About the contributor

My generation were schoolchildren during WW2 and the sights and sounds of the blackout, of airraids and of the celebrations at the war's end were part of our childhood.We belonged to uniformed organizations such as the Boy Scouts, Air Training Corps and others,so were accustomed to uniforms and discipline.
National Service was performed by every young man postwar,on reaching the age of eighteen we were called to serve in the armed forces for two years,with a period in the reserve for several years thereafter.Far from being a form of punishment,the majority enjoyed the experience,offering opporunities to serve abroad in many different countries,assisting the Regular forces in the many conflicts that followed WW2 and witnessing the decline and fall of the Empire.