A Candle In Your Name

This book is all about three members of my family who served in the RAF and the Navy during World War 2. "We will never forget".

My Dad 'Jock', or to give him his full title 'Corporal Thomas Allan', was born at Carronshore, nr Falkirk, Scotland in 1920. He joined the RAF as an Armourer, specialising in Bomb Disposal; in Germany and in Britain after the war. The life expectancy of someone working in Bomb Disposal was less than 10 weeks. He risked his life day after day, so that we and many others may live in safety. He survived the war, but died in 2002, age 81, from cancer.

My Uncle Noel (Salt) was born in 1915, the eldest of six children. He joined the RAF as a trainee armourer. In early 1938 he was posted to the aircraft carrier HMS Furious, then HMS Courageous, sister ship to HMS Glorious on which his younger brother, Vincent (My Uncle Vinty) served on.  In 1939 he was selected for Pilot Training and later served as Flying Instructor in Canada. In 1943 he was back in the UK having been posted to 192 (Special Duties) Squadron, Bomber Command, flying Wellington Bombers. He later went on to be a Flying Instructor at RAF Finningley, Yorkshire.

Uncle 'Vinty' was born in 1920 and entered the Navy in 1936 to train on HMS Ganges. In 1937 he joined HMS Revenge in 1937 and then the Aircraft Carrier HMS Glorious the following year. He died at sea when the ship, which was part of a convey and included HMS Devonshire carrying the King of Norway, was torpedoed off the coast of Norway. HMS Glorious and her escorting destroyers Acasta and Ardent were sunk by the battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau with heavy loss of life. A book by John Winton called 'Carrier Glorious' goes into detail about the tragedy