My first posting was to Wilmslow near Manchester to do my four weeks basic training. This was an eye opener if ever there was one, having been brought up on a farm in the heart of Suffolk countryside in a Christian environment. After the four weeks training I was sent to the Orkney Islands to serve with a Balloon Barrage Unit surrounding the Naval Base in Scapa Flow. Becoming bored with this after a few weeks, I applied for something a little more exciting - Air Crew in fact, and was told they were needing air gunners. I went for a medical and other tests, and was told I had passed, then to the selection board who asked as many questions, among them "Do you smoke, Do you drink?" The answer was NO to both these questions, and some two weeks later I was told I had not been selected.
On asking the reason why, I was told that I lacked real life experience. With hindsight, I can now see that the Lord had His hand on me because less than 20% of all bomber crews survived the war. Not to be outdone, I applied for training as an aircraft mechanic, was accepted and sent to Hednesford in Staffordshire for four month training. After this I moved to a number of units over the next two years, including R.A.F Halton where I met Margaret who was living in Tring, but that is another story!
I was eventually posted to India where I spent two years. Unfortunately the climate did not suit me, and about six months of my time out there was spent in hospital with various diseases, the last illness being the worst. I picked up a very virulent type of dysentery that can kill within 24 hours if not treated quickly. Within two or three hours I was unable to walk unaided, this being about 7.00 am. One of the men sharing the room with me was Tom Beard (we became life long friends). He told me he would call in at the sick quarters on the way to work and ask them to send an ambulance to fetch me which he did. The man in charge of reception told Tom they hadn't anyone to spare. I would have to make my own way there.
Tom would not be put off by this, and turned to a number of men sitting in the waiting room and said "You have all witnessed what I have told them. If he dies it will be their responsibility." With that he went outside and waited to see if they would go and fetch me. After a few minutes an ambulance came out heading in the direction of where I lived. If they had not gone he was going to see the M.O. in charge. When they arrived I must have looked a poor thing as they started to rush around. They took my temperature which was 106. The wheels of the ambulance hardly touched the road getting me to the base hospital in Calcutta some six miles away. I can just remember being lifted out of the ambulance and being taken into the main entrance, but nothing more until three days later when I came to in the hospital bed with pipes coming out of my arms. The nurse came to look at me and said "so you have come back to the land of the living then." After two weeks in hospital and one week convalescing, I was back at work. Once again, the Lord had been with me, for if my friend Tom had not put the medics on the spot as he did, I would not be here now.
A few weeks after this I was asked to report to H.Q. and was told that I was being sent home on compationate grounds to help my father on the farm. it turned out that the man helping my father had died suddenly, and my father was desperate for help. He had been to see the local government officer in charge of food production and within two weeks I was being sent home. I was told to report to the transit office in Calcutta which I did, and was told that I would be notified as soon as a seat became available on a flight home and to be ready to leave within 24 hours. I went back to my billet and waited until seven days had passed. By this time I was getting fed up, and so I went down to the transit office once again. This time I saw the person in charge and asked him when I would be going home as I had booked in the week before.
At this he looked down some sheets of paper and told me that I should have gone on a flight two days after booking in. When I asked why I had not been notified he said "We never notify anyone, as you have to come in every day and check the flight list for yourself." He then said "You were jolly lucky though, as that plane crashed with the loss of all on board." Yes, at that time I too looked at it as luck, but now I know that our Lord God had mercy on me and wanted me around a little longer.
The next day I was able to leave on a flight from the airfield where I had been working. I arrived home three days later much to the surprise of my parents and Margaret, as they had not been notified. Now I can thank a merciful God for deliverance from all the things that could have happened to me, and for giving us two sons and four grandchildren who love the lord Jesus Christ.
It was at a mission led by Eric Hutchins in Tring, when I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Until then I had been sitting on the fence for many years. What a waste of years they were. Reader, are you sitting on the fence? If so then think about it and put your life in the hands of Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3.16)