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This story was submitted to the People's War site by the Barnsley Archives and Local Studies Department on behalf of Rev. Maurice Stafford and has been added to the site with his/her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions."
I was born in 1954 so have no direct memories of World War II.

My brother and I were named after people who had died. Uncle Maurice was killed at Monte Casino in the army and Geoffrey was a RAF pilot and journalist. My brother went into journalism.

My father was in the RAF, he was stationed at Handbury Hill in Tutbury. This was a bomb storage depot inside the hill. Bombs were sent to Liverpool etc. The ‘Hill’ blew up and killed many people. I’m not sure how public the knowledge of the ‘Hill’ became but about ten years ago I visited Tutbury to find out more. We did get some newspaper cuttings. A boy was on top of the hill delivering milk. He was never seen again.

My father passed A1 into the RAF but not so when he came out. He suffered badly with his nerves and with depression for most of his life.

My mother died this year. But the family had found out only recently how Geoffrey had died. His plane had collided with one of ours.

My father-in-law, Bill, joined the navy to see the world and saw Yeovil.

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