Memories Are Forever

By Reg Simpson

This book is about childhood memories of growing up during World War 2.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781326283377

Book preview

Memories Are Forever

Memories

Are

Forever

WW2 and a Botley Boy

Reg Simpson

Copyright © 2015 by Reg Simpson

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

ISBN: 978-1-326-28337-7

First Printing: 2014

Reg Simpson

Author’s website: www.regsimpson.com

Other books by this author:

The Long Road to Maralinga

Observations of a Present from Down Under

A Lost Soul?

Memories

Are

Forever

WW2 and a Botley Boy

Reg Simpson

Reg Simpson

2014

Dedication

To all those men and women, both Military and Civilian,

who made the ultimate sacrifice during WW2 throughout the

period September 1939 to August 1945, in order that I and all other inhabitants

of our great country, might continue to live to enjoy,

the freedom their sacrifice secured for us.

Let us not forget also, those who suffered the physical

and mental injuries of war, for they too made a sacrifice,

many, for the rest of their lives.

We can only repay the debt owed to them by ensuring

that we never jeopardize that freedom again.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my parents, Edith and ‘Jim’ Simpson (albeit posthumously) for bringing me into this world. In doing so, they enabled me to have the experiences described herein, and the many others that were to follow.

My thanks also go to Tony Line, ex-Headmaster of repute, for his editing and proof reading efforts in correcting my written ‘Hampshire speak’ accumulated over 80 years. It is many years since a Headmaster corrected any of my work, back then it was accompanied by the threat of four strokes of the cane, unless…….

Thanks Tony, or should I say ‘Sir’?

Finally, my thanks go to a very important member of the team, my wife Brenda. I greatly appreciate her tolerance, fortitude and support, especially when I frequently disappear into another room in the house, to continue the writing of my memoirs, of which, this is but a small portion.

Preface

I was fortunate in that I lived in the countryside and not in the nearby towns of Southampton or Portsmouth. As such, I was more a spectator than a participant in the war. However, the memories are vivid, real and forever.

The following account of how I remember my little world during the war of 1939 – 1945, is still vivid in my memory. I am now eighty years old and counting, the body maybe weakening, but the mind is still razor sharp and the visual impact register is still unclouded. The facts and events are as stated, I see no point in using any journalistic licence to enhance or distort the truth. If when reading this, you detect a hint of bias towards my country and the military, all I can say is – I am guilty, but proud of it! The period up to D-Day made a great impact on my small, unexposed and immature mind.

The experiences and memories from this period were to form the basis of my passionate support for, and interest in, all things military with particular emphasis on the Royal Air Force. It was also the inspiration for my burning desire to join the Royal Air Force, culminating in eight years of what I believe to have been the best