大象传媒

It Was A Long Time for Some Dates

My mam said the government had made my dad join the Air Force. I was eight and my sister was eleven months. One day we all went to the station and my dad kissed us all and got on the train and went away. He said he would come back soon but he didn鈥檛. It鈥檚 funny when your dad isn鈥檛 there any more. We didn鈥檛 know where he was for ages and
ages because the government used to cut bits out of his letters if they said where he was. My mam said he was abroad and they didn鈥檛 want the Germans to know where my dad was. This was a bit daft because they should have known I wouldn鈥檛 ever have told any Germans where my dad was. One day my mam got a letter from him that puzzled her for a bit. In it he said, say hello to Ian, Ron, Ann and Quentin for him - but we didn鈥檛 know anybody with those names. Then my mam laughed and said he had used a code that told her he was in IRAQ. The government didn鈥檛 spot the code so they didn鈥檛 cut that bit out .
He was clever, my dad. My mam didn鈥檛 laugh very much any more - in fact she cried quite a lot when she didn鈥檛 think I was there. She cried once in a furniture shop when she was talking to a man in a funny black coat and striped trousers. I didn鈥檛 like him.

I remember the day when my Dad came back from being in Iraq when I was eleven. The door bell rang and I was in on my own so I had to answer it this time. On the front door step there was a kit-bag! Then a man jumped out from beside the door. He didn鈥檛 look much like my dad- his face wasn鈥檛 white any more like it was when he went away - it was dark brown
and wrinkly and his eyebrows were white, but it was my dad. It鈥檚 great when your dad is back home again. He鈥檇 brought me some dates.

The war wasn鈥檛 over so my dad had to stay in the Air Force for a bit longer. This time the government sent him to an aerodrome near Carlisle so he could come home a bit more often. One time when he was home on leave he said I could go back with him and stay on a farm near the aerodrome for a week-and I could take my bike! We put my bike in the guards van and got off the train at a place called Brampton where my dad had left his bike. The farm was nice and I had lots to eat - bacon and eggs every day. His wife said I needed fattening up. The farmer could make horse shoes and used to let me work the old bellows that made the fire very hot. When the shoes were still hot he put them against the horse鈥檚 hoof and this made a lot of
smoke and made me cough. I used to watch the planes fly over the farm and knew they must be going to where my dad was. When I went on my bike I could see the planes going lower and lower when they were going to land, and if the wind was blowing in the right direction I could sometimes hear the roar of their engines as they took off. I followed the noise and rode along the country lanes trying to get nearer and see them land and take off. There was a big high fence along the side of the road and on the other side there were the Dakotas on the runway. I knew they were Dakotas because I鈥檇 seen them in my book of planes. There was a sentry at a big gate in the fence and I asked if I could see his gun, but he wouldn鈥檛 let me have hold of it. I watched the planes for a long time and then
began to feel a bit cold so I set off back to the farm. I rode for a long time but the roads
seemed different and I got lost. I was in the Scouts and I wished I鈥檇 remembered my compass. There was no-one about to ask the way from so I thought I鈥檇 go back to the aerodrome and find my dad. The sentry aid 鈥淥h! It鈥檚 you again is it鈥�. I asked him to please tell my dad that I鈥檓 lost and wanted to see him. He told me to go away or else.
When I wouldn鈥檛 go away he asked who my dad was. I said he was no.12040459, corporal Oliphant. I knew from the war films that you weren鈥檛 supposed to give any more information than that, even to Germans. He gave me a funny look and went into a little hut and picked up a phone. After a few minutes a Hillman pick-up truck came and a nice
man in air force uniform put my bike in the back and told me to get in beside him. We drove a long way inside the aerodrome and stopped at a big building. He took me inside and gave me a cup of tea and a sticky bun and said my dad would be along shortly.
When my dad came he said he was surprised to see me but if I liked he could show me some of the aeroplanes. How big they were when you stood beside them on the ground. He took me in to a Dakota and let me sit in the pilot鈥檚 seat and play with the joystick. He called it a control column but I knew Biggles called it a joy stick. When I鈥檇 done a mission to Germany and looped the loop a few times he said it was time to go back to the farm.

Next morning the farmer was very interested in my adventure and then he sold me his
penknife for 2/6d.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.