A surprise meeting

From 1942 to 1944 I was stationed in Dover at a small RAF signals unit.We were billeted with civilian families in thr town and they made us very welcome and looked after us well.Our operational site was on the top of a hill overlooking the Shakespeare cliff and we could see across to France on a clear day.When the German cross-channel guns were firing we could see the flash over there and after a count of 70 hear the bang over here.In November 1944 we left Dover and went to our HQ where we were transformed into a mobile unit and posted to the Continent.We were held up a bit by the Battle of the Bulge but eventually docked at Ostend and went into a transit camp.On the first evening a group of us went into the nearest town Blankenberge where I had a pleasant surprise.My brother Stanley,also in the RAF had been over there since D-Day plus 3 and on the very day that I landed I met him! I saw a sign with the number of his unit so followed this and there he was.I saw him twice more before we moved on into Holland so that was a totally unexpected pleasure.Our Mother was thrilled that we had met up so far from home.
One more thought.Although there were times when things seemed to go in their favour (eg Dunkirk) we never for a moment doubted that we should win eventually.Us losing the war was simply not an option. Perhaps it was this faith which sustained us during the bad times

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