大象传媒

I Joined the RAF on the 13 January 1941 and I was released on the 14 July 1946. I was posted overseas on the 20 February 1942 with 458 squadron of the RAAF from Holme On Spalding Moor. There is still a memorial to the Squadron at the gates to the old airfield

We were put on a cargo boat called Mendoza that had been converted into a troop ship. We had no escort and were on our own until we reached the Middle East. We saw neither air protection nor any other ships for three weeks. It was a frightening time for all on board.
We called in at Freetown and Durban before finally reaching Suez.

From there we travelled to the Western Desert where we stayed for about a year. Throughout this time and in intense heat, water for drinking, washing and shaving was strictly rationed. We had to share whatever we had but somehow got through.

At the start of the El Alamein campaign I was on night duty and remember looking at the stars and thinking my Mum and Dad could see the same stars. It was an emotional feeling I will never forget.

I was next posted to Palestine to be one of the first members of the newly formed RAF Regiment as a ground gunner. We were stationed at Hadera, now part of Israel. Even in 1943 we found a great deal of conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

It was from this station that the RAF Regiment first went into action. We were sent to occupy the island of Kos. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful, suffered heavy casualties and I lost many comrades.

We were next sent to Italy to undertake clearance work after fighting in that particular theatre had ended. We used Walrus aircraft, working alongside the Royal Navy, to spot mines that mine sweepers could later destroy. I was posted to 15 or 16 different places all over Italy doing this work. It was then that VE Day happened. For me it was just another working day, we didn鈥檛 know it had happened until afterwards.

Following this I was sent to live and work in Rome. After years living under canvas I was suddenly stationed in the luxury Villa Tolonia, once owned by an Italian Prince and until recently occupied by Benito Mussolini, 鈥淚l Duce鈥� himself. It was luxury and opulence beyond belief.

It was from here I received my posting home. I will never forget the feeling I had seeing England again from the deck of the ship after four years away. When I arrived home, after walking the last six miles in the early hours from Cudworth to Barnsley, I found my parents had decked my home in flags to welcome me home.

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