大象传媒

I was born in 1935 and lived all of my early life in the Edgbaston/Smethwick area of Greater Birmingham until the age of 16. All of my schools were in that area also.
Because of this background WWII was my normal life and hence has always had a major influence on my life at the time.
I still have vivid memories of most of the events of WW2.
My father was in a reserved occupation working on munitions manufacture and was never called up. He did, however, serve for six years in the Fire Service, initially in the Auxiliary Fire Service which was eventually incorporated into the National Fire Service. I did have a few cousins and uncles who were called up for active service in the Army and RAF, all of whom were in combat units for many years. This covered service in the Eigthth Army in North Africa, Europe from Normandy to Berlin, Bomber Command Europe and Kohima with Slim's 14th Army. By some fortunate stroke of luck non of my relatives suffered any deaths or even injuries.