worcester on behalf of Fredrick de Faye and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

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