About the contributor

I was born in Dundee in 1923, we moved to Cardiff in 1931 and I attended St John the Baptist's school near the Greyfriars ruins in the City Centre. I then went to Cathays High School in 1935 getting a School certificate in 1939.
My father died that year and we returned to Dundee at the outbreak of war. After a couple of retail jobs I went to Glasgow on a Government Training Scheme on completion of which I was sent to the Royal Naval Aircraft Repair Yard, at Donibristle, Fife not far from Rosyth. (Now an industrial estate.)After about 15 months I joined the RAF and became a Fitter II Airframe. Joined 222 (Natal) Squadron (working on Spitfire IXs)just before it became part of 135 Mobile wing. After some months under canvas on various airfields and airstrips around Chichester we went over to Carpiquet aerodrome near Caen toward the end of the Normandy Campaign.
From there we followed the Canadian Army through France and into Belgium. We reached Maldegem in Late October and then just before Christmas we returned to Britain to change from Spitfires to Tempest Vs. We returned to the Canadian sector at Gils Rijen in the Netherlands and continued to follow the Canadians until we reached and entered Germany. Our first station in Germany was Quakenbruik and then after a return to Swansea for three weeks air-firing practice we went to Diedelsdorf, we remained there until August 1945 and then came back to Britain. We did another conversion course and took delivery of Meteor IIIs.
I left the squadron in June 1946 to join the High Speed Flight at Tanmere under the command of Grp Capt P. Donaldson. Soon after he took the Air Speed Record up to 616mph the unit was disbanded and I was sent to RAF Cosford from where I was demobbed in Feb 1947.
Since then I have been a cinema manager for ABC Cinemas, (10 years) a Wallpaper and paint retailer(10 years in my own business after eight for other retailers), a bus conductor for five years and another 7 years as a DIY retail salesman. I retired in 1987 and this year I came back to Scotland, and now live in Aberdeenshire.
I'm still in touch with members of the 222 reunion association including several who served alongside me from '43 to '46.