大象传媒

After instructing at No 24 EFTS (Elementary Flying Training School) Luton for about 12 months we were instructed to move the school north to RAF Sealand near Chester. I cannot remember the exact date but it was early 1941 I think.

It was whilst I was there that the Commanding Officer introduced our new M.O. Flight Lieutenant Clarice Hughes, a very pretty young lady. I could not take my eyes off her and eventually said to her, 鈥淲here have you been all my life?鈥� and she replied, 鈥淟ooking for you!鈥�

Tani as she liked to be called was one of the first doctors to be assigned to her own flying unit.

One day I persuaded her to come with me in a Tiger Moth. Once in the air I gave her a few gentle aerobics and turned the Tiger upside down. I asked her to marry me. She refused but I said she would have to stay upside down until she said yes. She duly obliged, but firmly told me she would change her mind back to no once we were back on the ground. Tani didn鈥檛 and we were married in December 1942.

I continued to spend my days doing circuits and bumps until about April when I was posted to No 4 Flying Instructors School at Cambridge.

Tani managed to get a posting to Cardington near Bedford. It was nice that we were not to far away from each other, and I would visit her at least once a week. Tani managed to arrange to have the same day off as me and would come on the train to Cambridge the evening before and spend the night with me in my digs.

After about a year I was posted to Bomber Command, but first had to undergo training at an OTU (Operational Training Unit) on Wellington. This time Tani and me could not be further apart. I was at Lossiemouth Scotland. My Tani, bless her, managed a few days off and came to see me on the train and spent a lot of time standing in the corridor. Fortunately there was a friendly Flight Sergeant who showed her how to use the gas mask container as a pillow, and she did manage to get some sleep stretched out in the corridor!

After Lossiemouth, a spot of leave and then to Ricall, a heavy bomber conversion unit near York, flying Halifax Four Engine Aircraft. I had almost finished the course when I went sick with sinus trouble. I was grounded and had to visit hospital on a weekly basis to have them drained. When the treatment was completed they wanted to send me to a rehabilitation centre. However I was able to twist their arms and I was posted to Tani鈥檚 station for six weeks and looked after by my wife, which could not have been better.

Now that I was fit again I was posted to Winthorpe, another heavy bomber conversion unit, this time in Lancaster. A beautiful aeroplane that could lift its own weight in bombs had a good range and four of the best engines in the business.

From Winthorpe I was posted to 101 Squadron Ludford Magma. By the time I had completed the operation sorties, the war in Europe was over and 101 Squadron reverted to a more civilized occupation 鈥� bringing the troops home from Italy.

After leaving the RAF I joined Short B Flying Division at Rochester as a test pilot, and Tani became an assistant medical officer of health for Kent.

Shortly after leaving the RAF I received the A.F.C. (Air Force Cross) and later as a Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators. I became a Freeman of the City of London.

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Jacci Phillips of the CSV Action Desk at 大象传媒 Hereford and Worcester on behalf of Peter Harrison and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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