He wouldn’t talk about it much, he used to say “Auntie, it’s awful, it really is, it’s dreadful Auntie, don’t talk about it…. It’s hell there Aunt, I shall never see you again Aunt.” Mum said “Oh yes you will, you’re worrying because you’ve had enough of it boy after 2, over 2 years of it”. “No Auntie, it’s dreadful, you haven’t got much chance of coming out of there alive”. And of course he didn’t.

….Well, of course you had to send him off as well as you could, - “See you next time”, and “keep your chin up”, that sort of thing, you know. Fellows of that age don’t talk about their feelings very much do they, not as a rule, not unless they break down and cry, which some of them did of course. How many wanted to leave their mothers?