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I was eight years old when war broke out in 1939. I lived in Gloucester, where my father was the Parish Priest of Christ Church in the city. There were four children in the family, my brother Jim (14), my two sisters, Rosamund(10),Joy(12),and myself, the 'baby'!
My elder brother was eventually called up and served as a paratrooper in the 6th Airborne Division, taking part in the 'Battle of the Bulge' and the subsequent crossing of the Rhine in 1945. On being 'demobbed' he became a medical student at Queen's University in Belfast. He died in 2002.
My sister Joy joined the Wrens in 1946 before studying as a medical student at Guy's Hospital in London. Rosamund took a Social Science Diploma course at Oxford, but later settled down to family responsibilities as a vicar's wife.
I attempted to join the Navy as a cadet in 1944, but failed on interview! Nothing daunted, I then joined the Training Ship, H.M.S.Conway as a Merchant Navy Cadet but subsequently entered the Royal Navy, through Dartmouth in 1949, where I Served seven years as a submariner followed by General Service. I retired in 1968, and two years later qualified as a schoolmaster.Teaching for 7 years in a village Primary School at Chilthorne Domer, near Yeovil. I then travelled with my wife and family back to North Wales, to teach at the Boys' Boarding school, "Indefatigable" at Plas Llanfair on the Menai Strait. From here I retired in 1991. I have three grown up sons who are all qualified Marine Engineers. For my reminiscences on W.W.2 memories I have lifted and edited a chapter from my autobiography, "A Life's Rich Tapestry".