"I was an Army officer for twenty-seven years before I was forced into retirement."
I followed my father and grandfather into the parachute regiment when I was eighteen. I married my cousin Susan Haylock when I was twenty-one. We have three children and five grandchildren. I served with the regiment for twenty-seven years before...
"My first taste of freedom in the safety of the countryside at night."
I was not very good at school. I was the kind of person who sat at the back of the class and hardly ever said a word. Rugby was my sport. I was the captain of the senior team. I...
"I had found something most pleasurable thanks to an elderly vulgar old man."
The country had been at war for six long years. At the start of the 1950s things began to improve. My sister was a helper at our local church. Nothing wonderful just to help out generally with the evening functions...
"There was great sorrow in the town as the young men went off to war"
I knew quite a lot of the men who enlisted to fight for King and country; I went to the same school that they did. The townspeople lined the streets as the battalion which became known as the Dover riflemen marched...
"She was beginning to explore certain things which were not at all very Ladylike."
Towards the end of the year 1913 Mr. Thomas' wife Murial died after a long illness. The shop was closed for the next week whilst arrangements could be made. The funeral was held at St Margaret's church and it was well...
"She was no longer the sweet slightly nervous girl that she was"
I had been at the shop for just over two years when I decided to leave home and get a place of my own. I had some savings and a regular weekly wage. There was no shortage of accommodation because...
"The unspeakable behaviour of an Edwardian lady"
Things at home were not good for myself or my three elder brothers. Our father was killed whilst working down a coal mine and our mother was in a deep depression. The boys all worked at the coal mine it...
"Continuing the story after many years have passed"
The silence of the night was almost deafening. The sun had set a couple of hours or so ago. I was home again and there were no helpers or instructions about what I was allowed to do. The clouds were...
"My carefree years as a girl guide"
Recently during a clear out of the attic, I came across a couple of photo albums that I had not seen for several years. The first album was of my wedding to David but it was the second one which I...
"The ongoing story of a very bored house wife."
My marriage to Peter had changed so much since we left the bright lights of the city and moved to an old house in the country. We were both employed by the same company which is where we met, but...