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The Lovell family lived at White Steps in Low Road, Manthorpe. John's father Eric worked for the Electricity Board. He was also a Major in the Home Guard, who took his job very seriously.

John said "Our walk-in pantry was always full of Bren guns, Lewis guns, Sten guns, boxes of Mills hand grenades and ammunition.

It was the Home Guard's armaments store, to be used against Hitler's troops when they marched through the Lincolnshire countryside.

John and his father walked miles with the sledge to secret Home Guard stores at Barkston, Culverthorpe, Welby and Londonthorpe.

Although Hitler prepared his invasion barges across the Channel, they didn't move against Britain and eventually, the caches of weapons and ammunition were removed.

John felt very much part of Britain's war effort as he eagerly fed rounds of ammunition into the Bren guns.

A steady steam of servicemen passed through the Lovell family home.

Upto three at a time were billeted at White Steps. The most memorable of them were Bill Pearson and Dudley Docker, both RAF clerks, leading aircraftmen.

John said "They came from totally different backgrounds. Bill, who I am still in touch with, had been a Yorkshire colliery clerk. Dudley was a gentleman farmer who grew orchids for a living. Bill had an extraordinary sense of humour. A favourite prank was filling a paper bag with water, dropping it from and upper window and watching it explode on Dudley's head.

Bill brought in John's sister Brenda on another wheeze. Dudley had several bottles of aftershave. They emptied one and filled it with ink.

Dudley was not greatly amused by Bill's jokes but he was a very good pianist and played the piano in the Lovells' dining room.

Two other airmen, from the RAF Regiment, physical training instructors, took one look at John's small thin body and decided they would build him up.

"They forced me to do physical exercises and made me work the pump in the kitchen 200 times before I went to bed each night. This pumped water into a storage tank in the roof. They also forced me to cut wood with a cross saw and made me hang from a pipe across a beam in the kitchen to do pull-ups. I couldn't even do one. My parents seemed to think it was all a good idea, but it didn't work.

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