Wartime stories from my family, over three generations
(1) Memories of a Wartime Schoolboy - Alton, Hampshire (1940-1945) By Michael Curme - Written in June 1990. One afternoon, when my father was home, we were standing in our bay window when a low-flying aircraft could be seen banking to line up with the High Street. My father said it was a Bristol Blenheim but I corrected him knowing it was a Heinkel Ill. Full story here.
(1a) My father's wartime autograph book For list of servicemen featured, click here.
(1b) A Portsmouth schoolboy's memories of D-Day By Michael Curme. Full story here.
Memories of an Evacuee - Bibury & Other places (1940-45) By Jane Curme (nee Saunders). I have many memories of Bibury as a small child escaping the bombs raining down on Portsmouth and going to live in Modena Villa with Will and Bee Adams who were friends of my Grandmothers from her time as a teacher at the local school. Full story here.
(3) A Family Story: The Gardener, the Knight, the Soldier and the Idealist (Part 1) Sir George was a prominent London merchant and civic organiser whose influence reached well beyond his business career. At the turn of the century he was a leading figure in the National Patriotic Association and after the British Army Haldane reforms (1906-1912) he was instrumental in setting up the Employers' Territorial Association (ETA), a body that urged employers to provide job security for volunteer soldiers. Full story here.
(4) A Family Story: The Gardener, the Knight, the Soldier and the Idealist (Part 2) And so to the idealist - Vera Gwendoline Pragnell. Up until her fathers' death, Vera had worked to support him in his civic duties while acting as the Stores Secretary at a large military hospital in Lewisham. According to her daughter, Sir George was 'a stimulus and a challenge to almost all with whom he came into contact'. Full story here.
(5) Arthur Taylor: The farmer's son who never returned Arthur's service record told a story of campaign honours, rapid promotions and postings across the full breadth of the British Empire. The schedule shows that he joined the British Army on 10th May 1854 and that within just a few months he was on a ship heading to the Crimea, as a Private in the 17th Regiment of Foot. Full story here.
Memories of an Evacuee - Bibury & Other places (1940-45) By Jane Curme (nee Saunders). I have many memories of Bibury as a small child escaping the bombs raining down on Portsmouth and going to live in Modena Villa with Will and Bee Adams who were friends of my Grandmothers from her time as a teacher at the local school. Full story here.
(6) Frank Saunders at South Carlton Airfield (1918) Frank had joined the Army (Royal Flying Corps) at 16 years of age on 11 November 1917 for 'Boy Service'. He joined the RAF when it was formed on 1 April 1918 and trained as an observer at No. 46 Training Depot Station - RAF South Carlton. Full story here.
(7) Three Husbands & Four Brothers - A First World War Story My family got away relatively lightly during the First World War .... Dorothy - wasn't so lucky. She lost one husband in action, another - a veteran - through ill health and her third (and last) husband was the only one of five brothers to have survived. Full story here.
(8) Hearts and Minds: Votes for Women and the Great Suffragette March of 1913 During the last long summer of 1913, prior to the outbreak of the First World War, the country was gripped by suffragette fever. Over a period of six weeks, tens of thousands of non-militant campaigners marched from all over the country to London, in a protest known as the Great Pilgrimage. Full story here.
(9) Tom Neal - From the Navy to the RAF (1939-40) On the night of the 14th and 15th November 1940, my cousin once removed, Tom Neal, was killed in action whilst at the controls of a Whitley Mk V bomber over Berlin. Tom was serving with the Royal Navy so how could this be? Full story here.
(10) From Calcutta to Pekin - The Taku Forts (1860) In September 1858 the Regiment embarked for India (from Portsmouth) arriving in Calcutta in December of the same year. The Regiment transferred to Hong Kong and then China for the 2nd China War (1857-1860). Alfred took part in the attack on the Taku Forts on 21st August 1860. Full story here.
(11) My Father and the Soviet Spy (1968) On the 13th September 1968 my father, Mike Curme, had arrived at his workplace at 399 Signal Unit, RAF Digby, as normal. Security was, as ever, extremely tight - indeed a high security clearance was required to get into the building. This was hardly surprising given the work my father and his colleagues were undertaking 24/7, 365 days per year. Full story here.
(12) My Father & the Runaway Plane (April, 1955) Whilst working at RAF Thorney Island my father witnessed a rather unusual incident - one that ended in tragedy when a stolen Vickers Varsity training aircraft crashed near Valenciennes in France, killing three civilians and injuring three others. During the subsequent Court of Inquiry my father, a meteorologist, gave evidence about the weather conditions prevailing at the time. Full story here.
(13) Bernard Arthur Taylor - A Life on the Ocean Wave Uncle Bernard, as I knew him, was born in Havant, Hampshire on the 21st August 1887. 5 days after his 14th birthday, on the 26th August 1901, he enlisted as a bugler in the Royal Marines at Eastney Barracks, Portsmouth. Regimental number 9692. Full story here.
(14) Arthur Taylor in the Crimea - A Trip to the Battlefields - May 2004 This was a highly personal trip. My Great, Great Grandfather (Arthur Taylor) made the same journey in 1855 when he was serving in the ranks of the 17th Regiment of Foot. Taylor was present during the siege of Sevastopol from the 7th February 1855 through to the 29th July. I have his Crimea medals on my wall along with his service record which refers to Taylors' participation in the assault on the Great Redan on the 18th June 1855. Full story here.
Family photographs - wartime
i) Gt Uncle Alf - British Army of Occupation (1945) - Portfolio here.
ii) Gt Uncle Alf & Auntie Joan in the Sudan (1920s) - Portfolio here.
