Chronicle of a Croydon Boy

My request to serve abroad was granted: 2nd Tactical Air Force Germany . Not as far afield as I'd hoped but at least I'd be on forei...

Around April 1953 I am introduced to the Admin wing of RAF Hereford. My target for today: to learn to touch-type at a minimum of 30 words pe...

After my induction at Cardington, which lasted only a couple of days, we were all transported to RAF West Kirby, near Liverpool. This would...

Couldn't wait to move out of the family home at 45 Kensington Avenue, Thornton Heath, so I entered the RAF as a "volunteer" on...

On my own again, aged 17 and still working at Charringtons the brewers in Bensham Lane, Thornton Heath. No girl friend, no regular dance p...

It's something I just had to do: find Stella. I'd thought so much about her over the years I just had to know how she was; how had l...

Christmas 1951 has been and gone. It was not a happy time for me as next month, January 1952, would be one of the worst birthdays I'd e...

Ever since seeing Jimmy Quinn and Patricia Teare demonstrating the foxtrot at the Orchid Ballroom earlier this year I was determined to hav...

In the 1940s and 1950s Croydon boasted some of the best cinemas in the UK. The Davis Theatre had the largest seating capacity for decades ...

We were now introduced to the foxtrot at Jimmy Quinn's Dance School in Biddulph Road, South Croydon. This was supposed to be the most d...

My regular visits to Jimmy Quinn's ballroom dance classes were taking over my whole life. I thought of little else and the time seemed t...

Jimmy Quinn and the lovely Patricia Teare. These two expert ballroom dancers introduced me to the delights of the tango, foxtrot, quickstep...

Fast forward a few years to 1949. Left Lanfranc Secondary Modern School at 14 and a bit. No GCSE's were around then, just a "schoo...

Now 12, I began to learn the noble art of boxing. Mark Hart was a good boxer, as were other stall-holders in Surrey Street market. One of ou...

The war is ended. Adolf is dead. There are street parties for the kids and families are re-united. It is a memorable time, but hopefully we ...

Back home in Hathaway Road, Croydon and a new phase in the war: the terror weapons. Adolf was now changing tack. He wants to scare we Brits...

For some months now my dear brother Geoff has been fighting a brave, but losing battle against cancer. On Thursday morning, 30 April 2009, ...

Gas masks in small cardboard boxes, a few belongings in carrier bags and my younger brother Geoff and I were on a train bound for pastures n...

I'm seven and a bit; Mum's gone into hospital. We had to go into Mayday Road Homes as Dad had to carry on working as a policeman. ...

OK, we now know the war is for real. Watching the Spits having dog fights in the blue summer skies was fascinating. Loads of white vapour ...