大象传媒

I was a Leading Aircraftsman in the RAF at Henlow. I was a tradesman and looked after all the boots and shoes. I remember I did some training with a cut-out wooden gun on the sands at Blackpool. My home was Leicester, but I was posted to Northern Ireland, then Henlow, then Walsall. Then I was given a fortnight's leave, so I thought we were going to embark so we got married, but that afternoon the war ended. Then we were moved around in Lincolnshire, so Barbara came home to Bedford. Then I was posted to Bristol, then back to Cardington, which was a big de-mob station. (It had been a big recruiting station.)My wife's father had worked on the R101 at Cardington years before.
You handed in all your gear, except your best uniform and your boots. It was generally thought that RAF boots were best. The RAF were quite proud of their image and were called 'The Brylcreme Boys'. You had a choice of a brown, blue or grey pinstripe de-mob suit, a white shirt and cuff-links, and everybody had a trilby. You could see everyone walking round town in their de-mod suits.
Nothing was done about helping us find work, so I went back and worked for my father in Leicester, then we came back to Bedford and I worked on maintenance on the balloon sheds at Cardington.

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