Uncle Joe...

My Uncle Joe was training to become an accountant in 1939 when a nasty little Austrian man decided to lead German troops across the Polish border and the die was cast that Uncle 'J''s life would take another course altogether.

He signed up for the R.A.F. and put himself forward for pilot training, but the service in its' wisdom felt he would make a better Radio Operator.

He was then posted to Bomber Command and a crew flying in a Halifax Bomber. They initially flew out of Linton in Yorkshire, bombing targets on mainland Europe. Then were moved upto Scotland on a special mission, to bomb the pocket battleship, "TIRPITZ" which lay at anchor in a Norwegian Fjord.

Following that, he got his orders that half the squadron would move out to the middle east (Egypt) to haress and bomb German and Italian targets around the Med. It was on one of these missions bombing a Luftwaffe base on occupied Crete that his plane was attacked by German fighter aircraft (I found this out from talking with one of the crew in the plane immediately behind Uncle Joe's - he's in his 80's now). The aircraft was seen to go down with only two parachutes deploying (the other crew must have died horrifically as the plane caught light).

He and another man landed safely on occupied Crete (well the other fellow had some breakages), with German troops hunting for them. They were very lucky in that a Cretan shepherd tending his sheep, was involved in the resistance and found them. He led them to a resistance group hiding in the hills. The group were a mixture of Cretans and SOE agents (Special Operation Executive) who harrassed the Germans through kidnapping officers and sabotage, harrassment and assassination. They couldn't believe their luck when a fully trained Radio Op (they were so rare to get hold of) almost fell into their laps from the heavens above! Uncle Joe was officially seconded into SOE and remained working with them for over a year. For this he was decorated with the MM (Military Medal) by King George VI at Buckingham Palace.

As you will see from his wedding photos, his unexpectected tour with SOE on Occupied Crete really took its' toll on him, as he doesn't look well at all.

Other photos are of him with his pals in the service just enjoying life and letting their hair down.

PS: Just popped a pic of me alongside Uncle Joe when we were roughly the same age (he was flying out of Linton then in the early 40's).