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I was 17 and a half when I joined the RAF in 1941.

I would have bee called up anyway. When asked what I wanted to I told them I wanted to be a cook.. I was granted my wish and so began my training at St Athan in South Wales.

From there I was posted to Morecambe in Lancashire before finally finishing up at Cardington near Bedford. In those days Cardington was an Initial Training Wing . This was where many recruits, who went on to became Pilots, Navigators etc received their initial training

My working day began at 6am.with preparing breakfast. The work was hard but I often had an extra pair of hands I could call upon to help. Recruits who had committed some minor misdemeanour were, in the slang of the time, placed on ‘jankers’ This meant that they were told to report to the Cookhouse or the Sergeant’s Mess at a specified time. As one of the permanent staff they would often be placed under my supervision

One event I remember clearly was the visit of Gracie Fields to sing in the Airmen’s Mess but September 16th September 1944 was very important for another reason . It was the day I got married having been give 4 days leave.

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