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I am a male of 82 years, one has to be of this age to have been active in WW2, my war service consisted of 5 1/2 years in the RAF as a lowly ground crew serviceman. My time was spent in the UK and Europe but let me tell you at this stage that I never saw any action, I never heard a gun fired in anger, I had a good war, I was lucky.

My chief discourse will be of life in England the hardships of people on the home front,and in
particular about the blackout.

The blackout was dreadful, in the winter months [we seem to have a surfeit of these on this island] , in December it can be dusk at 4pm., time to prepare the blackout! What a performance this was, different households had different methods some had heavy black curtains , others had bought or made frames that fitted over the windows, these consisted of a light timber framework covered in an opaque thick black paper bought from the local hard ware store.

The result had to be good, Air Raid Wardens [selected village elders], would patrol the streets and a knock would come on the door if a glimmer of light escaped "you will have to put that right you know" was a typical exchange and people readily complied. We were different then, we pulled together, did as we were told.

To minimise the blackout fatigue most families mine included just blacked out one room, this was usually the lounge were the fireplace was and any visits to other regions of the household were of a hurried and somewhat furtive affair. The following morning the blinds had to come down and be stored for another day.

For the first few months of the conflict I was employed in a local armament factory and the blackout problem then was solved by painting over all the windows! This meant total artificial light, you can guess how well this went down. The factory never stopped , we worked 12 hour shifts 7 am. to 7 p.m. 7 days a week, if I may I will come back later to this matter.

To return to the blackout one horror that compounded this bugbear was fog. We called it smog — a combination of fog and smoke. Coal fires were the only means we had of heating and combinations of smoke and fog on a still day was dreadful, it is almost impossible to describe. Visibility could be less than six feet, you could taste the stuff, buses stopped running, many is the time I walked home from the nearby small town three miles away feeling for the kerb with my foot.

There is no wish to get political here but it was several years after the war before a clean air act was passed, the smog had to run it's way through the corridors of parliament and other establishment strongholds before things moved. I never wish to see smog again.

May I return to those who worked on the home front making armaments, these unfortunate individuals were in my opinion victims of the biggest con trick of all time. This trick was an act of parliament called POST WAR CREDITS. This that said in effect that it is realised you are working very hard but unfortunately we do not have the money to pay you with and a portion of your wages will be "credited to you after the war". The act did not say how long after the war or that the individuals' credits died with them. A callous deed.

Hope some of the above may be of interest, it is true when you say that time is running out and that it is better to harvest the history today before it is lost. A friend I was speaking to recently said than when attending a funeral now he grieves not just for the departed but also for the skill and knowledge that has gone for all time.

Yours sincerely,
Jack Thompson.