For a few months, I've been taking more of an interest in my family history. This followed being asked to make a presentation to my computer group on how to trace your family tree using the Internet. I'll be honest, at the time, I wasn't that interested, but it appears to have fired a spark. To be quite honest, if I don't write this stuff down, then nobody will. So, here are my findings, the rough with the smooth and the black with the white.
Bill and May Edwards were married on January 25th, 1946. He had just returned from North Africa. He'd served there as a leading aircraftsman. Most of his duties involved driving trucks. Strange, because when he arrived in Africa, he couldn't drive. He was simply told to get into the truck and drive it.
He drove ammunitions to the planes at dispersal. He also drove the squadron ambulance or as he called it, 'the blood wagon'.
He told many tales, Quite honestly, it sounded like he'd had a great time, and for a boy from the valleys, with no other options than to work in the coal mines, it probably was quite an experience. He told me how he'd stay awake on guard duty by fixing his bayonet to his rifle, then standing with the point just under his chin. That would stop him from falling asleep. He told me of driving in endlessly long convoys, driving very slowly, but not permitted to stop. Then he'd cook himself dinner by placing a tin of corned beef onto the engine cowling of the truck.
He'd met May in a dance-hall in Ferndale just before the war. The two of them were really good dancers. Waltz, quick-step and tango were the dances of their generation. They wrote to each other throughout the war. My father once told me that during a guard duty at night, he'd often look up at the moon and wonder whether May was looking at the very same moon at the same time.
He always wanted to take May back to North Africa to see the sights that he'd seen....but although the opportunity did arise, he never did.
You can find out more about Bill here.
