>>Gaining a brevet in WW2 was one of the keys to the door of the classroom to enable us to participate in this period and thus gain a greater knowledge of how to navigate this later period more safely and therefore bestows a right to make this knowlege and experience available to others, eager to put it to the best of uses.<<
Keep it going please! The transition to post war Britain is just as interesting. We can all learn a lot from how blokes settled back into civvy street and re established their lives. This period needs to be remembered to. People had to start from scratch by all accounts. My late Dad (RNVR), for example, returned to Univerisity in 1946 to finish the degree he started in 1938!
What is interesting about Cliff and Regle is that, 60 plus years on they are now prepared to to talk about their experiences. My parents and relatives were a lot older in WW2 and, in their later lives, it was still all a bit too close to home to talk about. As children in the 1960's and 70's we heard snippets but no more. Now with this thread we are seeing a different side of things - and learning a lot!
I find it fascinating hearing about austerity Britain.