大象传媒

This story has been written onto the 大象传媒 People's War site by CSV storygatherer Callington U3A on behalf of Peter Flinders. They fully understand the terms and conditions of the site.

My name is Peter Flinders and in 1940 I was eleven years old and living in my parents' house in Old Whittington, Chesterfield. My brother John, known to everybody as Polly, was a fighter pilot in the RAF.

Early in 1940 he was reported missing, believed killed, by means of a telegram which was delivered to my mother's house. I remember Mum and Dad were very upset, but Dad said, "Well, Mother, don't worry to much about it, he may be all right, he may even be on his way home now. We shall have to hope for the best."
Three nights later, in the early hours of the morning, the local policeman knocked on the door and said, "It's all right Mrs Flinders, your lad's safe and he is on his way home."

Several days later my brother came home and of course we had a little celebration.

He was shot down over Northern France and managed to make it to the local beaches where he walked for several miles, sometimes in the water, until he came to a port. From here he was taken across the English Channel, with other people, back to Dover. He then phoned the station at Biggin Hill and a WAAF lady came to fetch him. They later married.

Back at home he took off his shoes and socks. His feet and bottom of his legs were quite discoloured. Mum said, "Whatever is the matter with your feet and bottom of your legs, the're black, you want to get them washed. You'd better have a bath."
He started laughing and said, "No Mother! That's the blue dye out of my RAF socks which has stained my legs and feet through walking in the salt water."

My brother went on to fight all the way through the Battle of Britain. The happy ending was that he survived the war and lived into his eighties.

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