Boarding School in Sussex at three

My war was one remarkable for its dates. I was born on April 11 1940. My father, an Irishman and regular soldier was a sergeant in the Irish Guards, and left on that same day for Norway. My mother, married only one year did not know where he was. They took many casuaties and the ship transporting them between ports in Norway, The "Chobry" was sunk by the Luftwaffe; most of the officers being killed. Apparently it was reported in the London papers and my uncle told me that my mother was panic stricken saying" If they killed all the officers what chance would Paddy (my father) have. My uncle said" Paddy is an old soldier and they never die" He'll be drinking pints in the Kings Head when he gets back. And he did.

He did get back and became a drill instructor in Northwood. Later in 1940 the house next door recieved a direct hit and their married quarter became uninhabitable. In mid-1941 he was posted to OCS in India, then Africa and the Middle East. I have no recollection of seeing him until I was 6.

My mother died very suddenly at age 26 on April 10 1943, the day before my 3rd birthday. With my father overseas, both uncles overseas in the RAF and my grandmother bed-ridden, I was sent to a boarding school in Heathfield Sussex. They agreed to take me as it had been my mother's last wish.

Most of the staff were kind and the headmaster, extremely so. This was a pretty part of the country and the school an old mansion. However, we were often quite miserable and always hungry. Food was poor, we were always cold and very lonely. I cannot eat swedes, turnips, cabbage etc to this day as it was fed to us so often. We all had boils and chilblains in the winter because of the poor diet and damp.

I suffered less than most from homesickness and cannot remember my mother at all. The 6 and 7 years olds had far worse homesickness and there was much bed wetting which was punished, God knows why, I thought it very stupid of adults then and now. After the war for years conditions did not improve. I stayed there and at another school near Five Ashes until I was 12.

I particularily remember 1944. During the Easter holidays I visted my Grandfather who was in the Home Guard in Beaconsfield. A B 17 crash landed on a railway cutting near our house and he was guarding it and took me there. A great thrill. Then we had the invasion forces going to the coast. The American threw us sweets and chewing gum and we all thought they were so generous.

Later in 1944 the V1 and V2 raids started. We spent so much time in the shelter that year. One time. the boy at the other end of our communal bed wet himself and I ran outside during a day raid. It was a lovely clear day and I looked up and saw the doodlebug , even the flame from the engine. I was not afraid; did not understand, just excited. The teacher stood in the entrance and called me to come back in, but I refused. She would not come out

When we took the train to London for years later, we would go through mile upon mile of bombed out London, a sight one never forgets

In late 1945 my father returned and visited me at school. He was now a Captain and had apparently sent me a set of his brass buttons and badges at some time. It seems I had swapped them for a model aircraft and he was quite upset. I was always looking up at the aircraft, and later joined the RAF as an Apprentice when he died in 1955. One of my uncles was in Malta from 1940 to late 1943 and the other was posted to India in mid 1943 and then Burma. They did not see each other from 1940-1946. My grandmother died in the late 1940's. I do not think she ever recovered from the stress of the war. My father contracted TB and was invalided out of the army in 1949 and this eventually killed him

The war utterly shaped my life. My family and friends in the USA (since 1969) cannot really understand that. Of course, the American servicemen that got back to the post war USA picked up a better situation than they had left, whereas those in the UK took decades to get back to the same quality of life as prewar.

On the positive side I have always appreciated my wife and children, and everything since then has been an great improvement. Many business colleagues have thought I was a great risk taker, but with our background ordinary risks just did not seem that important.

My greatest and lifelong regret, is not being able to remember my mother. This site has brought back many memories.

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