| Description | Born Liverpool, 1910. Parents from Belfast. Father was a commercial traveller. Parents had been married by Church of Ireland. Remembered family stories of life in Ireland. Moved to America in 1930s and experienced New York following the Wall Street Crash. Moved back to Belfast and began acting, he starred in work for BBC and also wrote poetry, some of which is included.
Jjoined the RAF during the Second World War [WW2], being posted all over the UK. He recalls the invasion of France, American troops, air raids, the end of the war in Europe, Hiroshima and demobilisation. He portrays how he was unsure what persuaded him to join the RAF, he just knew he wanted to fight Hitler. Released from the air force in 1945 but the experience of war would always be with him, as he describes; “some would say we were never discharged.”
Typescript. 328pp. plus photocopies of newspaper cuttings. |