World War II Teen-ager and 'Erk - The Prophecy

About the Book

This book car be divided into two sections one being life as a civilian and the second of an airman in the Royal Air Force.

The first part deals briefly with the lead-up to war and the action taken by the Council to prepare for it.  The months following the outbreak of war were comparatively quiet for the town but they were followed by the ''Battle of Britain'' which was fought over the town and surrounding areas.  The combats overhead, the bombing of the town and other incidents are described up to late 1941.

The second part covers service life from 1941 through training to overseas posting.  Although, like hundreds of thousands of others, he spent long weeks on monotonous duty he was fortunate they were broken by interesting travels to various destinations - at times a veritable ''Cook's Tour''.  The initial posting from the U. K. to Bahrain took 174 days of wanderings; his air evacuation from Bahrain to the Convalescent Camp in Tel Aviv was completed in a day but the return took a month including crossing the Syrian and Iraqi deserts on the same transport and route described by H.V. Morton in his book "In the Steps of the Master''; visits to Babylon, to Jerusalem and the Holy Places, to a Jewish 'Kibbutz', to Cairo and the Pyramids and the city of Algiers were all memorable.

V. E. Day was declared whilst he was at No. 72 Staging Post, Algiers, and it was the signal for savage riots to break out which were the prelude to the bitter Algerian war of Independence against the French.

With his tour of duty completed he returned to the U.K. and after a few months was "de-mobbed" and returned to his civilian life in Local Government.

About the Author

He was born at Tunbridge Wells in Kent.  In common with most children at the time, he left school at 14 years of age but then attended Evening Classes at Tunbridge Wells Technical Institute.  He obtained the post of Junior Clerk in the Public Health Depart­ment of the Borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells and from the start was able to observe the effect of conflict meeting the Basque children refugees from Spain's Civil War in 1937, the Austrian Jewish refugee children in 1938, and finally the London evacuees when war was declared 1939.

He witnessed the efforts made by the Council to prepare for the defence of their townsfolk during this period.  On outbreak of war, as an aircraft enthusiast, he was delegated to be the Department's ^"Jim Crow", i.e. to watch the skies during alerts and give warning of approaching enemy aircraft, which gave him a unique opportunity to observe some aspects of the ''Battle of Britain'' era.

His subsequent service in the Royal Air Force from 1941 to 1946 as a Wireless Operator (ground) was equally varied.  He trained at Blackpool and at Compton Bassett and, on qualifying, spent short periods at U.K. airfields before being posted overseas.  His convoy to the Middle East was apparently the first to be routed via Bahia in Brazil on the way to Basra in Iraq.  His three main postings were to Muharraq at Bahrain, Habbaniya in Iraq and Algiers.  His travels in the Middle East and wireless operating experiences (including working for B.O.A.C.) was diverse.

He ended his service at Bushey Park in 1946 before returning to Local Government.  He qualified as a Public Health Officer and served with Royal Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Tonbridge and Malling District Council before retiring in 1984 after 49 years.