On 18th September 1939 I celebrated my seventh birthday. Two weeks earlier Germany invaded Poland and WWII was declared. The announcement that Sunday about war was made while my 5 year-old sister Jane and I were at church. The priest reported it at the end of Mass. Several people cried knowing that their sons and daughters would be sent to the front line. Many would not return.
For Jane and I, war was to shape and shake our lives, giving us opportunities to grow and learn much faster than we would have done otherwise. By the age of ten we were more exposed to the world than most middle-class British children of the time.
My friend Bob Gattie has persuaded me to make some podcasts of the years between then and now. His kindly but rapier-like interviewing is contained in the following 11 podcasts. They remorselessly reveal the joys I had when farming, the luck I had when I was forced to become a city boy and the ineffable kindness of so many people for so long.
Humanity is about being human. I have been fortunate to meet it, embrace it and even slightly become it. I am happy to share the journey with you through any and all of the podcasts. If you’d like some, please check the ones you want below and send your request to Glenda. There is no charge as they are priceless.
Episode 1 – From Baby to Wartime
Episode 2 – End of WW2 From London to Love
Episode 3 – Becoming a Farmer’s Boy
Episode 4 – And, force majeure, a City Boy
Episode 5 – From Berkeley Square to London Wall
Episode 6 – The Big Banana Skin
Episode 7 – I Turn Down America
Episode 8 – Singapore’s One Year Becomes Eleven
Episode 9 – Family Life in Britain
Episode 10 – After Cerebos Pacific
Episode 11 – Reflections on World Changes in My Time
To: Glenda [email protected]
Please send me Episode(s):
Your name: Your email address:
And may you have a jolly Good Morning
John Bittleston
21 May 2026
