大象传媒

When I was young I had an accident and I cracked an ankle, in those days if you went to hospital or doctor they never thought about taking an x-ray, they just examined you and would say oh you're all right. After three months or even less than that my ankle suddently swelled up, the next thing I was being operated on. So I never went into the army. I was well into my early teens. When I came out of the hospital and the war broke out I went in front of the board, they got me to climb onto the table with trousers that pulled up, one of them said I would not be able to march anywhere. Another one of these doctors said well look at his head he should be able to tell other people what to do so I ended up staying in the army. So eventually they stuck me into a place in Marylebone Station and that was where I spent the war. I ran this store and these officers kept coming in, so that is wehre I spent the war. I was not supposed to spend my nights at home, I had to spend them in the barracks. A sergeant kept taking coupons and I stopped him selling them for five shillings each. I was a good salesman and I lived in Maidenvale near the barracks.

I lived all the way through the blitz, I had one son and he lived through that period, it was interesting to a degree but it was very dull. My way of life, I reckon everything is written in a book. People can leave that for a short while but eventually you come back to it and this is how your life is irrespective, sooner or later your life comes back to what is written in the book. I had an officer who did not know anything and anybody who came back and did whatever they wanted, I was the one that had to take the responsibility. I went up to see the colonel and said I have got two stripes and the officers that came in had three stripes and they were telling me what to do, the colonel then promoted me. I never used to go into the shelters, I hated it. If it was my time to go, it was my time.

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