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Not many months after war started he decided to volunteer. He was thirty years old by
then, married and with a two year old son. He calculated that call-up would affect him
at some stage so it was better to get on with it, have a choice of service and fewer
problems of accommodating to a different way of life than when older.

A difficult decision to make, what with his family responsibilities. But a recent
relocation had brought them to live within walking distance of the parental home,
which meant there would be support for his wife and son, if needed.

His service choice was the R.A.F, and at sometime, after initial training, he transferred
to the R.A.F. Regiment. He spent the war in the UK, on airfield defence, with the usual
alarms and excursions. He returned to civilian life in 1946, and his family grew to three
children.

However, what was not revealed until after his death in his mid-eighties, was that back
in 1940, following the retreat from Dunkirk, as the threat of invasion became a
daily possibility, he had been seconded for training to a specialist unit. This turned out
to be one of those outfits who’s members would detach themselves from their regular
units if an invasion by Germany had been successful, and its troops were moving to
take over the country. These irregulars would then form groups of various size and
‘fade into the landscape’, preparatory to carrying out a form of guerilla warfare on the
occupying army.

? An embodiment of Churchill’s “We will fight in the hills - we will never surrender.” ?

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