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I joined the forces when the 19s were called up for conscription, I registered in Northampton in March 1941 at the Labour Exchange (they must have been hard up because I registered so fast). Then I had to sit an exam because I wanted to join the Air force. I was called up in July and went to Blackpool for 6 weeks marching training and learning to fire a rifle. Then there was a weeks gap and we moved to Kirkham where I took a flight mechanics course. This should have lasted 16 weeks, but just before the end of the course they decided to change the school into an Armourer’s school, so we were then moved to Cosford where I finished the training. We then had 2 weeks leave, and I then had to report to Martlesham Heath near Ipswich. This was an American Eagle squadron, I was only there while the force to go to Canada was being assembled.

In March 1942 we went back to Blackpoll again, where they kitted us out to go abroad, we did not know where we were going. We boarded a train at night and were taken to Gourock where we were ferried over to an American ship (one of the ships that brought the first of the Yanks over). It was a big convoy that took 13 days to cross the Atlantic to America. We docked in New York and boarded at train that took us up to Canada - Monkton in New Brunswick. There it took a week to kit us out with winter gear. Then we boarded a train across Canada to a small town call Estavan in Saskatchewan, the journey took 5 days. Although this town was small to us, it was in fact the second largest city in the state; it was 127 miles from Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan.

We started the aerodrome there, initially there were only Mk1 Anson planes, these were old English aircraft; later we had some Canadian Ansons. The airport was built up and we were there for 2 years training bomber pilots. One chap in particular I knew, I went to school with him, he got his wings there, and he came back to the UK and was subsequently killed.

The winters were so cold; we were not able to touch any bare metal. We got frostbite on the ears, when this thawed out it burned like hell.

When we flew on a test flight we were paid extra as Flying Pay.

For one leave we hitch hiked across Canada to the Rockies, and had 5 days in Banff. We walked on the terrace of the famous Banff Springs Hotel. This hotel was the setting for the film ‘Spring time in the Rockies’ (with Nelson Eddy and Janette McDonald), when I saw the film I never thought that I would actually see that place. We were warned not to go near the bears as they were not really friendly! One day we went out in a canoe and saw a moose in the river.

We had one of the worst snowstorms there, it snowed continuously for 5 days and by the time it finished the snow was 6 feet high. It was the
end of March it thawed in a matter of about 2 days. There was a river that flooded and threatened to wash the road away. So they fetched us out and we had to get sand bags to save the road, obviously there was no flying while all that snow was about. After a few days they were back on flying duties again.

We had 2 bad crashes while we were there, there was an Anson with 3 people who were all killed, and a Tiger Moth with 2 people who were also killed, funnily enough both crashes were on the same day. We had a big funeral there with 5 coffins on the back of a lorry. We had to do the proper ceremonial march to the cemetery where they were buried.

In March 1944 they closed the aerodrome and handed it over to the Canadians. We came back to the UK in preparation for D Day (although we did not know that at the time). The ship docked in Liverpool, and as soon as we could we went out of the docks to the first chip shop we could find and had fish and chips. We were sent back to Blackpool where we were kitted out with rifle, bayonet, and survival gear (mess tins etc), and posted to what they called the Second Tactical Air force ready for the invasion (although we did not know of this at the time). After a few weeks we were moved down to Northholt which was where the 34th Photographic reconnaissance Wing was based. We found out afterwards that we were the backup and would not be going over to France in the first wave, but had anything happened to the first lot who went, we would have been sent. Anyway I didn’t have to go abroad then. We did lose aircraft and we had to supply pilots and aircraft from the Wing. About this time I moved to an airfield near Reading and about a week after the end of the war they were forming up what they called the SHAEF Headquarters Communications Flight. I was transferred into that, with the usual efficiency they sent us to Belgium, then Holland to Germany which was SHAEF headquarters, when we got there we found that they didn’t have any aircraft there and we should have been sent to Paris. The Yanks flew us over to Versailles when the Headquarters Communications Flight was gradually built up; this was really to ferry officers to various places. I finished my service time there. In August 1946 I returned to Cosford to be discharged. I was given civilian underclothes, hat, suit, overcoat or mack and we were given leave according to how long we had been in the forces.

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