Where did you live during the war?

"I lived in Gillingham, which is an outgrowth of the old city of Chatham --- which is an outgrowth of the even older city of Rochester --- midway into the Thames estuary in southeast England."

How old were you when the war began?

"Well, I was just almost five when the war began in September of '39. I remember that very day: I was going for a walk with my mother, and people began hurrying around, saying that war had been declared. So we hurried back from our shopping trip, me and my mother, as a result. There was a kind of consternation in the air."

Were any members of your family involved in the war?

"Yes, my father was a naval officer and he was away at sea for almost the entire period of the war years; briefly back home when his ship required refurbishing in Newcastle for some months in 1941 to 2, but the rest of the war years he was busy at sea."

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