claytoncast

So I shall wear my poppy this year with an extra bit of pride. The Second World War was the greatest event in my mother's life. I can't imagine how it must have felt setting off at the age of nineteen to join the ATS as she did. Stationed in Kent near Maidstone, she was a plotter. She placed the position of enemy aircraft on maps during the Battle of Britain and throughout the rest of the war. You could hear the pride in her voice whenever she spoke of the five years she had given up for her country. It had given her a sense of community, a sense of belonging, and a sense of camaraderie and importance that she would use throughout her life. On a trip into Kent one Sunday in her late 80s, she pointed out to Richard and I, a pub in a charming little village. This was where she had spent the night of her 21st birthday "getting a little merry" as she put it and from where she and other members of her squadron staggered back down country lanes to find they had missed l