I was born in Bedford and grew up speaking with a Bedford accent which is similar to the London accent. In 1941 the heavy bombing of the R.A.F. airbase at Cardington caused my parents to send me to live with my grandparents in a small Cambridgeshire town. I had become "a privately arranged evacuee" not an evacuee sent by the Civil Defence authorities. Many children were "private evacuees" including some very lucky children who were sent  to Canada and the U.S.A. by wealthy parents.

As I spoke with an accent like a Londoner everywhere I went people thought I was "a poor little evacuee from the East End of London" and showed me great kindness! My mother assured me that I would be safe in Cambridgeshire but the night after my arrival the Onyx Cinema and Post Office sorting office were bombed in the town. I was very bewildered by this "peaceful Cambridgeshire" and wanted to return to Bedford but there were no more bombs near me !

After doing two years National Service wearing army uniform I was attracted to part time voluntary work in the Royal Observer Corps whose uniform was similar to the R.A.F.  I spent many happy years  with the Observers plotting aircraft movements then practising how to estimate the strength and position of nuclear bombs. We observers believe that by showing our country was not being intimidated by an enemy who had terrifying weapons we were able to bring statesmen to peace negotiations in 1990 that ended the Cold War. My work in the Corps had been in various observation posts in the countryside then at the Control Centre for the area in Colchester. I am an enthusiastic member of the Association Of Ex-Observers.