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Having been in the local Air Training Corps from the ages of 16 to 18, in 1942 I was recommended for aircrew training at Cambridge University Air Squadron. I experienced life as a college undergraduate, with academic training to inter-degree level, and also with training in air navigation and associated subjects.

On leaving Cambridge, I was moved over to the Empire Air Training School(s) in South Africa, for more practical training, having successfully passed Courses up to that time.

It was here, at East London and Grahamstown, that things turned rather difficult for me. I suffered undue bouts of air-sickness and minor eye trouble, which meant that I was taken off the course on medical grounds.

I returned to this country and, still in the RAF, transferred to ground crew, and after training in London, I was transferred to to a Weather Forecasting Centre (707 FC) based on air stations in Bomber Command, in East Yorkshire.

In 1944, still with 707, we were posted to India, based in Calcutta, at the Headquaters of British Commonwealth Air Force (BCAIR). It was whilst here that I 'celebrated' my 21st birthday, when a few of the lads and I had a meal out at a restaurant in the city.

In Feburary 1946, after the 'dust' had settled over Hiroshima, our Unit was moved to Japan to join the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces (BCOF). We were based at Iwakuni, an established Air Base on the Inland Sea within a few miles of Hiroshima itself, and Kure, a naval base on the opposite coast line.

We were there for fifteen months until I came home for demob. It was one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life, seeing the utter devastation, the result of atomic warfare; being able to share with local inhabitants something of their normal life. We were allowed to 'fraternise', within reason, particularly with a small Christian church community close to the camp.

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