John
My condolences to you and your family.
We not only share the same age, but can both proud that our respective fathers served as Royal Air Force pilots in the Middle East/Med during WWII. There are other post war baby boomers who post here too who are also sons of WWII aircrew.
I know that your father was a POW for three years and on being being repatriated at the end of the War discovered that your grandmother had been killed by a V1 (or was it V2) rocket.
The suffering borne with such fortitude and the bravery in the face of the enemy not just for the duration of a short campaign, but over a period of years, marks out that generation who served in WWII, and their parents, as truly remarkable.